Excerpt: Songs That Remind Me Of Philosophy

Below is an excerpt of Chapter Seven from my new memoir, Songs That Remind Me Of Philosophy (2024).

________________________

I wanted a degree.

One of the first classes I took at Stetson was a philosophy course. I remember my professor, Dr. Rob Brady. We read the classics. I couldn’t believe that I, Jennifer Lawson, was reading Plato. Moreover, I actually understood him.

I got an A in that class, and thought about declaring it as my major.

It wasn’t until years later that I would find out that philosophy is still a male-dominated field. I never got the sense that philosophy wasn’t for me. I studied philosophy unlike anything I had ever studied before.

Do what you love.

Well, I happened to love philosophy, so I started thinking about doing it.

I declared it as my second major. So, there I was, double majoring in philosophy and psychology at Stetson University. The world seemed right to me.

I figured college was a time for exploring, so I did. I began writing again, poetry.

When I learned of competitions on campus for writing, I entered the contests.

It turned out that my hobby of writing paid off. I won first prize every time I entered a competition. This gave me some awards, but it also gave me a small amount of cash.

Every Wednesday, my daughter and I would go to a convenience store and I would make her choose something she had never had before. She tried Twinkies this way, and all kinds of different drinks. Then, we would go for a walk, usually to over the Dunlawton Bridge in Port Orange, Florida.

This turned out to be a tradition for us, something we have carried on into our adult lives. These days, we go for lunch every Friday, and we try all different kinds of things.

Jimmy graduated a year before me, and that wasn’t good. He got a job out-of-state, and asked me to join him.

I take my personal vows seriously. I had promised myself that I wouldn’t move, get married, or do anything like that until I had finished college, and I didn’t. Jimmy went without me.

I know he got lonely. I’m sorry if I contributed to that. But, again, it was for the best. Jimmy turned out to marry a wonderful woman who probably fits with him and his family even better than I did.

So things turned to Gloria. I thought she had hit on me, and, on our way back from an Ani DiFranco concert, she told me she was a lesbian. I said, “Want to get some coffee?”

She laughed.

Comments

A Hanukkah Message on Furher Trump From One Yet Living

President-Elect (notice how I've never disputed that he won the 2024 election) Donald Trump has been frothing at the mouth in Hitlerian fashion , threatening to claim Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal. Perhaps he knows--perhaps he doesn't--that these are war threats he is making. He seems pretty damn confident that The Department of Defense will do as he says, as if he were already--or is going to be--an absolute ruler. Not to belabor this point, but my direct ancestral lineage, from which we get our current military, fought The American Revolutionary War so we wouldn't have an absolute ruler. Far worse than a king, Donald J. Trump is aiming to be a dictator along the lines of Vladimir Putin, who has attacked Ukraine, which The United States, along with allies, have been supporting since Day 1. Caught in his frothy dreams, to Trump, the world may look like his oyster. He must know our military's fame; he must be confident of it. With due respect to the presiden...

Free Readings! & Readings Available For Purchase! (2024)

M y Writing Year In Review (2024). I graduated with my M.A. in 2023. Despite having sepsis, pneumonia, bronchitis, and being diagnosed with Stage 1 cancer in 2024, I managed to be more prolific this year than most years. Below is my year in review, separated by what you can read for free, and the few things available for purchase. Here's what you can read for free: I started the year by writing a book review that was oh-so-controversial . The next day or so, I proceeded to write the paper " Radical Logic ," which I first submitted to The United States Military. It is now declassified and open to everyone. I was then offered a chance to write about my true passion. I decided to write about a problem I had been working on for years: infinite cardinal numbers . I made two arguments on transgender language. I defended them publicly and then made a finale argument, which basically tells TERFS that they don't understand the English language . Here's what you can pay...

Sgt. Marion Lester Lawson (Special Forces, Korean Conflict)

My dad was in the the military during the Korean Conflict. Today, he would be known as a Green Beret . Below is a coffee cup I thought I had lost that he bought for me me when I was 8 years old. I infrequently get manic and give away stuff that I actually love. You can visit my dad's memorial online here . Veteran's Affairs has thoughtfully put his grave online, which is nice because I don't have to go all the way to Texas to put a daisy wreath on his grave. I've put some weird stuff on it, but I've also put some really great stories on it. Everyone who knew him has different stories to tell--some good, some bad. Above is a picture of my dad and my daughter on the day he cooked buffalo burgers and grilled corn on the cobb that he grew himself. When I was older, my dad had the bracelet below engraved for me. I thought I had lost that, too. It says "Jennifer" on one side, and "Dad" on the other. My dad's song for me was "The Yellow Rose...

Jennifer Lee Lawson

Search This Blog