Friday Varia and Quick Hits

Over the last ten days the snow has all but disappeared and twice over the last week we’ve seen temperatures closer to 50 than to 0. It’s been wonderful, but all a bit abrupt. Today we’ve been told to expect a lot of wind which will bring more seasonal temperatures to the region this weekend. 

I do plan to fire up the smoker this weekend for the first time in a few months and try my hand at beef brisket. I’m also looking forward to catching some of the the NCAA basketball, the Cup guys at the first road course of the weekend at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, and the Formula 1 guys take on their first street course at Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. This morning, I’m enjoying Australia pressing for a result in their final test in Pakistan and I can’t wait to watch Miguel Berchelt return to the ring and watch Kiko Martinez vs. Josh Warrington on Saturday. 

As usual, I have a whole stack of things to read that range from a half-finished novel to a pile of articles, a draft manuscript, a couple of books on Babylon, a dissertation on transnational archaeology, and (perhaps best of all) a whole gaggle of undergraduate creative writing projects to read for a local contest!

These will be my excuse for a rather meager list of quick hits and varia this morning:

• Pasts Imperfect magically has returned!

• Life lessons from Late Byzantine rural communities.

• Malcolm X and the Sudanese.

• From Opium to Saffron, the Ancients Knew a Thing or Two About Drugs.

• Writers at UND.

North Dakota’s First Literary Landmark.

UND’s 53rd Annual Writers Conference.

• Why Pursue a Career in the Humanities?

• Isolarii.

• Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch.

• Stereophile’s Recommended Components for 2022.

• What am I reading: Laura Ng, “An Archaeology of Chinese Transnationalism.” PhD Thesis, Stanford University 2021.

• What am I listening to: Isiah J. Thompson, Composed in Color.