The panel tonight was excellent. And my co-panelist, Betty Soskin, was amazing! I think the event went well, and the students are so cool!

Checked out the exhibition where my talk will take place. Disappointed with the art that is up. What is NOT there says a lot.

On my way to give my talk. Let's get to it.

Woke up annoyed and aggravated. Finished my talk & powerpoint presentation at 3am. Now I got to do some fine editing to get it right.

Should I panic when the President, Provost, and Associate Provost will be attending a panel about a post-racial US and I'm the speaker?!

Gave my talk on a panel about critical race theory today. It went very well. One more major panel presentation to go and then I can breathe.

Absolutely loved Obama's appearance on the Dave Letterman show. "I was actually black before the election." I love that line! =D

I felt good about my Hobbes lecture; the discussion was amazing especially where Hobbes said there is no art in war. My students got mad! =D

Finally! I got time to sit and do my writing. Now I just have to figure out a way to schedule this time consistently.

PURE GOLD!

I think this is performed by the Portsmouth Sinfonia, a real orchestra from the Portsmouth School of Art in England in 1970. They had a very specific requirement for players: you had to be either a non-musician with no musical background at all, or if you were a musician, you had to play an instrument that was entirely new to you. Enjoy!

On This Labor Day ...

I'm working.

• One letter of recommendation down, two more to go (all of them are from Grinnellians).
• Two articles in the works, and no specific progress (but there two or three promising journals to solicit to).
• One article that is co-written that is slowly making its way through.
• One dissertation waiting to be reworked into a manuscript, and no plan for revisions (not to mention, no publisher either).
• One lecture on Hobbes that needs to be revised for the students including a powerpoint presentation, lecture notes, and discussion questions to think of.
• One lecture on introducing the nature, origins, and functions of the judiciary branch of the United States. It's all about Alexander Hamilton's Federalist #78.
• One meeting/dinner at an exhibition opening with the Board of Trustees of CCA.
• Two speaking engagements for CCA-organized panels on critical race theory, and the notion of a post-racial US.

But over the weekend, I did cook clams for the first time in black bean sauce with rice wine. It was yummy.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL!!!

Done with the first week of school. It'll be a good semester.

Soooo many students trying to add my courses and they don't know who I am as a teacher.