Contact Information:

MHolowchak@hotmail.com

                Nigel--The Newest Member of the Ever-Growing Cat Family .

Scholarly Books

Ancient Philosophy and Ancient Science

Ancient Science and Dreams  Happiness and Greek Ethical Thought  The Stoics: A Guide for the Perplexed

Critical Reasoning

Criticital Reasoning and Science           Critical Reasoning & Philosophy

Novels

                 Life of a Jellyfish              Hotel Bob: An Exceptional Tale of Unexceptional Love

Other Books

          Philosophy of Sport       The Looking-Glass Logic of George W. Bush

• Favorite philosopher: "The Philosopher", Aristotle
• Favorite strongman: Lithuania's Zydrunas Savickas
• Favorite conquerors: Mohandas Ghandi (the powerful persuasiveness of kindness and care!); Scipio Africanus and Alexander (wasn't he a ruthless murderer?)
• Favorite books: Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Seneca's De Vita Beata, & Freud's Beyond the Pleasure Principle
• Favorite epic: Gilgamesh
• Favorite new read: Freud's Studies on Hysteria
• Favorite potations: Storm King Imperial Stout, a most delectable roborant, and Speakeasy's Double Daddy (Double IPA)
• Favorite animal: my cat, Nigel (pictured above). He came to us with two broken ribs and weighing 1.25 pounds 
• Favorite movie: Cool-Hand Luke
• Favorite line in a movie: "Boss, sometimes I get crazy when I get ideas!" from Zorba the Greek
• Favorite pastimes: Discussing philosophy; pushing and pulling iron with other sweaty guys and gals in a no-frills gym, gardening/landscaping, reading 

http://www.atomfilms.com/film/oedipus.jsp

Successful lifts of a couple of stones that I'd just picked up for the yard. The one on the right, a brute of a stone, almost got the better of me. Cigar optional. Don't try this at home!

Kazantzaki's Stone (Herakleia, Kriti). He is the modern-day symbolic figure of many Greeks, especially Cretans, and the author of Zorba the Greek. The stone reads, "I hope for nothing; I fear nothing; I am free". Very Stoical!

Emil, doing some heavy-duty cogitating on some abstruse philosophical issue or other. On the back of this picture he wrote: "I'll send you more next time."

And, of course, there's my unhealthy obsession with statues!

Finally! A chum, and one who'll listen! (Notre Dame, 2005)

"No! I won't read your book, and I won't sign your paltry manuscript!" (Crete, 2006)

• There are nine letters in "Alexander"; the same with "Holowchak."
• The bust of Alexander has a broken nose; I had my nose broken several years ago.
• Alexander's face was on the 100 drachma piece in Greece; my face was once on the walls of post offices across America.
• Alexander had a horse named "Bucephalus"; I have the head of an ox.
• Alexander, on his campaigns, sent samples of exotic flauna and flora to Aristotle; I sent the OU Philosophy Department a postcard of indiginous flora while I was in Greece.
• The day of Alexander's birth was not accompanied by any unusual cosmic event; the same for the day of my birth.
• Alexander won a decisive battle on the open plains near Guagamela; I once decisively and in plain view put down a whole bowl of guacamole.
• Alexander conquered much of the known world in his life; I keep a tidy office.
• Many have chronicled the heroic deeds of Alexander; I keep a journal.
• Alexander, surely outnumbered, defeated the Persian king Darius in several great battles; I outwrestled a fearsome Persian cat while eating numerous Doritos.
• Alexander thought himself a god and achieved god-like fame in his life; I share a similar delusion without the sickly need to prove myself through silly heroic deeds.

The real heroic influence in my life is my grandmother Theophilia. Though she has passed several years ago, I feel her presence in me today. She taught me that tasks worth doing are worth doing with avidity, perserverance, and love. I cherish the many years I was able to share with her.

Mihi crede, magna pars ex iis, quos amavimus, licet ipsos casus abstulerit, apud nos manet. Seneca, Ep. XCIX

A meteorology professor stood before his Meteorology 101 class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty glass mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

A meteorology professor stood before his Meteorology 101 class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty glass mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a jar of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open spaces between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar and of course the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous yes.

The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and then proceeded to pour the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the grains of sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things -- your family, your partner, your health, your children, your friends, your favorite passions -- things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

"The pebbles are the other things that matter, like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else -- the small stuff.

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing. Play another 18.

"There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers."