Hello. Welcome to my website. It started while I was in Europe for a semester, and I've kept it up since then. I'm now at the University of Chicago Law School, living in Hyde Park, and the story continues. If you want to say hi or visit me, email cfloyd at uchicago dot edu.
"Life is nothing if not the sum of your anecdotes." -Scotty The Body, on storytelling "But it ain't that bad, man. Just figure out the system before the system figures out you." -T. Matthew Smith, on the 1L year "The beer just doesn't taste as good when you're not drinking it with your buddies." -Anon., on being away from good friends "Somebody has to pay the rent around here. Why the hell not us?" -Cotton, on studying for exams
My parents got me The Seekers for Christmas in 1998 or 1999, I think. I had come across his ideas one place or another, maybe the Books section of the Tulsa World. Turns out this Rhodes Scholar and Librarian of Congress had grown up in Tulsa and gone to Central High School.
Anyway, his writing and ideas were part of what influenced me to be a Letters major and try to get as broad a learning as I could. I admire the way he kept an open mind throughout his career. So many scholars derive their identity from an ideology or a niche of study. They become apologists for a certain position, eventually fall victim to cognitive dissonance, and lapse into irrelevance. Boorstin moved all over the spectrum but continued to attach himself only to intellectual honesty and continual learning.
He's the kind of scholar that intimidates me from a career in academia, and his resume is the type that you only hope to accrue in 90 years. A keen mind until the end. I guess your brain is just another muscle, and it stays strong only through active use, no matter your age. I only hope to be as sharp well into my 80s.
3/03/2004 08:17:00 PM
