Going from Suck to Blow

Now that I'm done with classes, I'm looking forward to a summer of reading and writing in preparation for my prelim this fall, designing various work-related websites and perhaps getting a part-time job for a few extra hours a week. I just found out this weekend that our neighbors across the street own the coffee shop two blocks away and I applied for a part-time job there, so it'd be cool if that works out. If not, I also applied at the Apple Store at the mall, but I'm not sure I'd actually want that - too much temptation.

I haven't been blogging much lately, but I'm sure that'll change as the summer boredom sets in. I've been reading a bunch lately and I've discovered that I work sort of like the leaf blower we just sold at our garage sale Saturday: I have two modes, suck (read) and blow (write), and I have a hard time doing both at the same time. (I know, I cannot believe I just made that analogy either.) But anyway, I'll blow a few random chunks here and see if I can get anything more constructive going in the next few days:

- If you've got to buy gasoline (or diesel), and unfortunately, virtually all of us do, better to buy it from the Chavez's than the Cheney's. Find your local Citgo here.

- Joe Satriani's got a full live concert webcast here. It's fantastic. So is Aimee Mann's new cd.

- It's true: Kansas really is flatter than a pancake.

- Speaking of Kansas, with the so-called "evolution debates" in the news: if you want to read more about evolution, check out Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Dan Dennett. I just finished it and it's really interesting. I've been reading quite a bit about stuff that's at the intersection of evolutionary biology, cognitive science and psychology lately and if these topics interest you, I've found there's a great many authors out there who are writing about them very well. In addition to Dennett, check out books by Steven Pinker, Matt Ridley, Antonio Damasio and Judith Harris. Sociologists have typically been pretty hostile towards this line of research, but I'm becoming more and more interested in what they might offer sociology. I know at least one thing so far: they've got much better writers than sociology.

- I wish I got mail from Kurt Vonnegut.

- Did you or someone you know give money to the tsunami relief efforts? Read all about the global "reconstruction industry." It's not very pleasant.