Msbelle, Jesse and other Queensistas-- apparently the R, E, F & V are suspended in Queens. Because subways don't work when it rains, you know.

you know what's funny? I thought that was a Sesame Street reference :)

---

Wasn't bon bon the person who flushed her cell phone down the toilet???

Or maybe it was keys?

It was the keys. I forgot about that! It was Bob Bob who flushed his cell shortly thereafter. IIRC.

---

In the never ending story of Sophia's cat-mauling, I just got off the phone with my Dr, and he is giving me 5 more days of anti-biotics.

Sophia, is there anything new wrong, or did he just think about it and decide you needed more?

As for the defendant, I must report that my family has had a few “what were you thinking?!?!” moments. Youngest sister, as a toddler, would stick pennies up her nose. (1+ trips to the hospital).

Pennies!?!?!?! That must take a lot of effort. She was committed (or ought to have been).

Another sister, also then a toddler, kept riding her tricycle down the cement basement stairs (2 trips to the hospital; one visit from the social worker).

It's the "kept" that makes this story. A social worker? Oy. I wonder if your mother thought of letting them take her away.

Narrator!Niece stuck a kernel of corn in her ear (4+ trips to the doctor before he realized it wasn’t an infection or ear wax and had to pull it out with some medical instrument). My favorite, though, was my then-12 y/o sister who was shooting rubber bands off of a very thin crochet hook (for thread rather than yarn) and accidentally let go of the hook rather than the rubber band. The hook ended up in her thumb. It (fortunately) missed the nail and went all the way through the fleshy part of the thumb. Little blood and not much pain. The ER doctor loved it. He not only took an X-ray, he took a Polaroid and called other doctors down from other departments to see the darn thing before they cut the tip of the hook and pulled it out.

I don't know how my mother survived us.

Yeah. Your family was pretty evil.

---

Okay, I'm ready to talk about the right book to read if you want to get an introduction to philosophy.

---

those trains do not run in Qns right now, because some underground stations in Qns are flooded. Like, mine, I am guessing. Last time we had rain like this the stairwells were like rivers.

---

Let me first start out by responding to earlier recommendations that people have offered:

Philosophy: The Basics, by Nigel Warburton.

This should be okay. I doubt that it will be particularly engaging, but Warburton is a pretty solid philosopher (his specialty is political philosophy).

Complete Idiot's Guide to Philosophy, by Jay Stephenson

I've heard of a lot of philosophers, but I've never heard of Jay Stephenson. I haven't heard any philosopher ever mention this book, and I don't think Stephenson teaches anywhere. I doubt it's horrible, but I can't tell you anything about this book.

---

They really make an ideal pull .

Hee. I know this is what was intended with the one I rescued. I'm sure after I left they were forever trying to get the string down to pull it properly. But it was strangling! With its happy Little People face! I couldn't just leave it there.

We didn't have the castle. But I'm pretty sure we had the barn. And I think I did odd things with the garage and my extensive collection of Hot Wheels. And yeah, what was up with the bully? I can picture him, very vividly. Which, considering that I don't have kids or hang out with any little kids, is kinda funny. Of course, I watch kids' movies and cartoons, too, so I am maybe not the best judge of maturity.

Anyway, yeah, I remember that my sister was enough older than I was so that she knows all my embarrassing kid stories, but she was pretty much over hers by then.

---

I got home just in time! Especially since I don't usually take those lines, but did today. msbelle, the 7 should be OK for you, right? Due to the up-in-the-air-ness.

Yay Bob Bob!

---

Hey, Bob Bob, you ever look at Philosophy for Beginners? My wife picked it up to see what I was gassing on about all the time, and both of us thought it quick but comprehensive.

---

Moving on...

Philosophy Made Simple, by Richard Popkin and Avrum Stroll. Popkin was a giant, both physically and reputationally. He was considered one of the more important historians of philosophy, and he was also very large--had-a-lot-of-difficulty-getting-on-the-bus large. Moreover, he was one of the first JRK assassination conspiracy theorists. He's dead now. But this should be good.

Philosophy for Dummies, by Thomas Morris. No one actually linked to this book, although someone mentioned that he/she had read that it got reviews for being overly dismissive of certain views. Well, here's what I know about the book: I've heard from one friend that it's good. Here's what I know about Thomas Morris: he's a very good philosopher who used to teach at Notre Dame and now has his own consulting firm, where he makes a lot of money. He's a very clear and engaging writer, but, as mentioned, he does have an agenda; for instance, he thinks God exists, and that there are good arguments for this conclusion. Of course, that's not really that un-inclusive, given that every other introduction to philosophy (except one) thinks that God doesn't exist, and thinks that arguments show this to be the case. (That might not be the case with Stephenson's guide, but I doubt it.)

---