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I can scarcely believe that it is the first of August, the swelteringest month of all the year.

Naturally, August 1 affords me a sense of relief, since it means that I have but one week left of Summer B at the University.  In retrospect, three classes was a big mistake.  I’ll do well–straight As, maybe–but it has come at a high cost: neglect of friends, chores, television, hobbies, etc.  I would say that the eye of the storm has just passed, though, since I have already turned in two of the four big papers I have due before next Friday.  The last two, however, may be the worst two, since for one of them–Age of Johnson–I haven’t the slightest idea what to write about.

The end of the semester also coincides with the start of the 2008 Summer Olympics, which I have looked forward to with great anticipation.  I love track and field, diving, men’s gymnastics, women’s beach volleyball, and, for some reason, rhythmic gymnastics, with the ribbon and the ball.  Each successive Olympic games, too, I am more and more amazed at the improved television technology.  In Athens they debuted a freeze-frame effect during the diving competition, where you could see the athlete’s entire dive in still pictures; it was fantastic.  This will also be the first Olympics I watch in HDTV, though just barely, since the TV here has ruined my life, with its pronounced white line across the top third of the screen, above which every shape is distorted beyond recognition.  Alas, this line falls precisely at eye-level for most human faces on screen.  It actually makes watching television an unpleasant experience.

I don’t recall if I mentioned it before, but I briefly saw Sandi last weekend when she came to town for the afternoon.  School work prevented me from spending any degree of quality time with her, and since most of the little time we were together was spent consuming Satchel’s Pizza, I felt like I didn’t really get to catch up with her as I’d have liked.  She and Jeff went to Prince Edward Island this summer–making stops in New York City on the way there and back.  This is the first summer in several years that I haven’t been able to make it down to see them in Miami, which is sadder now, since they bought a house within the last several months and it has a swimming pool!  In any case, what I don’t understand is why I didn’t bother to get a picture of Sandi, Kathleen and Steve when we had lunch together last Saturday.  I took a picture of Kathleen’s pizza, and the menu, but not my friends.  My constant reading and writing has me off my game.

Last, but not least, the flowers in the garden are all blooming–at least the ones that haven’t been eaten by caterpillars–which is beautiful.

Wooooo!  Wooooooooooo!  Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!  Woooo!

If i cam someone you once saw with any degree of frequency, you may be wondering where I have been. The short answer is that I have been at home reading - constantly.  I rather foolishly signed up for three classes this summer, which, due to the accelerated schedule, are held each day, all morning.  Since the instructors assume you aren’t crazy enough to have signed up for three classes, they have no qualms about assigning enormous quantities of reading.  There are two and a half weeks left in the semester, and, in addition to the three major papers I have to write before then, I still have to read Evelina, Persuasion and A Land Remembered.  That’s probably about a thousand pages of text, which doesn’t include the selected essays by Samuel Johnson I am reading on a daily basis (and which, by the way, are the best thing ever, and you should immediately go out and buy), plus assorted poetry and the entire second half of Florida: A Short History.  It’s overwhelming.  I am comforted by the knowledge that this, too, shall pass, and I will one day soon be able to do the things I once did, like go to dinner with friends, read the newspaper and watch television.

Five novels and five papers in the next three weeks, and the only thing I can think of is this:

I am notoriously fond of free time.  I enjoy having things to look forward to, but am far less enthusiastic about having such limited down time, as is my current condition.

Nevertheless, I must take a moment to congratulate the Gainesville Roller Rebels on an important milestone.  Yesterday, before a crowd of several hundred, GRR held their first intra-league bout in the sweltering heat of the Alachua County Fairgrounds.  The amount of planning and preparation for this event–the first ever roller derby exhibition in Gainesville–was phenomenal.  Let’s just say it rivaled the 2008 Olympics.  It’s not true, but let’s say it.

The team was split between “Sinners” and “Saints”, and they faced off against each other for three 20 minute periods, augmented by a few Jacksonville Roller Girls to make up for the GRR girls on the disabled list.  The costumes were adorable, the makeup fantastic, the energy was infectious, and the crowd was enormous.  It must be considered an unqualified success, even if the score was rather lopsided in the Sinners’ favor.

I took hundreds of photographs, of course, but those will have to wait until my many papers and reading assignments are behind me.  In the meantime, check out the Gainesville Sun’s article on the exhibition.  They had reporters and photographers there, as did TV-20, whose report aired on the 11 o’clock news last night.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the Alligator had an article tomorrow.

This is a great time for GRR.  I just wish I had more of a chance to enjoy it.