So here we are on the precipice of another exciting semester with our hands in the air or our eyes closed depending on how you handle such excitement, or in Sue's case, a constant stream of obscenities intermingled with startled sideways looks as
if someone was sneaking up behind her. I kid I kid, but Sue is under quite a bit more pressure since being awarded (is that the right word? I don't think so) the position of Division Chair. The division thing is new at Newman, they used to have departments and then they put some departments together and called it a division. And so, the position Sue is wrestling with is also new which has made for some challenges, but she is rising to meet them if she has to strangle them with her bare hands. Sue is excited to teach latin this semester, the first time in a number of 
years that it's been offered at Newman and another opportunity for Sue to demonstrate her smartyness (I know, not a word. Ask Sue, she'll know what word I meant) She's also teaching another Origami class. I'm psyched to get underway. Looking forward to Printmaking, Layout and Production (my only Graphic Design class this time around), and Contemporary Art History. Not looking forward to Algebra (there goes my 4.0), and mildly intrigued by Intro to Psychology. I crammed in two more classes this passed summer session: World Civilizations 2 and Intro to Scripture. Completing a semester in fives weeks is pretty
insane (especially when you have five papers to write) but it brings me one step closer to being an unemployed college graduate. Along with teaching a class, Sue also took a class this summer, anatomy! What did I say about smartyness? She aced it, though she only audited the class so technically it never happened. Forget I said anything.
It's been an action packed summer. A few days after finishing up Intro to Scripture, Sue and I were on a plane for our three weeks in the
Northeast. We visited with Nan and Pop in Pennsylvania and managed to hang out a little with friends in the area. Thanks to the Folkerts for putting me up for a few days so I didn't have to sleep on Nan & Pop's vertebrae rearranging couch. We managed to get up
to Boston to visit with friends Diana and Vitali and the twins
Nadia and Kai and we got to see their new house, bought roughly
around the same time as ours. I have to say, as a seasoned New York driver, Boston is insane. The roads are faithfully modeled on the original colonial street plan: traffic circles instead of traffic lights and not a straight line anywhere in the city. Put this together with Northeast style congestion and I'll take my NYC kamikaze cabdrivers any day. But traffic was one thing we didn't do without. After three weeks, you almost expect to see actual tumbleweed on Wichita streets after all the traffic we contended with. Yes, I'm spoiled already.
Anyway, we spent a few days in beautiful southwestern Vermont with Sue's uncle Hall and 
aunt Clare surrounded by lush green mountains and relatively cool temps. They have a beautful piece of property right next to an old inn. Highlights: our visit to Hildene, Robert 
Todd Lincoln's grand estate and my breakfast with uncle Hall and his buddies the ROMEOs (Retired Old Men Eating Out).
aunt Clare surrounded by lush green mountains and relatively cool temps. They have a beautful piece of property right next to an old inn. Highlights: our visit to Hildene, Robert Todd Lincoln's grand estate and my breakfast with uncle Hall and his buddies the ROMEOs (Retired Old Men Eating Out). 
From there we made it to Corland NY and the surprise 40th birthday party for my oldest friend Greg. Greg, Stacey and their son Calvan moved upstate late last year and it was great to finally see their place and their cool
little town. It was also a rare opportunity these days for me to see nearly all my friends in one place. We spent the last week of our trip
in NYC and on Long Island. It was nice to visit some of my old stomps like a tasty meal at Uncle George's, one of Astoria's best Greek restaurants, not far from where I used to live. We visited the
Noguchi museum in Long Island city and Sue took me to see the musical Fela, about the life of afro-beat legend Fela Kuti, which was a lot of fun, awesome music and dancing. We even managed to stop in Flushing to visit the Shaolin Temple where I used to study.
But we also got to see some cool new things like the newly opened Highline, a section of elevated track on the lower westside of Manhattan
that used to be bring freight trains in and out of the Meatpacking district. The last train ran in 1980 and since then it has gone to ruin, the track bed covered by weeds. Then, after community pressure, the city renovated it, turning it into a cool public space, an elevated park and walkway, adding places to sunbath or hang out and leaving sections of track along with the weeds and 
other plants that they've added. So far, they've only opened Faze One, the southern-most section, but the rest of the line is set to open in the coming years.
other plants that they've added. So far, they've only opened Faze One, the southern-most section, but the rest of the line is set to open in the coming years.
Sadly, a few weeks before our trip, we found out that our kitty Sara was sick with lymphoma and as her health was deteriorating quickly, we were forced to put her to sleep before we left. She was a great kitty, always sweet, never acting out or giving us attitude. I had her for fourteen years, so it was naturally hard to make the decision, but it was time, she had 
a good life.
a good life. Finally, we are a week away from the arrival of my mom, who has retired from the Post Office and is set to relocate to Wichita. She has her apartment picked out in the Riverside area, right next to the Keeper of the Plains, close to parks, museums and downtown. She'll be able to live so much better here than she could manage if she retired in NY and, of course, it'll be great for Sue and I to have her around.
