Return Trip to Italy for Dig this Summer is now Confirmed

I just got word I was able to secure my position as a staff member on the excavation in central Italy again. It was good this job came through again because the administration and funding of the site moved to a completely different institution on the east coast. Thankfully, I proved valuable enough last year that the new administration will fund my return and costs in Italy, which I can add to the additional summer funding I already have put in place from my school. I'm trying to horde some of the money from my studio job so I can have a completely kickass summer and decompress my brain again. It should allow me to stay in Italy for about 6 weeks from the beginning of July with a pretty good budget to have a great time and still have plenty of money for the remainder of the summer when I will be able to stay in Oregon until the end of Sept. The arrangement of things this year should be much better than last year for a variety of reasons. The break from my present routine will be of the utmost importance in maintaining sanity. I'd give anything to be in Rome right now, but it is coming soon enough. Now I'm off to a birthday party for a 1 year old girl with some friends.

The Drudgery of Academic Exile

I'm rapidly being drained of all passion and zest for life by my present academic situation. I've pretty much become a vacant entity that processes information throughout he day, relays that information to a few students and faculty, assimilates more information, eats some shoddily prepared food as quickly as possible, returns to small room in apartment, processes necessary interactions on computer, physically works out at a minimal level to keep blood flowing, returns to computer and books, lays down when back is tired and watches short bursts of tv while back stretches out, gets back up and processes info in isolation until 3am, sleeps 4.5 hours, gets up and does it all again in an endless monotony. The only time I have any life is during the holidays or when I travel abroad. I have another year and a half of existing in this hellish cocoon if everything goes smoothly. I'm hoping to break the drudgery if I can get back to Italy, but that is unknown at this point. I fondly miss the prior balance I had in my life in years past when I remember what it was to have a good time and not be thoroughly oppressed by a crushing schedule. I used to be able to have a life and get the necessary work done because the requirements were considerably less. I'm not sure there will be much left of me after all of this if I can't change some things. I am presently trying to secure a new living situation in a different area where I can try to build an actual life, but time is a problem. I advise everyone to never allow your life to become as fragmented as mine where the fundamental components of life are spread over three states in a way that stretches you so thin there is nothing left of you. Nevertheless, I will endure and give the finger to the world until the next phase of my life initiates a new transformation. I will live like a Taoist monk for a year and go with the flow until I shed my skin again in the next phase of my life. The only fundamental truth is that some level of change is inevitable. Thus spoke TIS.

Blog Reengagement

My apologies on dropping off planet. I will attempt to be more diligent in posting. Just went through a mild earthquake, which was moderately amusing. Schedule is ridiculous this quarter as I am TAing, grading as a reader for the survey of the Roman Empire course, taking both a Latin course on Tacitus and Greek course on Xenophon, history seminar on Romanization, all while serving as a historical consultant, for which I was anonymously referenced in a recent show promotional tour by the show-runner. For now, I will not allow my name to be formally attached to the project so that I can insulate my future academic reputation from such a stylized/CGI/graphic novel style show. The show will be designed to appeal to a pop culture audience, but I am providing primary sources on a variety of background topics as well as direct suggestions rooted in real historical context. However, the sources themselves are extremely thin in ways that allow them to make up purely dramatic plotlines for their own particular vision. They are making a very concerted effort though. In any case, we'll see how it goes and I hope it does well. This thing will probably be even so raw as to offend those with delicate sensibilities, moreso than HBO because this is the first time this show-runner has been unleashed from the restricitions of his past shows, but you all know I laugh at such weak sensitivity in this mollified society. Strength and Honor!

Snowed in!

Quarter is finally done. Leavenworth went great as I enjoyed excessive Bavarian style food and drink. I'm more in the holiday spirit now, and am presently snowed in with over a foot of powder at the homestead. I'm going to enjoy some Irish mead my brother brought me from his last trip to the land of leprechauns. Mead works well on a cold day. I'm shutting off my brain for a few days. I suggest everyone do the same. Be well!

Paper Done - On to grading - Need to Catch 6am Flight

Quarter is nearly complete as I just turned in my research paper on early Christian identity formation under the domination of the Roman imperial structure. Fun times with violent martyr accounts in the arena and the dynamics of pagan criticism concerning perceptions of weakness and passivity. I argue for a Christian appropriation and redefinition of Roman martial virtues and conceptions of nobility in the face of death; a dynamic which would gradually embolden the early church and facilitate militant Christianity in later years. Essentially, an integration of Roman social violence and an emerging Christian identity. Initial response by Prof seems to be very favorable. Now, I must grade as much as I can until I go to LAX at 4am for a flight back to the NW. I will be spending the weekend in Leavenworth, WA at an early Xmas celebration with my daughter. I was able to escape the studio work for a couple of weeks while they move offices from Beverly Hills to Burbank for production. I should be in NW until Jan 3rd for some much needed mental decompression. Be well!

Return from a Good Thanksgiving Trip

I was able to spend an entire week at the homestead with my daughter. My brother and his wife were up for most of the week for the first collective Thanksgiving in years. All was good and it was a much needed period of relaxation. I'm trying to get this quarter wrapped up in 11 days so I can travel for an early Christmas-themed Bavarian style weekend in Leavenworth, Washington. Quite a bit to get done beforehand, but it should be a good time. I might have to fly back briefly for a meeting with studio-execs, but then I can spend most of a month de-tuning my brain for awhile. Be well!

Schedule Juggling

My new consulting job has kicked off respectably well, but I am worried about the time demands. I went into the first two production meetings with the writers armed with some good stuff. At this point, they are extremely receptive and grateful for the assistance. I am pleased with their own research and their willingness to grapple with the primary sources in trying to provide as much historical context as they can within the constraints of their theatrical vision. My input is being incorporated directly into plotline and script production and they have already structured the scenes of the pilot episode based on many of my direct contextual suggestions. I am also pleased that I will be given scripts to go over as they emerge in hopes of being able to identify potential problems before the script is finalized and sent to the director. So far, the working dynamic has been great and they are adding as much historical context as they feel they can feasibly afford. My main concern at this point is not losing too much time dealing with this because of my other academic commitments. I brought in help to split the workload and it looks like it can be managed. It will still be tough though. My other concern in terms of the show is how the writers vision will be executed during production and the demands of studio execs outside of the project. I am required to remain vague on the nature and specifics of the show at this point, but it has a respectable chance to turn out well based on the collaborative writing and the allotted budget. It still has to be properly captured on film though. We'll see. Other than this business, lots of grading and research in preparation for going home for Thanksgiving for a week. I do get a whole week though due to a scheduling advantage in my courses. It worked out favorably. Be well!