Starting up

Another week, a precious summer week rolls out. Caught up with a couple of good friends; went for a climbing workout with one of them, tonic for both of us. Watched The Daily Show and Colbert Report from last Saturday with my mom, who quite enjoys them both. Colbert was ripping, and had a hectic exchange with a young woman who has just published a book about overachieving kids. Not sure just what this woman's agenda was. She claimed to be a "recovering overachiever", being a Yale graduate. Maybe she was sincerely concerned about the young these days self-destructing. She had a good time quipping back at Colbert, even calling him a douche bag at one point, in a jolly way, of course. Well, the parents and kids caught up in the "race to the top" have always been around, and there will always be kids who get their educations and experience outside the Ivy League who will do great things. That is, if the people who hate public education don't succeed in gutting it.
Off to Istanbul, not Constantinople. Orhan Pamuk's memoir about living in the great Turkish city is feverishly excellent, and sprinkled liberally with intriguing photographs, some of which remind me of an old copy of The Arabian Nights we used to have when I was a kid. Once again, I am drawn into a depiction of a place that exists no longer.