I'm getting ready to head out of town for a conference. It's a fun and exciting library conference. I'm sure you're all jealous! I'm just wasting time now. I needed to get online to balance my check book, so I broke into my office. Well, I guess it's not breaking and entering if I have a key. One of the many advantages to working and living in the same building. Don't get me wrong, there are many disadvantages as well, but it's been a decent experience so far. As I was saying, I'm here and need to waste some time, so I thought I would bore my 3 readers with my inane babbling.

Before I get to make my trek out of town, I'm visiting the fair village of Yellow Springs this evening. Yellow Springs is actually very cool place. It's home of Antioch College, which is not nearly as wild and crazy as it used to be, but still a haven for the socially challenged (yes, I will be attending weekend college there in the fall to continue my endless quest for a college degree). It's also a town devoid of any chain. There are no chain restaurants, not even a McDonalds. No department store, not even a chain grocery store. An entire town filled with mom and pop shops that carry strange and exotic and sometimes necessary items. It reminds me of Broadripple outside Indianapolis, but less urban. And the trip there from Dayton, although a mere 45 mins., feels like a day trip since it takes me completely out of my element. There are also great hiking trails, campgrounds and fishing holes for the outdoor type.

Well, my time is up. I will continue to chronicle my less than note-worthy escapades next week, hopefully including a review of the Curiouso tour!

The Tour de France is over.  Lance won his sixth.  Harry is safe from Voldemort until I read book 5 over Christmas break.  I don't know what to do with myself now.  I had gotten used to watching tour highlights every night after work.  I'm going to miss Bob Roll.

I have plenty to keep me occupied until school resumes, however.  Rabbi suggested several books for me to read.  Right now I'm working on One God Clapping about a Zen Buddhist turned Conservative Rabbi.  It's been an educational read for me, but will probably hold no interest to anyone not of the Jewish Buddhist persuation.  Next I'll be reading Let the Earth Teach You Torah, from what I've read it looks like it teaches the Bible from a Shamanistic perspective and should be interesting.  After that will be Stalking Elijah, which is by the same author who wrote Jew in the Lotus, so it's another JewBu book.  And finally a book called  Ordinary Magic.  I don't know much about it, but I'm looking forward to reading it, especially since Rabbi says the book scares him alittle.  That should last me a couple weeks.  There you have it, my exciting reading line-up.  I'm sure you wanted to know.

Bonjour!

Aujourd'hui nous commémorons la prise de la Bastille avec les mots français nous utilisons en anglais.

Sorry, wrong language!

Today we celebrate Bastille Day with French words commonly used in English:

restaurant, ballet, crayon, espionage, etiquette, menu, omelette, sachet, souvenir, tranquil, umpire...

I do a word of the day (which has become the word of the week now that school is out) for the students. It started as a joke with one of my student employees after I accused him of talking in double entendres and he didn't know what I was saying. So everyday he would bug me for a new word of the day. I thought today I would share with the blog to educate all those freedom fries people that alot more than our food names will have to change to eliminate French from our language.

a bientôt

I've become a bit nihilistic lately. I don't really know what caused it. I'm normally oblivious to the philosophical, or at least ignorant enough not to give it much thought. But these days I seem to be thinking of nothing else but the meaning of life and finding no answers. Probably why the most challenging thing I can do with my mind is watch the Tour de France, I'm wasting all this mental energy trying to answer impossible questions. It's disturbing to me. I am supposed to talk to the Rabbi tomorrow for the spirituality class I've been taking, so maybe I'll take this up with him. The problem is Jews tend not to give answers. The official line is we don't know the answers so why pretend. As much as I appreciate the realistic attitude, it's not very comforting. It's too bad I'm such a bloody awful poet (thanks Spike), because this is good material in the proper hands.

Every year for the fourth, we have a local festival that includes musical entertainment before the fireworks display. For the past several years the same oldies cover band has played and they are really not very good, but this year they changed their lineup. Gone is the drummer, to be replaced by a drum machine (which was badly programmed) and the guitarist was replaced by a 14 year old kid who would give Jimi Hendrix a run for his money. He was phenomenal! The band still sucked per usual, but this kid made it worth watching. We were taking bets on how long he would stay with this band before moving on to a real band. This kid has real potential. It's kind of cool to see someone like that during his formative years.

I have braces. I've had them now for a week. Last week was awful, the pain, the discomfort! I'm getting used to them, though. It's bad enough I already look 12, now people will believe I'm still a kid when they see the braces. It's not all bad, I guess. I could be one of those kids from 90210, playing a teen in my 30's.

I purchased several new CD's in the past couple weeks. I got the Jet CD which is okay, but it is just a regurgitation of other people's music. They have a very 70's feel, Rolling Stones, Deep Purple and one song that sounds like a Grateful Dead cover, but it's not. I also bought the newest Blink 182 disc. As much as this will make me sound like a poseur, I really like it. It's still a punk-pop album, but it's well orchestrated. Then there is the classic Weezer CD that I should've bought a decade ago. I also bought the new Sarah McLaughlin and Scarlet's Walk by Tori Amos, but I haven't listened to those yet. I've been thinking about adding some 60's music to my collection. I've been irrationally opposed to buying music that was made before I was born, but I'm thinking it's time to lift that ban. I want to add some Beatles, Janis Joplin, and Simon & Garfunkel for starters.

I had planned to do alot of reading once school was done for the summer, but I haven't managed to read anything more intellectual than the Harry Potter series. I'm supposed to be reading books on Judaism for the class I'm taking at Temple, but I can't bring myself to do it any more than I can bring myself to read an actual literary work. Maybe once I've finished the series, I'll be in a reading sort of mood. Right now, it's Harry and Lance (Tour de France). I don't have the brain power for much else.