Wow, the first post of 2021—I didn't realize I hadn't posted here yet this year. In some ways, it seems like a different world since my last update/annual wrap-up, with the coronavirus situation slowly improving (at least in the US) and the political situation having changed in some obvious ways, while stubbornly resistant to change in others. Work at the college continues to be "challenging," for some reasons all too familiar and some new ones introduced this past semester just for fun. (At least, someone's twisted idea of "fun.") But summer promises to be at least a partial respite from that, which gives me a chance to update and retool an old course to teach it online in the fall. (My college is cautiously returning to in-person classes, starting with courses that need it, such as labs and art classes, so philosophy will remain online until the spring.)
In terms of writing, I have made some improvements to routine and lifestyle, and I'm pleased to report that my productivity (oops, dirty word) has increased somewhat. I just finished a chapter for the upcoming Black Panther and Philosophy, edited by Edwardo Pérez and Timothy E. Brown, and I hope to complete my current superheroes-and-philosophy book project before the middle of summer. After that's done, I begin work on one of two scholarly handbook chapters I've agreed to write in economics and philosophy, and then I start my next book project, also on superheroes and philosophy but quite different in format and approach. (There are also plans afoot to revive the Economics and Ethics blog, which has languished for several years, and it only lasted that long because of the valiant efforts of the blog's co-founder, Jonathan Wight.)
In all this time, the one constant is my working life is The Virtues of Captain America Blog, which reached its 300th at the end of April with the pivotal issue Captain America #321 (September 1986), and is now well into 1987. Earlier this month, I had the pleasure and honor of appearing on the Captain America Comic Book Fans podcast, discussing both my book and blog with two experts in everything Cap, and I hope to make a return visit in a few months.
I'll try to check in at the end of summer or sooner—perhaps when the current book is finished and I'm more comfortable talking about it! I wish everybody a safe and relaxing summer, and you can always check in on me on Twitter for sardonic updates, lame jokes,and retweets of more interesting people, as well as Instagram, where I mainly post pictures of my local park, like the one at the top of this post.
Comments