finally got to hear the famed prof yi-fu tuan speak today, though it wasn't in science hall. he was promoting his latest book 'human goodness' at a session at hilldale, and went on to expound on several examples of human goodness and virtues.

no, it wasn't the usual 'this is good' or 'that is not good', but it was a rather philosophical take delving deep into the subject, examining it critically but yet putting it in an accessible manner, something so unlike an academic to do :)

i'm glad i went. i've been wanting to hear him speak for ages now, and though i've seen him walking through science hall time and again (what with the hours i burn there, it's hardly surprising isn't it?!!), i've never spoken to him before.

yet, it makes me wonder about this over-reflexivity trait that increasingly is becoming such an important part of geography - methodology, theory, and ruminations of the humanist geographer certainly aren't spared...

the arm chair geographer in the ivory tower. that truly is the image that i conjure up when i think of academics. unreachable, high up in the clouds... but to each his own. certainly not my cup of tea, not least because it's way too deep for my feeble plebeian mind =)

are the academic notions of my mind then, to be cast aside so unwillingly (willingly perhaps?) after this sem? is that all there is to the formal pursuit of education? it seems that only in my years here have i truly understood the joy of learning, the intellectual challenge of studying and acquiring, then producing knowledge. not just mere absorption, but building upon them, critically analysing then finally, producing itself.

a couple of pple outside my window bleating to some off-tune music in a drunken stupor. mifflin st block party this weekend - which means no stepping anywhere near that area. and then, the last week of the sem descends, as will finals the week after. ah. life in madison, even as the clock ticks down, stays so much the same after all...