recent tracks:

Because I am feeling useless right now

there is little I can coerce myself to do other than provide an update for whomever still checks in on me here.

First, I changed the sidebar to more accurately reflect my regular reading.

Second, I am working on three papers right now:

• Religious and Moral Reasoning in Judicial Decisions (due Dec. 3)
• Toward a Robust Application of the Convention Against Torture to U.S. Removal Cases (due Dec. 5)
• Implementing the International Right to Food Via Localization (due Dec. 14)

(All titles rough.) The latter duo I'm hoping will be of sufficient quality that I might seek their publication.

Third, I am editing a couple of interesting articles for Law Review.

Fourth, S made delicious pumpkin ice cream with the KitchenAid ice cream maker attachment I got her for her birthday. We took the ice cream to an enjoyable, homemade dessert-themed party we attended on Saturday night @ Bethany, Ceci, and Nellwyn's.

Fifth, S and I have watched Boston-themed movies, namely Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone. Both were excellent. I particularly recommend the second as an interesting moral musing touching on the work I did the last two summers. Both featured excellent acting and directing, in my opinion, which will not be rendered humbler by my claiming it is so.

Sixth, I finished Demian by Hermann Hesse, which felt like a first novel to me, though it actually falls midway through Hesse's catalog. Perhaps that new writer smell may be attributed to Hesse's life of self-questioning and -reinvention. Anyway, I would describe the work as uneven but decidedly worth reading--the dialogue, on which Hesse focuses, is unconvincing but thought-provoking. I am now reading The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie, and early returns are extremely favorable. I will also likely purchase Diet for a Dead Planet by Christopher Cook sometime in the near future.

Seventh, the weekend of November 9th to 11th, S and I hosted an array of interesting persons, namely Andy, Anna, Cristina, and Neal. We enjoyed Brown's campus, Myopic Books, Prospect Park, and undoubtedly most of all our apartment, which is shockingly well-suited for such high-volume visits these days! Most importantly, though, the visit was of the eminently enjoyable sort.

Eighth, Alex will be here tomorrow, and we will depart for Delaware on Wednesday. Good times will undoubtedly be had by all.