Well beyond my turn.

We're supposed to keep this 50% Nash and 50% Adelphia, and by those rules it appears that I've been slacking. Sharon just left this morning to go back to Nashville and I of course remain behind in Philadelphia keeping the home fires (homefries) burning. I confess too that I did not document the weekend well with photos. Actually I only took one:

That's one of my parents' dogs coming out of the water at Lums Pond, DE, where they were participating in a dog agility trial. I recommend going to one if you ever have the chance. 

The non-photo-documented parts ofthe weekend included celebrating Courtney's birthday at the house where the fire department came, like clockwork, about 20 minutes after we lit a fire in the outdoor fireplace. The neighbors hate fires, but (as usual) the fire dept. has no problem with our setup. We also went to a soccer game at Villanova, went to a great chili and cornbread dinner party in West Philly, and met up with some of the old Morris interns to catch up with each other. The weekend went way too fast, but it was a lot of fun and worth every moment.

In other news:

- I'm still stressing out about applying to the Longwood Garden graduate program, but proceeding nonetheless.

- I'm feeling slightly strange about my standing in the US economy, and a blog I read regularly expressed how I feel really well:

This is a huge topic to tackle within the confines of this site, and I don't for a second take for granted the many good fortunes that I have, but at some points in my day I reflect on just how nice it would be to someday not go through life treading water financially. I think about how this is the only industrialized nation in the world whose residents can put themselves into a bottomless debt just paying for basic health care and education, and how I literally fist pump the air in celebration every time I get.... (the smallest bit of money)

I agree, and am a little tired of people telling me how "lucky" I should feel to be doing manual labor with no vacation/sick time and/or benefits of any sort. Really? I do feel fortunate to not be among the masses of the unemployed, but I don't really feel "lucky" either. Anyhow, enough of that.

- In other news, I just found two amazing jackets. Behold:

I like to call this my party sweater because it is that amazing.

- Lastly, on a day last week when I was searching for the silver lining to the gray cloud hanging over my head, I pedaled my way to Center City to ask Apple to somehow fix my ailing iPhone, which suddenly and inexplicably stopped working. After about 45 min of them telling me that my phone was pretty much just an iPod at that point, they decided to give me a new phone. Yes, for free. What? Hello silver lining, welcome home.

Betwixt.

Last weekend Bryan was in Nashville! See, look:

- Except that that's a picture of him in Louisville, KY. Did you know that the state line is a mere half-hour away by car? Oh, the places a rental car (even the tiniest Fiat) will take you...

 

 

It absolutely does not look like it from these photos, but Louisville is actually a city and a pretty great little city at that. We found it quite walkable, with commendable food diversity, neighborhoods, public art, thrift stores, and parks. The only real drawback is the name: as a friend pointed out, to say it correctly ("Louovul"?) feels a little like vomiting in your mouth.

This weekend I am back to the grind, eagerly awaiting my trip to Philadelphia (!) first thing Thursday morning. Yes indeed, Fall Break 2011 is upon us already. That means I'm scrambling to meet all of my routine academic obligations while casting an eye toward final papers -- and of course, interpreting the world through the lens of my PhD program application Statement of Purpose.

I did carve out an hour yesterday to swing by a handmade book fair at Watkins College of Art, Design, and Film yesterday. I attended a talk on "writing words worth preserving" and bumped into a few folks from the indigo-dying workshop I attended last fall. 

Here are a few of my favorites from the art show (and forgive the sloppy reportage; I didn't note the names of the artists...):

  

Magnetic Fields tribute, anyone?

  

 

  Nothing, but nothing, beats a harmonica-shaped book!

Okay, back to it...

Books of the week: 

Fearlessness, Imre Kertesz

In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America, Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.

Women's Ways of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice, and Mind, Belenky et al. 

On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent, Gustavo Gutierrez

Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life, Giorgio Agamben 

Films of the week:

A Serious Man

Sankofa

Aguirre: The Wrath of God

Beloved

Carnival of Souls

The Spirit of the Beehive