wet school hols

This is a long weekend and so, as if holidays and weather are determined by forces outside human understanding, it is cold and raining. It is also the middle of the school holidays, so the confluence of these mysterious events is doubly evident. But we have no real holiday plans, so staying indoors is just fine. This morning I had a swim at Lawson Pool (9 Deg. out, 26 Deg. in). The water was steaming in the chill air. Swimmers moved quickly between change room and pool; through my misted goggles they appeared as pale spectres dashing for cover.

Lately, as I briefly alluded to in the previous post, I have been listening to podcasts on my non-ipod mp3 player. A lot. Most of these recordings are news oriented, generally, political, specifically, American. I have found a number of sites, such as NPR, PBS, Slate and the New York Times that intelligently cover the current race within the Republican Party to find a nominee for the general election at the end of next year. It's interesting because firstly, it isn't Australian politics (which means I don't have an emotional connection) and secondly, the race is genuinely fascinating. I won't bore you with the details of my fascination, except to say that the US is a remarkable democracy comprising many larger than life characters. Running for President might be the toughest thing a person could ever do in a lifetime.

I have also been reading more since Nadia very kindly gave me a Kindle for Father's Day. While it tends to tie me to Amazon, there is such a vast trove of free and pay texts there that I don't really mind. I love the text interface (what's wrong with page? -ed.) which looks like the real thing. No back-lighting either, which gives my eyes a break. The temptation to load the reader with hundreds of free texts is always there, but I have been trying to practice discernment, the enemy of mass consumerism. Anyway, I do like the Kindle.

Finally there have been a lot of social events on our calendar - birthdays, gigs, visits by overseas friends - which have kept us busy. As I write, Nadia is recording harmonies for the band she is in. She is become more accomplished with every rehearsal.