English 100 at Ashland

Summer is about two-thirds done, and it’s time (for me, at least) to begin thinking about the fall semester. As I write this, I’ve got the skeleton of the Blackboard Learning Management software set up, but I haven’t really settled everything about the course. Every semester is different: some previous readings don’t work any more because the current events or politics have changed (and, to tell the truth, sometimes I assign readings that just didn’t work too well). So every time I teach, I rethink things. I rode the Great Allegheny Passage bike trip, which I mentioned before, from July 10 to 13. We went from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Maryland, about 140 miles. It was gloriously wonderful, and I’ll probably keep talking about it for the next six months. This trip was a direct result of reading some advice about spending money to make yourself happy: spend it on experiences not possessions. Good advice. Summer isn’t really done yet, so in the few remaining weeks,...