Chicago Blues

A week into summer break has revealed the regressive influence of home; (just under) a year in school had me feeling like I'd grown up, but a week at home sends me back to high school. The familiar rules and expectations are like a slap on the face, insulting my "independence" (in quotations because the college situation is one of faux independence) and encroaching on my self-ownership. At the very least, I find comfort in the fact that I will be back in my beloved Chicago early August.

But, alas, I will refrain from complaining. There is little I can do but make the best of this.

On a slightly interesting note, I will share that I have been reading the manuscript of an unpublished book my father's friend wrote (and plans to rewrite for publishing in the coming years). It is a memoir, written close to twenty years ago, contextualized by the Cuban revolution. I don't suppose I should elaborate very much out of respect for this dear friend, who expressed his objections when informed I had been poring over his (ancient to him, I'm sure) words. Still, now that this draft has been dusted, I cannot pass up the opportunity to peruse; the published version will be no doubt infused with the wisdom of years, with a clarity that this version cannot have for lack of temporal separation from the events discussed. The years will have influenced his perspective, but his initial response—reactionary though it may have been—is valuable. I have the opportunity to bear witness, indirectly, to an evolution of thought and opinion regarding a period that has actively shaped all of whatever family history I am aware of.

Beyond that, I have set aside a few books to read this summer. A short list, in no semblance of order:

• Virginia Wolf's Orlando
• Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises
• Gabriel Gárcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude
• The Yeats Reader
• Cormac McCarthy's The Road
• The Essential Gwendolyn Brooks

Etc, etc. These are texts I have no excuse for not having read, but plan to right that wrong in the course of the next three months. I also plan on reading enough relevant texts to build a foundation for my classes next year (including my first English class at UChicago!).

With that, I have accomplished a feat—my first legit blog post in some time.

PS. What's up Matt Cluck?