Back from Oberlin

Had a nice time in Oberlin, despite all the warnings we got prior to going about the terrible weather in the Cleveland area.

(Saw this igloo on Oberlin's campus on Tuesday. By Wednesday it had mostly melted away.)

Got some good productive time in at Oberlin's Archives, thanks to the kind help of Roland Baumann, Ken Grossi, and Tammy Martin (and their assistants). Thanks, all!

We had dinner Monday night with our friend ERG, who came to Oberlin to visit. Had a great time with him!

We also got some needed shopping in. (It's nice to be able to buy shoes in a place where the clerks don't keep reminding you that you have big feet...)

I read three books on the flight there and back. On the way over, I read From Evangelicalism to Progressivism at Oberlin College, 1866-1917 by John Barnard (available for free online at OSU's Knowledge Bank). On the way back, helped by a 3-hour delay on the runway due to a heavy crosswind, I read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and Ordeal by Slander by Owen Lattimore. Good books! (See, I don't just buy 'em...)

But now it's back to work. Classes begin March 1, so I have syllabi to write and a few days to get some quality dissertating time in. So... talk to y'all later...

[Update: And now I can see what we just missed, weather-wise...]

But I still love you, Internet...

Here's one reason why...

"And you know, I don't even feel any withdrawal symptoms..." (he said, his lips trembling...)

Our home has been without Internet service for the past few days (lousy phone company), but we haven't had time to call them to find out what's wrong. And we don't miss it that much, either. So the former native Chinese speaker and I decided tonight that we're going to cancel our ADSL service at home. And I feel pretty good about it, actually. (But I wonder if I'll start to gain weight...)