In this Quick Hits, Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy Allison Postell talks about commercial refrigerator painting, her love of Aristotle, and study tips. Allison is married to Joseph Postell (right), Associate Professor of Politics. 

What is the most unusual job you’ve ever worked?

Painting the inside of commercial refrigerators.

What’s your favorite part of being a mother?

Knowing a person so intimately that you are attuned to their most fine-grained ways of being delightful.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?

Be generous. Giving turns something stagnant into something flowing and dynamic, creating more richness in the process than any alternative way of living.

What first sparked your interest in Aristotle and philosophy?

Philosophy asked questions I cared about, and Aristotle described the world in a way that rang true.

What are your best study tips?

Train your mind to focus on one problem at a time and set up a distraction-free climate while you work.

What gets you fired up?

Aristotelian hylomorphism.

When you were little, what was your dream job?

Two outcomes were acceptable: oceanographer or check-out clerk in my hometown’s Piggly Wiggly. (Those scanners that beep when you click on the bar code were mesmerizing.)

What is your favorite TV show? 

“The Wire” if I’m being serious — but “Gilmore Girls” if I’m being honest.

What is your favorite way to spend the weekend?

Doing anything with my husband and kids.

What’s the best date you’ve ever been on with your husband?

Our first date at i Fratelli Pizza in Dallas. Time melted away as I met the most interesting, fun, kind, virtuous, and serious person I’ve ever come across.