The good old summertime

It's been a while since I gave a personal update, and now it's summertime I feel things are slowing down enough to blog (yay!).
Saying good-bye to the rhodies, hello to the foxgloves!


This spring was very busy, both in work and in personal life.  A few things I did:
  • Took a volunteer job for a four-day weekend outdoors.  Very stressful, but I learned a lot from the challenge.
  • Went on an elimination diet for several weeks.  It didn't help my skin issues, but I lost some weight(!).
  • Mentored (and continue to mentor) new employees at work.
My (very basic) microphone setup.

The best book I read in the last month or two is The Sea-Wolf by Jack London, which I reviewed (spoiler-free!) on my classic literature podcast.  There's nothing like reading a sea story, and I think it's my favorite genre for summer reading.  :)

Other spring/early summer reads:
  • Short stories by Shiga Naoya.  While I didn't enjoy the collection that much, it still makes me want to read more Japanese literature.
  • All My Sons and Death of a Salesman, plays by Arthur Miller.  He's truly talented, but the stories are very depressing.
  • That Hideous Strength (currently reading), the last book of C. S. Lewis's Space Trilogy.  A podcast review of the first two books will be coming out tomorrow (Monday, July 3rd).
  • Hero (currently reading), by Michael Korda.  A coworker and fellow history enthusiast was kind enough to lend me this 2010 biography of T. E. Lawrence (and you know how I feel about T. E.).  Looking forward to focusing on this tome as soon as I finish The Space Trilogy.
I'm halfway through the year, which means I need to decide whether to catch up on my own Sherlock Holmes challenge or officially abandon it (ugh).  It may have been a mistake to try to re-read it at this time.  I try to avoid re-reading because my TBR list of books I haven't read before is so long.  Haven't decided yet...
Roses growing at my old college campus.

This month, I'm also participating in Camp NaNoWriMo.  I usually work on one of my novels, but this year I'm writing a "semi-autobiographical novel/memoir" in the format of This Side of Paradise.  I don't expect to finish the entire project this July, but if I get most of it written, that will be good progress.

A very happy July to you all (and happy Independence Day for those of us in the U.S.!)!

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