Summer vacation is now in its second half, which is always a bit unsettling since I have gotten used to the easy schedule and lack of stress. While I have not accomplished all that I have hoped to do, that would be an impossibility unless I wanted summer to be as busy and stressful as the school year. But I still have 5 weeks to get things done.

Currently listening: The Band is one of the great rock and roll groups, and all of their firsts four albums are highly-recommended. But I am listening to To Kingdom Come, a two-cd set of their finest music.

Currently reading: Steven Saylor is a great writer of historical mysteries, and his epic Roma tells the story of Rome from its origins as a trading village to the early days of the empire. Both as history and as storytelling, this is a fine book.