A friend commented yesterday that I must be busy since I haven’t posted anything in a while. Indeed, I’ve been so busy that I haven’t even realized that I haven’t posted anything in a while. I think, too, that I’m still searching for a raison d’etre and an audience for this blog. It’s certainly clear to me that running a blog updated on a daily basis is not for me, at least not now. I’ve had many things that I thought worth posting in the last few months, especially with travel, but I’m going so hard and so long that I just don’t have time to do it. Thus there’s been nothing about Cyprus (March) or Turkey (April) here.
The summer started for me on Sunday morning when our students flew out. I have 9 days before a seminary group arrives (and then 3 weeks of a “full” schedule). I have so many projects in the works that I really don’t know where to start. Yesterday I was supposed to go to court about the traffic accident, but was able to get out of that (still going 2.5 years later). Tomorrow I have a lunch invite with the prior at Ecole Biblique. I think he thinks I’m someone important; he’ll be surprised, like others before. I get a tour of the school and library, which I’ve long wanted. Next week, I hope to get my medium-format slide scanner back from the shop (it broke shortly after purchase), and plan to start scanning a large collection of old and interesting slides. Today I worked for a while on some b/w photos from the turn of the century, developing a collection from them on “Manners and Customs.” I think this collection will be very popular and I look forward to the day of its completion.
I have a dozen other thoughts running through my head, but instead I’ll close with my initial motivation for writing – I stumbled across this photo I had intended to post earlier this year. It was Luke’s birthday party at his kindergarten and one of the regular “festivities” is when the birthday boy gets to chase the kids around with a sharp object in order to pop their balloons. I wonder if they still allow such things in the States. Of course, in the States they probably don’t give out toy guns as school prizes either. Or try this one – a colleague’s third grade daughter was shown “The Matrix” in class by a substitute teacher.
Todd, just letting you know that I check your blog at least twice a day to see if it’s updated, and I know several IBEXers that check frequently. Thanks for all your hard work that is poured out into students’ lives