December 1, 2008 It's good to be back in Ann Arbor. My Mom and Dad still live in the house I grew up in, so it's always a bit of a trip coming back here. Still it's very nice. The first couple of weeks I was in town, I was too busy with a campus visit, interviews, and two conferences to attend to really get the feel of things much. I just had a night or two here and there, and mostly just did my laundry and had some very compressed reunions with old friends. I bought a record from my friend Matt, and even had one relaxing bike ride (up through Ann Arbor Hills, Gallup Park, back downtown and home again through Burns Park). But still, the first two weeks were mostly about work. Then I came back from Washington on Tuesday and Thanksgiving hit followed by a visit from relatives, and only now do I feel like I'm here visiting in Ann Arbor. I went to Pinball Pete's yesterday, and saw that I still have the all-time high score on the Theater of Magic pinball game, a score three times higher than the second highest score, which is also held by me. I've also bought a couple more records, most recently two vinyl discs by Yusuf Lateef. Being able to listen to records again is one of the nicest things about being back in the US. I love being able to shut off my computer and listen to music through a medium which reminds me of my youth. If I end up living in Turkey, I resolve to get a record player over there somehow and to start building up a collection there. This week is a busy one. I'm going on another campus visit on Sunday, and need to prepare two talks. One of the talks is pretty much set, but I'm still struggling with the second one. All the same, it's a far more humane schedule than I've had for the last six weeks. Only two talks to prepare in five days? Oh sure, no sweat. It's still way better than it's been any time since mid-October.