I'm so close to finishing the first draft of that textbook. I think one more day really ought to do it. I've been pounding out about a chapter a day of problems and solutions, and these last couple chapters are shorter and simpler than the others, so I really, really think I can do it in a day. I guess I'll find out on Monday.
I actually need a moment of mental decompression after the last couple weeks. I've been putting in many (somewhat tedious) hours into that textbook, and while the vacation to San Diego was a nice distraction, it also took away three days of work. I think it's all catching up to me. So I expect this to get long and rambling and somewhat stream of consciousness.
Friday evening, Jeremy hosted a games night, and I was able to see some more GCFers. If I'm not leaving anyone out, I think that makes 13 people in two days that I had an opportunity to reconnect with [dangling preposition]. There's a lot of good community that I left behind in San Diego and I have yet to find something similar to it out here in Vegas. We played one long game of Shadows over Camelot (and won).
I guess I would be somewhat amiss if I didn't mention the puff pastry shells that someone brought. I didn't know that they made frozen shaped shells, but Pepperidge Farm has 6 shells in a box (or 24 mini shells). That's a lot of elegance without a lot of work. They also bring much more height and flavor than the filo dough shells. I'll have to keep that in mind for the next time I make some sort of party hors d'oeuvres.
Saturday morning, more games (Galaxy Trucker -- definitely a buy). Then it was off to Santa Ana to hang out with Justin and Janet and Janet's family. Apparently, I'm some sort of poker celebrity to them with my one published article. Of course, we played a couple of hours and I won exactly two pots. One of those pots was a semibluff flush draw when everyone seemed weak, and the other was a rivered flush that got paid off. But it was still fun. Afterward, I talked poker with them for a while (another hour?), and it was fun. I drove back to San Diego that night, getting in just after midnight.
Sunday morning church. Scott preached on the nature of truth and the valid testimony of witnesses, using Val Thomas as an example of a miracle that was verified through the testimony of witnesses. He didn't go into John 9 (at least, I don't think he did), but that would have been a good Biblical example of testimony that unbelievers simply could not reject (but could rationalize away). I'm also reminded of an incident in the biology department where a faculty there had a dream about Barbaro's broken leg before the Derby in 2006. He shared the dream with a friend before the race, so there's some witness there. (Unfortunately, I don't have any names to go with it, so this lives in the realm of anecdote for now.) There was an interesting line that I jotted down: Doctrine that sounds good is not necessarily good doctrine. I like phrases that turn like that.
I got to see a play in the afternoon with Betsy. I think it was called "Unusual Acts of Devotion." I guess I didn't smile and laugh at the same time everyone else did, but I've grown accustomed to fact that I end up seeing things differently than other people, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. The play was entertaining, but I felt it was a bit garbled and confused with trying to weave too much stuff together (and what's with the murderer on the water tower?). But maybe that's what it's supposed to be and I'm just not getting it. Perhaps it's some big jumbled mess that is reflective of the types of messes people find themselves in when they make bad decisions. Oh well.
That evening, there was a free outdoor concert in Coranado. The band was decent, playing a lot of oldies and providing a good ambiance for the warm afternoon (that turned cool late when the marine layer started to filter in). The food we brought was very international. There was a hummus/falafel box from Trader Joe's, some brie and crackers, some sushi, and some blueberries. Not a cohesive menu, but everything tasted good so it doesn't matter.
I left San Diego early Monday morning, getting back here around lunch time, and life returned to "normal" -- where normal is really much busier than normal because of that textbook.
The second summer session starts in just over a week, and I haven't even put together the syllabus yet. I've got a schedule outlined, but besides that there's nothing. This is another reason that I really want to finish the textbook on Monday. It's a 5 day a week class that meets for 2.5 hours at a time. It's going to play out like a sprint for the students, and I hope they can keep up. I've also got some thoughts about some of the comments I got on my last set of evaluations, but I'll get to that later.
Daniel is moving his stuff in tomorrow, but won't be moving himself in until later next week. I think it will be good to have a roommate again. It resembles community more than living alone does. I've known Daniel for years (from my UCSB days) and I've been hanging out with him nearly weekly for about two years now, so there shouldn't be any real surprises.
I got some guitar playing in tonight. It's been a while since I've just goofed around. I was listening to a youtube clip and found the tempo to be just right for my mood. (Eric Clapton playing "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VukiMyI45sA. The first verse of the opening solo is really what got me going. It's standard blues stuff, and that's probably why I like it.)
I think my brain has been fully decompressed now.
