Charlie's Amateurish Summer Reading List: A New Feature, with no extra charge!

Reading lots of books in the Summer. Certainly itz a coping mechanism, a way of dealing with being locked out of the school that I love…I know itz part of a process of denial, of self-medication…A vehicle from which to forget about all my “above average” students and their hunger for knowledge. All teachers go through this angst during these depressive summer months, some go to Alaska, some go mountain biking in Colorado, some drink in their hot-tubs…for me I try to get through these dark times by reading lots of books. So I am embarking on a new amateurish feature on this website. An inconsistent feature, none-the-less, dedicated to promoting or demoting the particular book that I am currently reading…Right now I am reading, Speaking of Faith by Krista Tippett [Creator and host of Public Radio’s Speaking of Faith]. It is most excellent, the following is a brief excerpt:

“In Christianity alone among the major religious traditions, sharp battle lines have been drawn since the Enlightenment between the content of knowledge that religion describes and the form of knowledge that science pursues. The extremes of both positions are intolerant toward the very notion of the other worldview. They calcify into political modes of ideology and combative certainty. They collapse the sense of mystery that is as alive at the heart of science as of religion, two kindred never-ending pursuits of revelation and discovery…”

It is a great read, [five stars out of four stars] and highly compelling, highly rational, highly hopeful and inspiring, yet realistic and complex, and most of all; highly thought-provoking…Ms. Tippett is a top notch journalist and humanitarian. There are still so many great things about America...I just hope we can survive another 16+ long months of the NEO-CONS w/o too much more permanent damage to our society and to our global reputation, but I digress... From the jacket cover: “She came up with the idea for Speaking of Faith while consulting for the internationally renowned Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research at Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minnesota.” Note: This author spent three undergraduate semesters studying at Saint John’s University where I took two political courses from the late Dr. James Murphy, probably the best teacher I ever had, so it goes…Ironically, I found St. John's U. to be too narrowly focused for my youthful chaotic, hedonistic game plan...But in any event, Read this book as it’s a call for a reflective effort by all of us to get back on track, get back to thinking and acting upon what is truly important about the American Experience…This book is available at the Duluth Public Library. I'll be done with it in a few dayz, so go check it out...

Wanton Waffling: Worked on the race course with da boyz out at Mont du Lac...itz gonna be a great course, a REAL MOUNTAIN BIKE COURSE...The fun is this Sunday...Experts race @ 1:00 P.M. I am pumped!!!!