Finished!

I passed the oral exam but I wouldn't say it was with flying colors. I hadn't realized that there were three grades I could receive- pass, pass with distinction and fail- until I spoke with a former classmate the night before the exam. I passed but not with distinction so when I was done, I was feeling a bit down on myself.  Not that I thought that I was that great during the exam. I did a bad job on the first question about the way in which liberalism changed from 1898 to 1945 which I think set the tone for the rest of the exam. I made a statement which caused the professor to raise her eyes in disagreement and then it was kind of downhill from there. I thought I did an okay job on the other questions but nothing that merited distinction. I almost felt like I was a beneficiary of "social promotion:" they couldn't very well fail me as I had gotten all A's in the courses I took in the program. As the exam has receded, I am feeling better about finishing. I might even have a graduation party in January.  Of course, if I hadn't talked to the classmate, I wouldn't have known about the the two levels of passing and would have been okay with the result. What I am pleased about is that I can now count myself among the 75% of persons with post-graduate degrees who disapprove of Trump. What a disaster the next four years will be!

Countdown to the oral exam

I have been spending quite a lot of time reading and prepping for the oral exam for my master's degree. It is scheduled for this Thursday, December 8 at 11 am. I asked whether it will be a back and forth and if I will get any further questioning from my interrogators as I answer.  I was told "no" so I will talk non-stop for an hour. I am very happy to be done.

Thinking of having my band do this song



 

A Sort of Disturbing Exhibit

It probably isn't designed to be that way but it is.  PostSecret: The Power of a Postcard is an exhibit of post cards on which people write their darkest hidden secrets, sent to an address somewhere in Maryland. There are a lot of heartbreaking ones to read about lost or unrequited love, miserable relationships, disappointed parents and children. 

Prepping for my oral exam

Not with a dentist, but with a panel of my professors. I need  to answer nine questions posed to me on topics from the courses I took. The exam is an hour so that averages about seven minutes per answer. I need to clarify whether it is a monologue of me blathering for the entire time or a dialogue where they will ask me more questions or challenge some of my statements. Previous classmates have assured me that i will do fine but still I have been doing lots of reading. I know that I can be very inarticulate and inexpressive so I will need to be well-prepared. Presuming I pass, I will get my degree in January. Maybe I will have the grduation party I never had when I finall finished my bachelors at 29 years old.

After a drive through central PA

Also known as Pennsyl- tucky. Not surprising but still.

But just in case

Hotel rooms in Boston

It is amazing how expensive hotels rooms in Boston have become. I need one for an upcoming business trip and all of the old stand-byes are either sold out or well over $500 per night, which with hotel taxes means more like $575. The Westin Copley is $607. The Taj, formerly the Ritz Carlton across from the Public Gardens is a relative bargain at $579. The new Ritz is $807. Even Air BnB is not much of a bargain. Most of the desirable places are over $300. I think I will be relegated to staying in the suburbs and commuting in-- not a very attractive proposition-- since travel policy is quite stingy.

My New favorite Toy

Loopy is a great time waster when I am traveling. It lets me create little music compositions with just my vocals.  I also practice guitar solos as a chord progression loops over and over. What a bargain for $3.99!

As much as I dislike Billy Joel, here he is demoing Loopy with Jimmy Fallon.



 

Can a Friday get much worse?

I thought I'd start the day off right with a yoga class at 6:30 am. Things were going well until the sun salutation. While bringing my left leg back to plank, I slammed my big toe in the my yoga mat. The pain was instant but I was able to finish the class. I iced it throughout the day but by evening it resembled a small purple plum from the bruising and swelling. Bad enough, right. Then I had a good show with my band at a winery   but I somehow misplaced my wallet when we were packing up. So I needed to cancel all of my cards and get a new driver's license. Of course, a Friday could have gotten much, much worse, but this was a pretty bad one. Toe is recovering fine and new cards are on their way.

UPDATE 8/24/16 : I found my wallet in my car in the only place I didn't thoroughly search. And better yet, there was still $80 in it.

Training for my 13th half marathon

I just put together my training plan for the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Philly on 9/18. It will be my 8th time running that one and my 13th in total. With any luck, I will still be doing them in 10 years when I will move up to yet another age category. My goal has been to run at a pace which would qualify me for the Boston Marathon but I am realizing that unless I hire a running coach, that will probably never happen. (The other factor is that now Boston only takes marathon results, not half.) It's just a fact that, as I age,  I am slowing down. I ran a 10K on July 4th under very good conditions - flat course, low humidity, mid-70s, lots of shade. My goal was to run it in less than 50 minutes. I thought I was pushing myself more than normal but still did it in 51:40. That was faster than last year which was hot and humid but still somewhat disappointing. On the bright side, I was 6th of 46 runners in my age group so still respectable. The fastest in my age group was among the fastest runners in the whole race. If I had done 49:50, I'd have been 4th so not that much of a difference really. I'd still like to do another marathon but only if it's a destination one, like Paris, Dublin or Lisbon. If I am going to spend all of the time training, it should be worth it. All three of those are open marathons so no need to qualify. But, for right now, it's #13 in Philly.

Looks like a nice place!

For some reason, I have started getting emails a few months ago from this resort, which looks to be very elegant and very pricey too.

 
Little Palm Island Resort and Spa from Noble House Hotels and Resorts on Vimeo.

Catch the Old Rockers before They Die

I really wish I would have seen Prince again before he died. I had seen him back when Purple Rain came out in 1985 and he was great. I have a tendency to forget how good performers are and let them pass through town without even trying to see them. That happened with Bob Marley, whom I had seen in college when Rastaman Vibration came out. He was through my town twice after that and then he went and died on me. So now I have a list of performers I need to see before they go. I saw Merle Haggard last June. I have Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan and Neil Young on my list. Also some country performers like Loretta Lynn.  Paul McCartney will be in both New York and Philly but he sold out. Dylan will be here next month so I hope to catch him.

I also missed this great performance of Prince at the Super Bowl. I think I was at a meeting or doing something I liked a lot more.


 

This made my weekend!

Still a bad season but all the same....

Hurray!

Mission accomplished!

This is as good an historiographic essay as I have read in any grad colloquium I've taught at *******. I don't usually like the form. But, if they all read and were put together as thoughtfully and elegantly as yours, I would happily read more of them. It is banal for teachers (as you no doubt know) to say they learned from their students' work. But I really did learn from this.

Just 10 pages...

of a a term paper stands between me and a master's degree.

Rhapsody is still going, but not necessarily strong

Rhapsody predated Spotify by at least ten years but somehow it never really caught on. I still like it especially the radio stations, which have introduced me to lots of new music I never would have found.

 

My laugh for the day and the month and maybe the year

It's been a tough season for my Man United but this was priceless.

New Venture from a Former Colleague

A former colleague who decided to get out of the book business has started an interesting new enterprise. http://local-expeditions.com/    I have an acquaintance who would make a perfect guide so have put him in touch with her.

Gig this Saturday Night

Our one and only scheduled 2016 gig is this Saturday night. I may try to see if I can figure a way to live stream it from the band web site. I will have to do some searching around though I would bet that it is possible on YouTube.

Happy New Year

2016. Thirty years ago doesn't seem that long ago but thirty years from now will be 2046. Even ten years ago doesn't seem that long ago. Ten years from now I am hoping that I can still hike to such beautiful places like Joshua Tree and run 13 miles in less than two hours.