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Today was our last full day in Marquette, MI. It’s been snowing most of the morning, which is nice, as it’s probably the last snow we’ll see till fall.

During the past week I’ve been perfecting the art of doing nothing. I must admit that I’m pretty impressed with my progress.

No grading papers.

I have only replied to three emails and one voicemail for work. I have been fairly productive in my “for fun” reading, however.

I finished two books while up north. First, Turning the Mind into an Ally by Sakyong Mipham. I’m reading this book for an Introductory class on meditation. This is the fourth book I’ve read on Buddhism/meditation. I found Mipham’s writing clear and simple with easy-to-understand examples. I’d highly recommend it to anyone interested in meditation.

The second book I finished was Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan. This book was turned into the movie The Town starring Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm and Blake Lively. The movie is in my top 10. Set in Boston, MA, it focuses on a bank robber’s attraction to a woman he took hostage in a bank robbery. Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck’s character) falls in love with Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall’s character) and struggles with the thought of starting a new life (away from Charlestown, MA) with her. It’s well written and loaded with suspense. The book and movie are mostly similar with a couple of significant twists, which I will not elaborate on here:)

It has been a restful week here in the Upper Peninsula. I’d highly recommend a visit to Marquette.