An update from your Memphis correspondent

I continue to heal, slowly, very slowly, each week. I told you before that I was working really hard to get my hamstring to work. That has come a long way. Now I'm hoping that my calf will make similar progress. Without it, my stride is rather strange, as I have difficulty pushing off with each step. That being said, I very rarely use my wheelchair now, just for long distances, and I expect that my walker will soon give way to a cane. To spice up my workouts, I've started using the elliptical trainer in an effort to get my muscles to fire more rapidly. At this point, snails and other legless creatures are still outpacing me, and I'd like to be a better competitor. Lots and lots of rehabilitation is on the horizon, and I try to remain patient as I plug along each week.

One major disappointment that I've had is that our University of California health insurance (SHIP), does not actually provide us with full health coverage. In fact, we are allocated only $1000 per year for outpatient physical therapy, which is even less than the premiums that we pay. So any Cal student who gets into a serious car accident (or is silly enough to jump off a huge cliff) is going to pay many thousands of dollars out of pocket in order to recover. For those of you who have any connection to our union, our health care would be worth addressing at our next bargaining session. What is especially tragic is that 30,000 students walk around with the illusion that they have full health coverage, but when it comes time to use it, they are in for a rude awakening.

On the brighter side, I had a fun weekend recently. My high school friend Justin Conn is a blues musician based in Nashville, and he played a gig in Memphis on Saturday night at a club called the Blue Monkey. He sounded great, and I was delighted to hear that he'll be playing there again on October 27, just three days after my 30th birthday. So why don't you come and join me? It would be fun to celebrate my 30th with friends, and Memphis is a great town to visit, especially at that time of the year. Keep it in mind as you make your fall plans. If you are already itching to hear Justin's music, go to http://www.justinconn.com As many of you know, my favorite song is "Claire," which is from the EP that he put out several years ago. You can listen to a sample of it on his website.

This fall, I'm going to do a bit of traveling myself. Next week, my dad and I are going to drive to St. Louis to catch a Cardinals' game in their new stadium. They're not playing especially well these days, but it'll be fun to check out live MLB action anyway.

At the end of September, I'm going to head to Charlottesville, VA for the wedding of one of my high school buddies, Michael Wagg. Afterwards, I'm going to spend the first several days of October hanging out in Washington, DC catching up with several dear friends there.

At the beginning of November, I'm going to a History of Science annual conference in DC, and once that's over I'm going to Boston to see friends there. These trips will be a blast, and they motivate me to get well sooner.

My life now is the sedentary person's dream. Unfortunately, I'm not a sedentary person. I'm looking forward to the day when I can walk without having to concentrate on every step I take. I hope it comes sometime in 2007, but I'll work at it as long as it takes.