I skyped with Eileen yesterday. I think it raised my spirits to learn that she thought being apart for three weeks was one week too long. I previously suspected that she was in a sort of pig heaven with two grand daughters and that returning home would be a bit of a downer. . For my part, I miss her tremendously, but at the same time I have to work at not withdrawing completely into a comfortable solitary studying and practicing.
YouTube continues to be a wonderful resource for me. I’m going ahead and embedding a couple of videos despite their length with the idea that there’s no need for you, dear reader, to necessarily watch any of them.
I’m about halfway through Black Leopard Red Wolf by Marlon James. I continue to find his work satisfying and a nice antidote to the anodyne life of living in Holland.
James mentioned Le Guin in this talk and it reminded me that I wanted to read straight through the lovely books my brother gave me a couple Christmas ago.
So I started Rocannon’s World by her.
I have been breaking my morning pattern in more than one way. Since reading The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman recently and doing so in only a few sittings, I am reminded of the satisfaction of prolonged exposure to a story. I often read books a little bit at a time, daily. This affords me a lot of variety in my daily routine. However, I think it’s also fun to engage deeply in a book, especially fiction, so that’s what I’ve been doing with Le Guin and James.
Bacevich has a new book. He’s an author I have learned from.
Reader’s World, the bookstore in downtown Holland, called to tell me that my Norton 2 Volume Bible has arrived.
When I pick it up, I plan on purchasing Bacevich’s book or ordering it. Since it’s current, I suspect it will be on the shelf. I will put it next to A Thousand Small Voices: The Moral Adventure of Liberalism by Adam Gopnik and begin reading it right after finishing Gopnik. I over half way through Gopnik at this point and should be done with it soon.
I recommend Bacevich’s Politics and Prose lecture. He is informed and is a practiced public speaker who exhibits intelligence and good humor.