A Summer Reading List?

It turns out, besides Latin this summer and possible jobs, I will have a bit more free time this summer. Rather than doing anything different from what I normally do, I will read, somewhat for fun, and somewhat for school. It's good when I can dovetail the two together. This is just a tentative list, so I don't forget.

Fiction
Selections from Chaucer I have not read (a few Canterbury Tales, a few short poems)
Selections from The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser
William Langland, Piers Plowman. (Or an equivalent-length medieval poem)
Chaim Potok, The Chosen
Algernon Swinburne, Tristram of Lyonesse or Poems and Ballads I
Ursula K. LeGuin, The Dispossessed
Patricia McKillip (fantasy author who spins a good story, quite possibly the best novel writer on this list)
Charles Stross (sci-fi author, writes a lot about games/Lovecraft mythos/British spy stories, among other things)
Vernor Vinge (sci-fi author, writes a lot of stories in a world where everything is mediated by technology)

Nonfiction
Glimp and Warren, The Arts of Calculation: Quantifying Thought in Early Modern Europe
Passmore and Carter, The English Loathly Lady Tales: Boundaries, Traditions, Motifs
Karma Lochrie, Heterosyncrasies
Carolyn Dinshaw, Getting Medieval
John Bugge, Virginitas: An Essay in the History of a Medieval Ideal
William Empson, Seven Types of Ambiguity
Something by Eve Sedgwick
Something by Stephen Greenblatt

And that should be quite enough, considering the number of times I'll read something randomly.

Funny conversations on Omegle.

Omegle is a random chat service. One of three things happens:
1. a/s/l, or some variation thereof.
2. Randomness.
3. Random trolling.

Here are a couple of the more amusing exchanges I've had:

Stranger: I wanna rock'n roll all night, and party everiday \o/

You: Put your hand inside the puppet head
(They disconnected)

You: Hello...copter!

Stranger: roflcopter

You: roflroflroflrofl... enemy combatants cited!

Stranger: fire the lols

You: LOOOOOOOL BLMAO!

You: Target has been lmaonated.

Stranger: ftw

You: Victoire!

Things I Want to Be the Next Time I Grow Up

I'm happy with where I'm at, and if I can find a job, I'll be happy with where I'll be. I'll even be happy with my back-up plans if I can't find a job as a professor. Nonetheless, that doesn't mean I
don't dream sometimes. I started out college wanting to be several things. Some I couldn't realistically do even within college, so those were easier to exclude. Others were harder to let go of, and some I might still become, assuming we live as long as our grandparents (the verdict's still out on whether we die young from terrible life decisions or figure out how to extend life indefinitely). But if I had a hundred or two hundred lifetimes, and knew enough not to choose the same thing each time, here are some of the things I'd choose.

First, for the grand tour of the academy:
Mathematics, with maybe one lifetime each for pure mathematics and applied mathematics.
Physics.
Biology.
Chemistry, to round out the sciences.
Classicist.
Philosopher.
Historian.

Then I'd start to drift from the academy, though I might still be associated with it:
Archaeologist.
Cultural Anthropologist.
Linguist.
Economist.

Then I'd start thinking in terms of design:
Architect.
Graphics designer.
Game designer.
Web designer.
Software architect.
Computer designer.
Fashion designer.
Engineer (perhaps two or three lives for different focuses).
Electrician.
Carpenter.
Sculptor.
Calligrapher.
Chef.

Then I would fulfill some public jobs:
Firefighter.
Park ranger.
Police officer.
Public defender/judge.
Senator.
Diplomat.
UN Translator.
Teacher.

Then I would go into business for a lifetime or two, just to see:
International Representative
Logistical Manager

Then I could perform:
Actor.
Puppeteer.
Musician.
Dancer.

Then I could drive things:
Truck driver.
Airline pilot.
Military pilot.
Astronaut.

Then I could heal people:
Pediatrician.
Another kind of doctor.
Physical trainer.
Speech pathologist.
Pharmacist.
Spirit healer.

And then the ideas start varying rapidly:
Rabbi.
Environmental advocate.
Shaker.
Hermit.
Martial artist.
Riddler.