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And we're back!
After a wonderful and extremely relaxing week in Michigan, it's time to get back in the groove here. For those with any interest, you'll find a few highlights from our vacation on ambivalent images (just click back through the last week of photos, or start here and go forward). Mostly we fished, played cards, read books, watched movies (in addition to Spiderman 2, I saw Paycheck and 50 First Dates) and ate too much great food. It was great times, but all good things must end, and so it's back to work here.
As everyone certainly knows by now, while we were away, Kerry picked Edwards as his running mate, so it's going to be John & John v. George & Dick. What else did I miss? Not only was I in a virtual Internet blackout (L's parents have a dialup connection so I did check email a couple of times, but no real surfing), but I was also in a virtual NPR and newspaper blackout, meaning my only source of information about the outside world was Fox News, CNN, and local tv news. After a week of that, the only thing I remember is something about Scott and Laci Peterson. TV has become a horrible source for news, unless you're watching The Daily Show or NOW with Bill Moyers on PBS. (Speaking of which, Tivo saved last Friday's edition for us and the interview with Thomas Frank about how the so-called "culture wars" have increased Americans' tendencies to vote against our own best interests is definitely worth your while.)
Anyway, even though it was a week ago now, I hope everyone had a happy Fourth of July. I'll be playing catchup around here for a while, but things should be more or less back on track...
Posted July 12, 2004 06:35 AM | life generally
Welcome back! I'm glad you enjoyed your trip to Michigan - and while it will take awhile to catch up, I've found that occasionally disconnecting from the world helps put it into perspective.
Posted by: kmsqrd at July 12, 2004 08:35 AM
Welcome back, ditto what she said! :)
Posted by: DG at July 12, 2004 05:53 PM
Yeah, welcome back. I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say about The Corrections. It's one of the better novels I've read in the last three years or so.
Posted by: Steve at July 12, 2004 09:52 PM
Travel does put things in perspective, but I'm beginning to distrust that perspective b/c it seems like all I want to do when returning from vacation is take more vacation. Taking time away from the humdrum of everyday life doesn't tend to make me appreciate that humdrum, it tends to make me crave more time away. In my mind and dreams I'm on permanent vacation.
Steve: I'd really like to deliver some cogent comments on The Corrections but I'm not sure what I'll have to add to all the hubbub that surrounded the novel when it first came out. I agree, though, that it was a great read, and it's a great book. It's unfortunate how Franzen handled his 15 minutes of fame, but that doesn't necessarily mean the book is any less great.
Posted by: ambimb at July 13, 2004 06:26 AM
The truly unfortunate thing about Franzen's actions is that I think he ultimately caused Oprah to kill her book club. Say what you want about Oprah, but she exposed a lot of writers to a greater audience and got a lot of people interested in reading some usually decent writing. I think part of the reason Oprah's new book club focuses on older or death authors is because she won't have to put up with the silly elitism Franzen displayed.
Posted by: Steve at July 13, 2004 11:16 AM
