37

Today I turned 37.

Hot today if you were in the sun and not in the shade. Beautiful breezes. Had a good breakfast and worked in the air-conditioned classroom on various tasks until lunchtime, managing to squeeze in some Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

Post lunch, I retreated to my room for a little siesta - I've really gotten into the 20-minute power nap here. 5 minutes in, Lisa and Chris called, and I agreed to meet them at the Nasher gallery. I finished my nap and walked over, sticking to the shadows and hoping for a breeze.

The gallery itself was atypically modern for Duke's staid campus. Like most modern galleries, it featured a fancy gift shop selling all sorts of stuff barely relevant to the galleries. Of the remaning 4 rooms, one was reserved for a concert and one was a 90-minute film.

One of the rooms had an interesting exhibit, a loosely-themed mix of old and new with some nice pieces. The other had a survey of some African-American artists. Given how closely I've been looking at art lately, I could just see the influences right and left - Surrealism here, Ferdinand Leger there, Raul Hausman's photomontages there.

A quick tour of East Campus and then a huge, lush meal at a local restaurant. I ate way too much but it was quite good. Now I'm sitting in a darkened classroom watching Deadwood and reflecting.

This isn't the first birthday I've spent here. I still have a cassette copy of "Synchronicity" given to me here with "Happy Birthday, Anu!" written inside.

37. Life is good. Happy to be here, at TIP. Happy to be alive. Happy to have the life, family and friends I have. Thanks to all of you for another great year.