A lovely morning in Griffith park, overlooking the city, with a splendid view of downtown Los Angeles. In this photo (click for larger view), everything is lovely and clear after the recent rain. I’ll admit that I took this last Sunday and not this one. Somehow, procrastination, two loads of laundry, a batch of sweet potato biscuits, and staying up until 3:00am all contributed to me not getting up there this morning. Perhaps later.
For me, overviewing physically (as in the above) is always welcome, but it is also good to do so in other ways. I’ve been in that mode recently too. Friday and Saturday saw me brainstorming in a group of 20 or so other USC professors at a retreat over at a beach side hotel in Santa Monica. We’re dreaming up ways in which we might reach beyond the typical specialist-type education of graduate students and foster broader and wiser, thinkers. Still masters in their chosen fields (no intention of compromising on that), but much more well informed by other fields than has become the norm. It is an interesting challenge. We shall see where it leads. It is of course always nice to sit and think pointedly with ones distinguished colleagues, especially in pleasant surroundings. At the very least, one gets to meet them (if one had not already) and know them better, which also contributes greatly to the operation of the university.
I’ve also finished my various manuscripts for those papers I’ve been trying to get completed. It means that I can now work on the primary project I’ve been planning to work on this semester, and so I’ve been sitting back and overviewing for that too. Perhaps I’ll mention a bit more on that later, but right now I feel the urge to head downtown for a wander and to do some errands.
-cvj
