Ramping up for the Fall

I've taken a bit of a break from blogging recently, due mostly to extensive end-of-summer travels, and the need for a bit of respite before returning to the academic wheel. In addition to visiting my good college friends Nick and Joe (immortalized from an earlier visit above) on the West Coast last week, I've just returned from a short, but very worthwhile foray into Austin. In other personal interest fronts, I've found out that I will likely be (finally!) teaching my own class in the spring, in addition to having been granted the plum of the TAing assignments in the fall--assisting Paul Woodruff for the first half of his Plan II seminar. Things facultative are well in hand, now about that dissertation....