Portland's Summer has Arrived!

5:50 AM PST Temp: 70''s Portland's summer is wrapping up with a vengeance a string of 90 degree plus days and the mighty Sun god blasting down upon the city. I find myself amused by the fact that the kids are all back in school during such weather instead of crowing the local malls. Managed 4 hours sleep in this heat, so I'm back in front of a screen.

Back to some regular thoughts, Reading Churchill's The Gathering Storm, reached year 1938 and it is an instructive journey through the mindset of the man who will lead Britain through the war, but ,also, shows the ineptitude of most governments getting anything done in a timely manner. In some e ways, it seems to show that politically many governments don't want to be progressive, but are at their best as reactionary bodies -- most being instigated by war or disaster. 4 more years left to go on this text in the old Kindle.

In the land of paper and ink, started picking at Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention , an American icon that polarizes individuals. I've spent more time studying Malcolm's life / place in history than the other civil rights figures of his age. I own a copy of Haley's Autobiography and one of the FBI File books on Malcolm, back when I was a younger man. I'm looking forward to see what information is new and if the way it's presented helps fill in gaps of information missing from Haley's highly read text.

Writing has been lighter these past couple weeks due to changes in household members at the end of summer and trying to cram in some summertime events when my wife and I managed the same days off. In a string of unexpected moves, I have a 4 day weekend, which works out nicely since I worked on Labor day, under which I'll be holed up trying to stay cool, and working on my own pieces as time allows.

Final thoughts: DC Comics new 52 relaunch. I find myself energized so far each week about being able to read the "new" titles since in a way, some characters feel more accessible now, than jumping on at issue 500 or so. Granted I've been reading comics going on 20 years on and off, and DC tends to be my favored brand, but it is nice to feel excited by meeting characters again and seeing how they change and how they stay the same. Blame the Star Trek reboot everyone for this event. Until next time