T is off at a “dance” at the local YMCA. Now, I don’t know how much dancing one does when in third grade, but the dance was open to third, fourth, and/or fifth graders, and he thrives on that sort of social activity, so I hope he’s having a good time. He has my cell phone. I dropped his friend Ethan and him. The cell phone has been put to good use, as he’s called me twice to let me know he’s having a good time. However, I called him about thirty minutes ago and he didn’t answer. Come to think of it, I’m not sure I taught him how to answer the phone. Oh well. He’s due home in about fifteen minutes.

Today did not start off well. I usually take T and S to the farmer’s market the next town over on Saturday mornings. M wanted to come along, so we all climbed into the van for the twenty minute drive west. Five people is probably too many for a walk through a farmer’s market, esp. when N is whiny and S is angry. I was glad to arrive home, but I was pissed off. The boys had lost computer, wii, and television, so they played with their Heroscape guys until I took them over to a baseball field for some hitting practice. We had fun. Afterwards T and N climbed through a playground while S honed his tetherball skills. S had to leave for a birthday party not long after lunch. T and I caught the new movie starring “The Rock” as a quarterback. I honestly don’t know what the movie was called. Anyway, The Rock has lost a lot of weight. He looks good. The movie was tolerable, and I had a good time just hanging out with T, esp. since the morning had been rough. After dinner (spinach ravioli) I cruised the net for midi software before I thought of calling Jed down the block for advice. Turns out he has the program I need, and I can snag a copy for free. Good man. I’m going to hit the rocker and read for a while before bed. A couple of bullet points:

I’m reading “A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines”, by Janna Levin. The book is a fictional account of the lives of Kurt Godel and Alan Turing, both somewhat insane mathematicians. The author is a mathematician herself, I believe, and I enjoy her precise, careful style. James, you would like this one.

http://www.amazon.com/Madman-Dreams-Turing-Machines/dp/1400032407/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-3424530-4240138?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191117729&sr=8-1

I think I’m finally ok to run again. Tomorrow morning I’m hitting the pavement. I worked up a playlist for the occasion.

T just called. He’s on his way home.

A week from now I’ll be on a plane to Zurich. Good night.

I thought I’d write a bit before I fell asleep tonight. Ten O’clock just passed but I feel as if I’ve been up all night. The house is supernaturally quiet. Perhaps I feel that way because my ears are full of snot. I don’t know. I can’t shake this cold or lack of energy.

Today was decent, anyway. I graded papers at the coffee shop for a couple hours after breakfast. My schedule doesn’t allow me much coffee shop time this semester, so I was glad to slip on the headphones and knock out some commentary. The U’s email server is slow as ever, of course, so I couldn’t speed through the papers as much as I would have liked, and a few neighbors interrupted my work, but I still managed a serious dent in the backlog. I ate a quick pre-lunch at home and sped down to Borders to pick up a couple Archie comics for the boys and another book (Kevin Smith’s journals) for the plane ride. I think I’m set for books through at least the end of the year, but I’m terrified of running out of reading material while either on the way to Europe or actually in Europe. Yes, I’m aware that, well, someone in Europe should get his pretty little nose out of a book, but the texts’ presence ground me even if I leave them back in my hotel room. I hit a quick meeting at work then locked myself in my office for more grading. A few friends visited here and there, but I knocked out about 75% of the work before the afternoon ended. The email server went down (of course) for a bit, so I picked up a couple BK veg burgers (slimy today) and checked with Best Buy on a charger for my mp3 player. Apparently Best Buy stopped selling creative/zen accessories back in Europe. This worried me. Later I met M down at a new restaurant and ate dinner. We didn’t have much to do afterwards so we hit Radio Shack, where a guy told me they didn’t carry creative/zen accessories either. When I arrived home I checked the Circuit City site and found the charger I needed. Whew. I ordered one with extra-fast shipping. The shipping added eight bucks to the tab, not good for Catholic guilt, but I’ll be damned before I fly to Europe without an Mp3 player. I flew to Denver last year with a CD player, and that fucker almost caught fire on my lap. I am converted to the church of the mp3 player, and I worship happily at the altar.

Later the boys were still up, so I took T and S on a ride through town. We had fun. They hadn’t stayed up that late in a while, and I don’t think they’ve been out in the car that late all summer. They seemed fascinated by the city at night. S mentioned that he hadn’t expected the town’s lights to burn all night. Funny. Dan and I talked on the phone for a while, until my voice faded, and here I am.

A couple of bullets:

The Brewers are officially out of the playoffs. I hate the fucking Cubs. The hate will do us well. Next year we’re going to blow them totally out of the water. I am rooting for whomever the Cubs play.

Stars of the Lid are brilliant.

More later.

Ok, I’m back. I’m writing on my new Dell laptop. At the risk of sounding like a commercial, Dell’s customer service is stunning. After I unboxed the computer (a reconstituted, er, used Inspiron 1501 laptop) everything worked except for the battery charge. Nothing was charging. I could use the computer as long as the device was plugged into an outlet, but as soon as I unplugged it, everything shut off. I conferred with a couple of computer expert guys I know, and they said I should call Dell. (Sidebar: I apologize to the those people with computer expertise on behalf of people like me bugging you with dumbass questions you can’t answer or could answer when you were eleven.) I first checked with Dell through the online chat computer support system, which worked fine until the guy asked me to unplug the computer and everything shut down. Before the conversation ended, though, I noticed the little needle on the power cord, where the power cord connects with the computer, was bent. Within two minutes the phone rang. A Dell lady (she sounded Indian, yay outsourcing) told me she would send me a new power source within sixteen hours. Sure enough, this morning a new power cord arrived this morning, and everything works fine. Yay Dell.

I’m home sick today, by the way. I’ve been working like crazy, trying to get everything prepared for the Italy trip, and I finally collapsed. I guess all this started on Saturday. Of course, on Friday night I drank nine beers and collapsed. My immune system weakened, and I’ve been sick since. I didn’t do much on my birthday, and I fell asleep by about seven. I sleepwalked through work both Monday and Tuesday. My Tuesday classes were particularly lame. I need to rethink my approach to some of the undergraduate courses. Oh well, I suppose this is progress. I don’t crash and burn very often in the classroom, and some humility will do me well.

Anyway, my energy is fading quickly, even as I just sit here and type. More later. Good to be back.

I don't mean to blow off the blog, but my laptop committed suicide, and I don't like writing longer texts on the desktop. A new laptop arrives Monday, so I should be good to go.

I turn 38 tomorrow. Usually cold, torrential rain falls on my birthday (seriously), which I don't mind, but the weathermen are predicting 70 and sunny, so I may go hiking in the morning.

Also, I'm mildly obsessed with Caribou's new disc. More Monday.

About 9:30PM, not really tired, although I feel as if I should sleep soon. Work-related issues are running through my mind, and I’m grinding my teeth, although I suppose there’s nothing so pressing that staying until 5PM or so for a couple days in a row won’t clear the air and my desk. I can’t imagine what life would be like if I were still chairing both departments. I’ll answer a few emails tonight and hit work by nine or so tomorrow morning. I should be good to go. The Brewers are winning (5-3) and I have “Sean on The Dead” on tape, so maybe I’ll stay up a little later tonight, even though last night I didn’t sleep well. I had tried sleeping on the boys’ floor, in the air conditioning, but woke after a while and moved to the front porch. S followed me down a couple hours later, stating he had a “hairy monster nightmare”, and proceeded to kick me in the balls as he writhed in his sleep.

Still, today was decent. I failed to run before work, so I was a bit tight, and I wanted to drop off the boys at school, so I skipped basketball. The boys ran off to the playground as soon as I slowed the car down enough for them to jump for it. Apparently they had a good first day of school, although T can be hard to read on such issues. We’ll see. I arrived at work by 8:45AM and guided my students to a library session by nine. A few were late/absent, and I will kick their asses sideways if they start to fuck up. Ah, the joys of teaching freshmen and transfer students. Anyway, a colleague from the English department died last night. One of the librarians gave me the scoop. I won’t go into detail here (legal reasons), but I will say I was struck by how easily we all processed the news and got on with the day. Sure, the guy wasn’t in our building, and none of us knew him at all, but still, beyond a few cursory “life is short” comments, we returned to our conversations about the weekend and whatever I record time. My friend Paul from the English department will probably have a different perspective. We should talk soon. The University priest led a powerful prayer at the start of a painfully awkward and boring convocation ceremony about how “you know never the hour when God will call you, etc.” I cut out of convocation early. The ceremony was awful, I was dressed formally, and the gym temperatures were close to 100. Remember, also, I hadn’t run. I cut out, stopped at Pick and Save for tea and recyclable bags, then drove home. I ran for a couple miles, nothing too serious, careful of some pain in my left knee. T, S and I played hoops in back before I showered and ate dinner. The boys watched some of “Spaceballs” before an early bedtime. Ok, a couple bullet points before I watch the end of the Brewers game.

This has been the worst mosquito year in memory. Goddamn, those suckers are everywhere.

I’m about 2/3rds through David Foster Wallace’s “Consider the Lobster.” I’m reading the essay on traveling with McCain’s campaign now. Wow, these essays are great. They’re probably a bit too erudite for reading on the plane, but I’m enjoying the book as much as anything I’ve read in a long time. I laughed out loud, practically slapping my knee, a few times today.

The temps in Wisconsin are supposed to hit the upper eighties tomorrow. I can’t think of more offensive weather than late summer during which what should be the start of fall. The football season starts in two days, for Christ’s sake. I’m sleeping in the air conditioning tonight.

I love trustworthy Amazon “used” sellers. I picked up a used Derogotis book today for $4.50, with shipping, that would retail for close to fifteen at Borders even with a coupon.

More later…good night.

M and the boys are off at Unitarian Univeralist picnic. I should clean, but I’ve already cleaned quite a bit, so I thought I’d take a break and write before the afternoon grew too busy. We’re throwing the ceremonial end of summer bonfire tonight, too, so I may be occupied with other endeavors late into the evening. I’m downloading The Chills greatest hits as we speak. The blog from which I snagged the disc is an absolute treasure trove of noise to which I listened back when spinning at WZRD in the 80s and early 90s. Coil’s “Gold is the Metal”? I’m so there. Here’s a link:

http://brixtonspage.blogspot.com/

Yesterday was fine. I decided against running, as my knees needed a break, so I spent the morning on the deck or watching television with the boys. Oh, T, S, and I went to Costco as well. We bought a case of sprite and a watermelon the size of a small engine from a European car. Later M took the boys out to get new shoes. N and I played in the backyard and looked at animal webcams on the internet. Here’s his favorite site to check out animals:

http://www.sandiegozoo.org/videos/index.html

Here’s another good set of animal cam links:

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/WebCams/?nzps=navbar

After M arrived home Rick and I hit El Ray for Mexican food. We didn’t talk much on the way, which felt a bit awkward, I guess, but his stepdad just died so I think he had a lot on his mind. I can’t help but feel as if I’m a potential criminal target when I get out of the car on Chavez and I’m the only white guy for blocks. The food is worth the fear. Yesterday I went with a vegetarian torta. Heaven. Actually, a touristy-looking couple and a few run down Caucasians showed up after a while. I picked a table with my back to the wall.

Later I felt like going for a drive, but I’m trying to save cash, so I decided against a bookstore visit. Instead I read from “Consider the Lobster”. The essay on grammar and usage is both fascinating and hilarious. I fell asleep pretty early, by ten or so, on the front porch. This morning I woke before six, ran downtown, and returned home. I had planned on hitting work today but…nah. More later. September is here.