A Gift of Excellence

I've been ignoring this blog lately, mainly because I've been insanely busy with other projects (conference in Portugal, over two weeks in Zanzibar, reconciling all the Zanzibar receipts, finalizing the India trip [which has proven to be a much bigger pain than I would have thought], starting to organize next fall's Jordan trip, the Horizons Learning Adventures prep, etc.).  Plus, in some ways I haven't felt that I've had anything interesting to say. My two busiest blog years were dominated by my Proust reflections and the Discography music discussions. I'm one of those people who gets busier, and more efficient, the busier I am; I'm like one of those border collies that needs chores or I start tearing up the furniture - also, the less I do the less I do.  So, I've been thinking about a couple big blog-related projects, but more on that later.

In the meantime I'll just try and post a couple pictures to get me going.  Here's a gift that my student John Van Egas brought me back from Mexico.  John is a graduating senior this semester, and is also taking me for the fifth time.  This is a record, breaking a tie with several other students over the years.  I'm often amazed when a student takes me once, let alone five times.

Wait for it . . .

Yes, I've been falling this wretched team for almost fifty years and there is a definite logic to this.