All a dream

I have discovered a wondrous ability to dream. I start by meditating on something and gradually I fall asleep. I am immediately in a dream-like state. The other day I went from meditating to dreaming to awake again in under ten minutes. It is a great way to nap.

Unfortunately, Portland seems like a dream. I remember the students faces, going to my office, and apartment, but it seems so surreal... almost as if I had never been there. I realize that I was there, but it is all fuzzy and gray in my mind. Maybe it really was fuzzy and gray there... It was Portland.

Summer break

The semester is over, the final grades are in, and I am going to enjoy being with my family. The last four months away were a good experience, but they were long. Now I get to enjoy the fruits of the academic lifestyle... summer break (without a paycheck until 1 October).

My to do list:
write two publishable papers
prepare two classes
buy a house in a deflating real estate market
move to California
perform all of my domestic duties
lose 20 pounds

Ambitious? yes. Manageable? who knows.

My Ferrari Weekend

I slipped away to Cannon Beach to grade papers. After I graded them all (about 80), I went downtown to see the annual Ferrari show. This is the view down the side street with the cars. Not only were there Ferraris but there were Mazaratis, DeTomasas, Lamborghinis, and a few others.


I was totally surprised when I saw this F40 with its hatch open. I spent a significant amount of time looking at the transmission, intakes, engine, and other farkles. Needless to saw, I am sure that it is a safe car, but I wouldn't want to get in a fender-bender with it.

I was also impressed to see this machine on the road. The Maclaren - Mercedes Benz SLR is everything you could expect from those names. It has a gigantic hood that looks cartoonish. They say that it can get from 0-60 in 3 seconds. This one had a license plate holder that offered napkins for the droolers. I guess you can expect that from a car with a base price in the $400Ks.
In the end, I couldn't choose where to spend my money. So, I got both the 308 and the 328. Who can argue with their class?