Inaugural post from the old man

Good day, readers and blog visitors.

I am the father-t0-be of this, as we are calling it/he/she/them, BugBear.

<-- there you are

This is an exciting and tumultuous time for us on a number of levels. In no particular order, here is what's going on:

1. We will be moving from State College, PA to Chicagoland, IL on account of Krista's vocation toward ordained ministry, beginning with M.Div. studies at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

2. I will be transitioning from a rather cush job at Penn State to a not-so-cush job or jobs in the Chicagoland area. There are plenty of job applications still out there in "Search Committee Review"-land.

3. Not to mention this young life that will soon join us. This is both awesome and terrifying. One of my areas of scholarly interest is engaging philosophical accounts of ethical responsibility, and engaging with past thinkers who've taken up this matter of concern. My oh my, the enormous gap between the life of the mind and the life of action asserts itself here and now.... It's one thing to offer descriptions of the human as an ethically-responsive being, and actually becoming an ethically-responsive human being is something else entirely. Hopefully the wisdom of Soren Kierkegaard, Emmanuel Levinas, Frantz Fanon, and Enrique Dussel will offer some encouragement down the line...but I'm not banking on that.

In light of these revolutionary times, we (or at least I) take comfort in the reality that humans have been successfully reproducing our species for quite some time now, and we are extremely fortunate to have such a loving support network that includes family, friends, colleagues, and others who wish us well. And that Krista and I have each other to rely on for practical assistance, encouragement, back-rubs, laughter, and love.

We don't know BugBear's sex, size, shape, or health-status, but I know this: you, my friend, will be welcomed into a world of hugs, jokes, crazy aunts and uncles (and grandparents), and a mom and dad who are figuring this thing out called family life.