Today is Andy’s 23rd birthday. Time really flies! As usual we went out to eat, and Andy chose Ruby Tuesday’s. Eating there made me wonder whatever happened to all those really good diners that used to dot all the highways in the state. They seem to have been replaced by franchise restaurants such as Bennigan’s, Applebee’s, TGIFriday’s and Ruby Tuesday’s. The food was decent, although the menu was not nearly as extensive as diner menus, and the sandwiches, especially the burgers, all showed the sad influence of McDonald’s. The sandwiches were so drowned in sauce, lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions and condiments that the hamburger or chicken was barely noticeable. Why does it seem that one-step-above-fast-food restaurants are so anxious about the taste of their sandwiches that they do everything possible to disguise their taste?

Yesterday I had to go to school in the morning, so while I was there I got my AP scores. The Calculus scores were good, as usual, so that pleased me. The Statistics scores were better than last year–and considerably better than the other teacher’s scores–but they were still not as good as I feel they should be. I am not sure what I should be doing differently, either toughening up the course a bit (since I do teach it on a slightly lower-level than the AP Calculus) or perhaps spend more time reviewing, as I do in Calculus. I will think about this the rest of the summer.

Currently listening: Paste Magazine is a very good music magazine, devoted primarily to rock and roll, although it also covers some other American music such as folk, blues, country and jazz. Each issue contains a cd of music by artists recommended in that issue, and inevitably it is very good music mostly by artists I have never heard of (because they do not get played on most radio stations who, in spite of their supposed mission of “broadcasting” actually do as much “narrowcasting” as possible).

Currently reading: Alastair Reynolds is one of the finest of the newer crop of sf writers, his works filled with thought-provoking ideas and a real foundation in future history, but he also understands both plotting and characterization. Revelation Space is the first volume in a well-received trilogy which I am enjoying it a lot. I intend to read the other 2 volumes asap.