sidekick

By recommendation of my academic plan of study committee, because, in their terms, I am working towards a doctorate of PHILOSOPHY, and am a scientist (budding at best) I ought to take a philosophy of science class. I don't use the word "ought" accidentally. I remember it to mean morally obligated, which is how "recommendations" in my academic world tend to feel.

So I enrolled in a course in the history & philosophy of science department titled, "Mechanisms, Causes and Explanations." The professor is a philosopher, former chef & food critic, enologist, philosopher-in-residence to a ballet company and various other interesting titles and pseudo-occupations. He looks like a 6-foot-plus muppet and speaks with a deep, wet, growly voice and incomplete, incoherent sentences. Last week, he canceled class because, well, I'll let him explain it:

Due to an excess of affection, intellection, and debauchery (on my part)

the seminar tomorrow is canceled. I do apologize, but it just was too

good a weekend. We may see about the possibility of adding an extra session when we next meet.

in vino veritas


The students in the class are all little professors and we (well, they) get involved in lengthy triple-word-score discussions about what seem to be the most trivial things. I keep wanting to say, "how nice for you all who get to sit here and think about the thinking about science- some of us have to actually DO experiments!" Of course I don't say this. I just sit in the back and observe their skinny-jeans, multi-colored tights, suit-jackets as real-jackets and enjoy myself. It's like what I imagine a lot of NYU college students experienced while I was busy having mini crises and changing my major too late in the game to do anything academically "fun". It's real, movie of the week, college.

But wait! It gets better!
Professor
has
a
SIDEKICK!!

Sidekick is an old, thinning-white-haired man who sits next to professor. He has frequent laryngospasm-like cough-tics that are dry and violent, and occur approx 20 times per class. His voice is high-pitched and sounds like the teacher on south-park, only instead of "mmm-kay", he says, "ok" as a filler, sentence starter, sentence ender. He also wears too much cologne, ao thankfully he sits in the front, far from my olfactory bulbs.

I have said, or if i havent, I have meant to, that we are on a neighborhood listserve. People write in whatever they want from the useful (Im in need of a roofer) to the ridiculous (the great saga of sunny the parakeet who rode the public bus to the neighboring community). The other day, a post went out from an email address with the same last name as sidekick!! Could I be this lucky??? The end of her email had a link to a personal website. I visited, and learned:

In 1968 she went to Pitzer College to study philosophy, but anti-Vietnam War political events on campus were equally educational and after the Kent State shootings and the resulting March on Washington she dropped out of school, married a hippie and moved to Bolinas to have hippie babies.
When she least expected it she re-met her college philosophy teacher, [sidekick]. They married, raised kids and made art, philosophy, science and music in Southern California till 2000, and continue to do so in Pittsburgh, their current home.

OF COURSE! Its sooo perfect! Making science and music? I want to put it in a glass and drink it its so perfect!!!
and then- there was their address! IT IS 3 BLOCKS AWAY!!! across from my neighborhood cafe! Reggie and I drove past sloooooowly and OH. MY. GOSH. they have a HUGE rainbow peace flag hanging from the facade of their very posh manse. love it!

I know I say it all the time- but I LOVE this neighborhood! I don't post enough about the neighbors. They all posess such wonderful stories, either real or imagined by me that I dont even know where to start. I will begin to chronicle them with more regularity now that the big home improvements are done for awhile.
Meanwhile, I sit in my class, try to follow along, and chuckle about my secret- sidekick is my neighbor!!