October 6, 1999

This update is a few days late, due to being more active than absolutely necessary.

Two weeks ago tomorrow, I flew to Chicago and then pressed on to Northern Illinois University at DeKalb.  On Friday, Sepatember 24th, I spoke to a group of students and faculty about "Solving Social Problems."  I was hosted by an old friend and colleague, Clint Jesser, and I enjoyed the talk.  Nobody booed or threw things, so I guess it was well received.  I flew back home Friday night.

Then, last Thursday, Sheila and I flew to New York City.  Bill Ryerson, founder of Population Media Center is friends with Paul Winter, the musician, and the Paul Winter Consort was presenting its annual Earth Mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.  Bill was able to get tickets from Paul and invited us to be his guests.  We were joined by Barbara Pyle of CNN.

The mass honors St. Francis of Assissi, and the cathedral was filled with animals.  People all around us had brought their dogs, cats, monkeys, parrots, snakes, pigs, and enough other species to stock an ark.  The animal-blessing procession was led by an elephant and a camel.  In addition to the Paul Winter Consort, there were gospel singers, several choirs (including one from Hardwick, VT--next door to our summer digs in Woodbury), dancers, and other elements of a festive occasion.  As this was a rare appearance for me at church, I decided to violate one of my more profound personal convictions and wear a tie.  I was one of the few people who did.
 

In addition to the mass, Sheila and I were able to visit friends and just walk the streets.  It's true what they say: New York is cleaner than we recalled.  (I hadn't been there in three years.)  As we recalled, however, there is always something happening in New York.  We stayed in a hotel on 42nd street, near the UN and spent some time in the Nigeria Independence celebration on Saturday.  When we left for the airport on Sunday, three of the southbound avenues were shut down for events, so we had competition getting out of the city to the Newark airport.  Nonetheless, 40 minutes with a kamikaze cab driver was better than nearly two hours on a non-air-conditioned bus going the other way on Friday.

Though I enjoyed both trips, I'm happy to have no trips planned until the end of the month.  I can live with being a homebody.
 

October 18, 1999

Didn't go anywhere these last two weeks.  Enjoyed it. Found plenty to keep me busy.

On the health front, my post-prostate recovery is still progressing satisfactorily.  A recent "spit test" (don't ask) indicates that my cortisol (relevant to adrenal glands) is way down, possibly indicating a high level of stress (go figure).  So now I'm being conscious about not getting stressed.  (Don't worry.  Be happy.)  (Don't drive in Southern California.)

I now in the process of looking at how to alter my ways of working.  Over the years, I've been a lone-wolf writer, and it now seems times to learn to play with others.  To that end, I am hiring a research assistant.  In the past, I've had trouble delegating anything, but I'm committed to breaking through that barrier now.

Finally, I've begun organizing my thoughts for a novel that'll knock everyone's socks off.  I think it's a sure fire winner, and I'm excited about it.  In large part, it has been coming to me early in the morning during basketball, so I now carry a little memo recorder to the gym.  More on this later.