Overindulged last night at a BBQ hosted by the Poli Sci prof. Tender, juicy, chickory-smoked brisket, creamy potato salad, homemade ice cream, and beer, beer, beer (Sam Adams, Blue Moon, Hollandia, all good). Speaking of overindulgence, I've gained again all the weight I lost while in Japan, despite the fact that I'm exercizing here and didn't there. Maybe I need to start eating more Soba and Unadon.

Short Lubbock excursion today: IHOP (which sad to say is a rare treat, as there's no good breakfast joint here), music store to pick up some Bach sheet music from my guitar tutor, Oriental Market to get ingredients for Ma Po Tofu, and P.L. for more Philip K. Dick. Back at home, I worked on my latest book review assignment, which as chance or providence would have it is a primer on NT criticism. The author's a liberal but he makes some good points, e.g. how Luke omits from his Markan source material references to Jesus' anger or fear. Not necessarily damaging to orthodox Christianity, but it definitely shows that the Gospel writers put a spin on the tradition for rhetorical purposes (I'm assuming Luke is writing for a cultured Greco-Roman audience imbued with the Stoic ideal of the passionless wise man). In the evening, watched The Vistors, a low-brow but endearing French comedy about a medieval nobleman and his squire time-warped into the modern age--Bill and Ted á la française.