Unannounced Hiatus

Dear Reader,

I apologize for my unannounced hiatus. Several time-consuming things all collided unexpectedly about three weeks ago. As a result, I haven't had much time to sit down for regular meals let alone pick up a book. However, it's been a highly productive time:

• I finished my practicum binder for teaching certification. Probably the most time-consuming of all the things listed here and certainly the event that pushed my out of my groove. The binder is about 5 inches thick and fully indexed. It's the kind of thing that isn't really hard, only tedious and fully of picky details. I'm glad it's over.
• I led a school trip to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. Which, if you are local and haven't been lately, are well worth a look. In the last ten years, the Gardens has put together a number of inventive exhibits and artistic collaborations to entice the public. One of my favorites was the Chihuly exhibit in 2004. The current exhibit, "Imaginary Worlds," consists of amazing botanical sculptures. I actually saw several of the sculptures when they were still wire work and scaffolding. The transformation was amazing and the kids had a great time trying to figure out how the sculptures were constructed.
• Brian Wilson & Jeff Beck Concert in Chastain Park October 4th. For those unfamiliar, Brian Wilson was one of (arguably the) the major creative forces behind The Beach Boys and Jeff Beck was a similar force to the Yardbirds. The show was split between these two power house starting with Wilson whose music I was already familiar with. Beck I was not so familiar with and was shocked by the sheer compositional richness. I guess it could be described as a rock version of instrumental jazz. It was amazing and surprising and very, very loud.
• Paid-Off my student loans. Yay. See ya Sallie Mae. (Of course with my luck I'll end up with new loans through Sallie Mae when I go to grad school.)
• Started my stint as Junior Varsity Boys Basketball Assistant Coach. It's a new role for me and I can't say whether I'm excited or trepidatious, but I know it will be interesting. 

Luckily, life moves on and the hectic times are past for a time. In the aftermath, I'm trying to reestablish my reading routines and have reduced  my massive pile of "to-read" lists into a short list of 10 books.

1. Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
2. The Elementals by Francesca Lia Block
3. The Frenzy by Francesca Lia Block
4. The Waters and the Wild by Francesca Lia Block
5. The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring by Jenet Conant
6. Forgotten Garden by Kate Morten
7. The All New Square Foot Garden by Mel Bartholomew
8. Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
9. The Toss of Lemon by Padma Viswanathan
10. Monster of God by David Quammen