August dog days

Ok, so it is officially hot here on LI. Hot and muggy. Have I mentioned that it is hot... and muggy? If I wanted to live in Sumatra, I would move there.

August is a bittersweet time. I finally have some time with no teaching responsibilities and yet, fall semester looms around the corner and so I find myself preparing readings, notes and files for the fall semester. Anyone who thinks that college faculty have an easy schedule never taught with all the background stuff that needs to go on. Of course, every semester brings fresh hope that I might do a better job and get one person excited about philosophy. I certainly try.

Well, having gotten my whining over, I will turn to a more cheerful subject. Julie and Julia is a delightful movie with the amazing Meryl Streep, the actress par excellence of our time. A delightful set of parallel stories that works quite nicely. Highyl recommend it. It almost made me want to learn how to cook, almost.

Included here for your viewing pleasure is a shot at Saratoga. A race day that will go down in infamy as I lost virtually all my money on every race. You would think the law of odds would have come out at least once for me!