Lazy Sunday

Hello, folks.

Right now it's about 3:45 on Sunday afternoon. I've spent a good portion of the day exploring the far reaches of You Tube and reading a dissertation by British author/historian Michael Burleigh called Sacred Causes. The book discusses...the clash of religion and politics, from the Great War to the War on Terror. The content of the book is overwhelming enough to follow and appreciate, let alone trying to understand the myriad of big words that I never knew existed (this book has inspired me to write a sentence with the word "myriad" in it!). For a guy who is essentially illiterate in the English language according to my verbal SAT and GRE scores (both under 450s if I recall correctly) this has been a SLOW read. I am still in the post World War I chapters after a few weeks of reading. I am currently reading about the Red's eradication of everything religious, predominately everything Orthodox, during the post 1917 Bolshevik revolution. I just finished learning about Lenin's mummification and now the book is segueing into Stalin's role as successor and Premier.

No political soliloquy from me here as I admit, I have a predominately one-dimensional view of world politics, but this book has got me thinking and itching to discuss and learn some new things. My Irish buddy, Donal, is always a great source of insight and opinion from a different point of view from what I am accustomed to. Many a chat over a lunchtime Tuscan chicken sando and apple from Panera Bread have lead to a better understanding of where different ideas come from.

On Friday night, Christian decided that he needed to head back to Lima and take care of things on the homestead. He was tore up all week. His heart seems to be in the right place and I just hope all works out for the best. He jumped on one of the many double-decker buses heading north to Lima on Saturday morning. With Christian leaving for an indefinite time, I hopefully will have a new driver, Carlos, pick me up tomorrow for work. I did about all I could do to ensure that things were handed over correctly, but I don't speak Spanish very well and that makes knowing all the details of the transition difficult. Christian ensured me that all will be fine. I'll find out at 6:30 tomorrow morning.

I suppose I ought to get back into my book here. If you're interested in getting a double dose of political history and English vocabulary all under the same cover, you outta check it out. Cheers, Scotty