Well, I suppose I took the summer off from the blogging gig. It was a crazy time and has come and gone without clear boundaries (can’t remember when it started… not sure when it ended). I was out of the country on three trips, took two graduate classes, wrote 7 papers (well 5, but I have to write two more), saw several castles, helped my parents move to Kelso (well, helped just a little bit), and have averaged 5 hours sleep for the past week trying to get ready for school to begin in two days. It has been a blur. My hope of having a sleepy summer to enjoy the beauty and culture of Portland was never realized, and now I have begun another year of commuting to Hillstucky.

But, I have to say, I am a bit more optimistic about this school year than I was at the beginning of this summer break. There is chaos to be sure, but there are also some strong pieces that have been put into place that are, at least, going to allow me to have a better year teaching. That may be selfish, but that is what I’m here to do after all.

So, I suppose I should include something about some sort of book. Since I don’t have anything on hand, I will just recall what books I did read and promise to begin blogging a bit about them in the coming days:

Zygmunt Bauman, Wasted Lives; Miroslav Volf, Exclusion and Embrace; Graham Greene, The Power and the Glory; Elizabeth Newman, Untamed Hospitality; Malcom Gladwell, Blink; David Foster Wallace, Consider the Lobster; Athanasius, The Life of Antony; John Chrysostom, On Wealth and Poverty, Cormac MacCarthy, Blood Meridian & The Road.

There will be more to come…

ca