I am not totally pleased with the format of this blog. It seems to be little more than a posting of brief comments and observations without any depth. Fortunately, that is not true of my other blog Visions of Paradise, where I do in-depth reviews of books (proving to myself, at least, that I am not merely a shallow observer of the passing scene, haha).

But unless there is a rabid cry for change, I doubt if I will be doing many detailed articles here. This will likely remain the brief and punchy blog for the Facebook generation!

So here we go...

Although I would like to see a Democratic president for the purpose of ending the disastrous war in Iraq and reining in the federal budget (which would require cutting back on Bush’s tax cuts for the rich), the thought of Obama and Clinton fighting down to the wire, including a floor battle at the Democratic National Convention, appeals to me from a dramatic point of view. Bring back those smoke-filled rooms where Warren G. Harding was nominated for president! Anybody remember the Teapot Dome Scandal?

My good friend George made a sad comment to me today: Children should not be changing the diapers of their parents. This follows closely on my other friend Alan’s comment last year that he and I are now the oldest generation in our families. Sometimes it doesn’t pay to think too much about the future when that future is growing shorter and shorter by the day...

My students generally dread the approach of one of my tests (excrutiating might be the best word to describe the tests), but do you want to know how I feel about them? Part of my enjoys writing tests, and another part enjoys giving them so I can see how well my students are learning. But yet another part dreads the thought of spending my weekend grading Statistics! Ugh.

Currently reading. Ex-Libris, by Ross King, author of the superb historical nonfiction Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling. Ex-Libris is a novel about a bookseller during Restoration England who is seeking a rare volume which vanished during the Cromwell years. Anybody who enjoys reading about books should enjoy this volume a lot.

Currently listening. Crossing the Styles, a collection of music by Gryphon, a progressive rock group which dabbles in medieval music, and, believe it or not, does a fascinating job with it.