as the summer (as it relates to school) is coming to a close, i beginning to think about the fall including (but not limited to): cooler weather, the class i’ll be teaching, how to write a dissertation proposal in 3 months, and ways to spend my free time.

honestly, i’m thinking more about the last one in that list than anything else. yes, i’m super-excited to be in a position to become a real “Ph.D. candidate” this fall, but i’m also excited to do other things.

i’ve already got a few trips planned. i’m headed to San Jose for a week in October, DC in November for a long weekend, and Minnesota for Thanksgiving. i hope to make it to the beach at least once or twice more before the end of the warm weather and perhaps once or twice more afterwards.

so. back to the hobbies. we got a brochure in the mail yesterday from the ArtsCenter in Carrboro featuring their fall line-up of classes. one that i’m particularly interested in is screen printing. i’d love to be able to create my own stationery a la Gwen Frostic (to be honest, she does block printing, but who’s keeping score?). t-shirts would be neat, too.

after purchasing a new (and functional) H-T, i’m starting to get back in to amateur radio as well. with that, i’m thinking more about emergency communications, installing Anderson PowerPole connectors on everything in my shack, and perhaps investigating solar power options for emergency operations.

speaking of radio, i hope to continue to find time to enjoy being a DJ at WXDU (88.7fm) in Durham, as i have since the winter of 2000/2001. i’m sure that will find its way into my schedule, though.

the last hobby that i’d like to consider is that of homebrewing. i tried this a few years ago and have quite a bit of equipment (albeit in storage). i feel like i know more about what kind of beer i enjoy and what i would enjoy making than i did when i experimented with a brown ale back in the day. that might even save me some money in the long run, as well.

i don’t like to choose just one, but i guess if i’m going to get to the third point in my list of priorities i’d better either be choosy or be super efficient with my time.