getting ready for Paris

I’ll arrive on Christmas Day and spend a fair amount of time there, seeing as many people as possible. While there I’ll actually be doing some work on the “worthless” Alain Badiou, who is said by some not even to be worthy of doctoral-level research, let alone the research grant time of a Full Professor. However, I disagree with that assessment. Badiou may not be my favorite, but he’s put together an impressive system of philosophy that deserves to be grappled with, and it’s well worth more of my time.

Flying out of Cairo on Christmas is something I do deliberately almost every year. The flights are cheaper and less crowded, and it’s not really a national holiday (the Copts celebrate Christmas in early January).