Stephanie and I are back in Iowa after out trip to Sedona and the Grand Canyon with her family. We also got to visit my parents in Chicago, which was nice. I've had serious bloating issues for a long time. I've been to doctors and Chinese herbalists. I've tried diets and supplements. The two things that helped the most: Garden of Life Primary Defense HMO Probiotics:

http://www.gardenoflife.com/detail_primal_defense.shtml

and a DNFT Chiropractor. Mine is Dr. Mark Will in Deerfield, IL:

http://www.drlighttouch.com/

I ended up throwing my back out in Sedona while I was climbing into bed, which, although extremely painful at the time, is now hilarious. It wasn't like I was engaged in some serious manly physical activity - I was climbing into bed. Now that's a way for your body to scream "Happy 31st!" I went to the chiropractor to deal with that, and it seemed to also help with the inflammation in my gut. Could be coincidence, though.

The corn is now at about 7 feet in Iowa. Stephanie is working on her book prospectus, and she is nearing the finish line. I am getting this set up for U-C. I've registered for classes already, and this weekend, Stephanie and I will be heading down there to look at apartments. Class schedule: Contemporary Philosophies of Education; Topics in Educational Policy; and Philosophy of Language and Education. I've been able to get all of my classes in on just Tuesday and Wednesday, which will give me greater freedom to come and go as I please, and for Stephanie and I to better coordinate our schedules.

The best thing about all of this is that instead of holding a full-time job, a part-time job, and trying to be a full-time doctoral student, as I was at Columbia, I can now afford to *be a student* and *study*, to spend time learning well and knowing what the hell it is I am doing, rather than just checking off requirements in a perfunctory manner and not learning a thing, because I have no time to study material.