Tentative Outline of my half of the Lewis course

1—Introduction; historical and autobiographical background
2—Lewis Becomes a Theist: from Surprised by Joy, “The First Years,” “The Great Knock,” “The New Look,” and “Checkmate”. (Might discuss relevant passages from Pilgrim’s Regress)
3—Lewis Becomes a Theist: from Miracles, “The Self-Contradiction of the Naturalist” and “A Further Difficulty in Naturalism” (photocopy)
4—Lewis Becomes a Christian: Letters to Arthur Greeves; “What Are We to Make of Jesus Christ?”
5—Lewis the Theologian: “Miracles,” “Rejoinder to Dr. Pittenger,” maybe selections from Miracles?
6—Lewis the Theologian: “Efficacy of Prayer,” “Letters to Malcolm”
7—Lewis the Theologian: “The World’s Last Night”
8—Lewis the Theologian: “Modern Theology and Biblical Criticism,” “Reflections on the Psalms”
9—Lewis the Preacher: “Weight of Glory,”
10—Lewis the Preacher: “Learning in Wartime”
11—Lewis the Social Critic: “Screwtape Proposes a Toast” (photocopy)
12—Lewis the Social Critic: from Mere Christianity, “Social Morality;” Abolition of Man 1, “Men Without Chests.”
13—Lewis the Social Critic: Abolition of Man 2, “The Way.”
14—Lewis the Social Critic: Abolition of Man 3, “The Abolition of Man,” appendix.

I agreed to teach half of the Lewis course, focusing on philosophy and theology, and someone from the English dept. will cover his lit crit and fiction. I'll pick up $900 and the prep will keep me busy during these painfully slow days in the library before the beginning of the new semester. Currently reading: Joseph Peace, C. S. Lewis and the Roman Catholic Church

iTunes download: Murray Head, "One Night in Bangkok" (I'll plead nostalgia on this one).

Because a recently-hired English professor was unexpectedly let go due to various indiscretions, a last-minute opportunity has arisen for me to teach all or part of an honors class on C. S. Lewis. I'm trying to decide if I should accept. On the one hand, Lewis is one of my literary heroes, and teaching would be a nice break from the library routine. On the other hand, I haven't taught in almost six years, I wouldn't have much time for prep, and the class would cut deeply into my free time. What to do?

Latest iTunes downloads: Saint Etienne, "Calico"; ? and the Mysterians, "96 Tears"

Today is the feast day of St. Lawrence, Martyr, patron saint of librarians.

Almighty God, who didst call thy deacon Laurence to serve thee with deeds of love, and didst give him the crown of martyrdom: Grant we beseech thee, that we, following his example, may fulfill they commandments by defending and supporting the poor, and by loving thee with all our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Exciting news: Ripping Yarns is finally being released on Region 1 DVD. Guess I can put off buying that region-free DVD player for the time being. I've been waiting for this day for years, ever since I found an edition of the scripts at a library used book sale.

Latest Viewing: Olivier Assayas, Late August, Early September C, Tim Burton, Edward Scissorhands B+

The bootlegging mission to Amarillo on Saturday was successful. I went to a Wal-Mart Supercenter, where the prices were about 20% less than the liquor stores in Lubbock. Didn't get anything too fancy, though: Ravenswood Zinfandel, Yellow Tail Shiraz (1.5 ml), Bella Sera Merlot (1.5 ml), Blue Moon, Guinness, Pilsner Urquell, New Belgium. That should last a couple of months. Then tried the sushi bar, which was ok but I've decided that sushi is too expensive for a main course--$15 for 6 pieces of nigri sushi! The cold Asahi hit the spot on that hot Texas afternoon, though. Then went to B&N to kill a few hours drinking Sumatra and skimming through Eusebius. A beautiful young married woman seating next to me was reading a self-help book on finding love, which struck me as odd. I was interested to see that, according to Eusebius, the church at Rome rejected the Letter to the Hebrews, ironic considering that many modern-day RC apologists argue that only their church's approval can give us any confidence in the table of contents of the NT Canon. Then went to the cinema to see Howl's Moving Castle. It's not one of Miyazaki's better efforts, unfortunately, but there's enough beauty and imagination in it to make it worth watching nonetheless. B-.

iTunes downloads: Lindsey Buckingham, "Trouble" (yeah, it's Lite Rock, but that nylon-string picking is quite nice); Bob Dylan, "Simple Twist of Fate" (live version) and "Tangled up in Blue" (NY version, better than the album version).