OK, the well has been dry for a while

I haven't posted much recently because I haven't felt much to need to say what's going on. So here's what's been happening.

I continue to work 3 hours a week at the National Archives, currently organizing Salem (MA) Customs House records. Every once in a while interesting tidbits arise (someone brought in a hyena, presumably as a curiousity). Interestingly, very little commerce with Europe -- mostly South America/Carribean, Africa, and occasionally Far East (Manila usually).

I meet twice a week with my Korean ESL student. She's a fairly good reader (grade 4-5 or so), although comprehension is sometimes a bit of work. We read _Pride and Prejudice_, do speech exercises, and work on grammar (starting with modal constructs, probably moving to some tense work next). I also need to get her to do some writing.

I continue to investigate ESL teaching as a future. There appears to be significant demand, especially overseas, which should give my travel itch someplace to go.

Part of the Christmas "break" this year was visiting with the folks outside Philly. Nice visit, but marred by the late-night drunks outside our motel room door. We went to the Mercer Museum in Doylestown PA, had a nice walk around Independence Mall and downtown Philly, and saw the Pennsylvania Ballet's Nutcracker.

There's electric wiring work happening in the basement, where the lighting circuits have been a big mess for as long as I've lived here.

And I went to see the Boston Symphony last night. All I have to say about the Tan Dun Water Concerto is WOW. If you can see this work performed, please go. Hearing a recording is a start, but there's a bit of theater involved. The program notes on the work had a cute comment: "It is not often that one sees 'reassemble instrument' in the music." Apparently the piccolo player needs to use the piccolo head and a pencil to create some sort of slide whistle effect.