Summertime Blues

I remember fondly a time when I used to actually look forward to the summer. How time changes things. This summer all I can think about is working my way through the summer to get to the fall. We just lost another teacher at the museum (effectively cutting the teaching staff in half), so until we hire two more, overtime has been the name of the game. And here I thought I was done with "overtime" when I left my old summer job at the factory. No such luck! Anyhow, it's going to be a busy couple of months. I have a public course I'm supposed to be giving next month on religion in Greco-Roman Egypt and no time to prepare for it the way I want to because at the moment there's just two teachers to cover the museum programming. Plus, we're interviewing several candidates for those vacant positions, which takes time away from my research as well. Oh, well. I suppose the summer will speed by soon enough. I should just take consolation in the fact that summertime means no school groups from about the last week in June until October. As it is, I'm mostly looking forward to August and my next trip home. (It will, unbelievably, be my first time home since last September. I hope this is the last time that kind of lengthy gap comes between visits home.)

Really, not much aside from work is going on right now. Eric has this week off and as this quarter wrapped up he's now in a position to advance to the next stage--that is, doctoral exams and candidacy. By the time the new academic year starts in the fall, he should be beginning to form a timeline to finishing his doctorate. I have every confidence that UCLA's new assistant professor of Egyptology, Dr. Kara Cooney (congrats, Kara!), will push him to finish in a timely manner. I am, of course, also prepared to offer the proper encouragement. (Note to self: find cattle prod.)

Back to my thoughts on summer: One thing that hasn't changed about the way I think about summer is the idea of summer reading. I'm a voracious reader anyway, and summer used to mean unlimited time to immerse myself in adventure and mystery tales spun by my favorite authors. Naturally, these days "unlimited" doesn't necessarily describe my time accurately, but I still manage to make it through a stack of books during the summer months--even if it means late nights caught up in the story, reading until my weary, bloodshot eyes give in to sleep. So, in honor of the tradition of summer reading, I'm planning to put up a couple of posts about my favorite authors and genres in the coming weeks. My summer reading list is still in it's early stages, so if you have any suggestions for good books, leave a comment or email me...