1. How to Write A Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing by Paul Silvia - completed
2. Redeeming Science: A God-Centered Approach by Vern Poythress (currently reading)
3. Cezar's Way by Cezar Milan (the Dog Whisperer)
4. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
5. Doubting: Growing Through the Uncertainties of Faith by Alister McGrath (short)
6. Philosophy of Science by Samir Okasha (very short)
7. Belief in God in an Age of Science by John Polkinghorne
8. The Courtier and the Heretic: Leibniz, Spinoza, and the Fate of God in the Modern World by Matthew Stewart
9. The Verb 'To Bird': Sightings of an Avid Birder by Peter Cashwell
10. Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity by Ronald Sider
11. Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences by Edward Tenner
12. Bound to Please: An Extraordinary One-Volume Literary Education by Michael Dirda
There are several books from my "long-term list" not included, notably several from last year's list, but I had to make choices. Notice there aren't any fiction books on the list. This omission isn't intentional but reflects my current interest in non-fiction topics. That said, I usually fall prey to the guilty pleasure of thriller spy novels and I often flirt with filling in one of the many literary gaps in my reading résumé. As always, suggestions are welcome.
There's something about January that makes me want to go birding. It has been a couple years since I attended the Audubon Naturalist Society's winter bird walk at the National Arboretum in Washington, DC, but I was on top of the calendar this year. However, there was a walk this morning in Loudoun County much closer to my home so I opted to try something new. The Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve is a quick 20 minute drive from Lansdowne, and boasts some great birding spots.
I listed birds that I directly saw, even if identified by another birder, but I didnt include birds seen and identified by others that I didn't see. For example, someone called out the Purple Finch today, but I didn't see it. Here's my list from today's bird walk (in no particular order):
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapilla)
Common Raven (Corvus corax)
Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)
Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla)
Hermet Thrush (Catharus guttatus)
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polygottos)
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis)
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)
Carolina Wren (Thyrothorus ludovicianus) - by call only
I was happy to finally see a Kestrel. They're so beautiful and fairly common, but I had never seen one before today. The Hermet Thrush was the only other new bird for me. There are always plenty of woodpeckers, sapsuckers, and flickers to see on these walks, along with various sparrows (often referred to as little brown jobs by birders). I was impressed by Banshee and I look forward to future birding excursions there.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze."
Having a dog means that once again I'm taking walks every morning and evening, which I love. I noticed some birds the other morning and thought to bring my binoculars the following day. However, it dawned on me that I might look like a neighborhood perv walking around with my dog and peering around with binoculars. So, I stopped bringing "the glass" with me. Wouldn't you know it, this morning there was a small flock of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) swooping from tree to tree on the next street over. I was close enough to see the waxwing's telltale profile, but I was kicking myself for leaving the binoculars at home. 
Judd Apatow comedies are hit or miss for me, but Walk Hard definitely hit and hit hard. I'm at a disadvantage for reviewing it as a musician biopic parody because I haven't seen Walk the Line, which is its model, but I can tell you that it made me laugh. Hard. Parody jokes are often predictable and quickly grow old, but Walk Hard managed to land enough great jokes to keep it afloat. John C. Reilly was great as Dewey Cox, especially because he did all his own singing. There were some great cameos and bit parts by recognizable faces from SNL and The Office. Thankfully there wasn't as much over-the-top base humor as in Superbad, which exceeded my sensibilities (and that officially makes me old). To be sure, there were plenty of Apatow moments, but they were funnier than they were gross. 
According to a chapter in the forthcoming book, The American University in a Postsecular Age, about the secularization of universities in America, professors in American institutions aren't nearly as anti-God as they're often portrayed. Make no mistake, as a group professors are more atheistic/agnostic than the American public, but the numbers aren't terribly lopsided. According to the chapter in the book by Gross and Simmons, their survey found 23.4% of professors are atheist or agnostic, compared to roughly 7% in the general US population. The percentage of atheists is higher in elite institutions (37%), but so is the percentage of those professors claiming to believe in God (33%) or "Believe in Higher Power or God some of the time" (29%). The rate of professors who believe in God is higher at community and 4-year colleges. Interestingly, professors in my own field of Psychology have the highest percentage of atheists/agnostics along with Biology (61%). Frankly, I expected to see Philosophy up there, too, if not higher. Not surprisingly, the disciplines with the highest rates of belief in God are the non-scientific ones like accounting, finance, elementary education, criminal justice, nursing, etc.
I was able to find a draft of the chapter by Gross and Simmons (the latter is from George Mason, by the way) describing this survey and its results. There was a short summary published in Harvard Magazine this past summer (Gross is from Harvard).
I guess I'm a rare bird to be a Psychology professor who believes in God.
**I'd love to post the figure of results, but I'm pretty sure it'd be a copyright violation.**
- I'm excited to see Walk Hard tomorrow night with some guy friends. Needless to say, our wives aren't interested. I'll post a review on Sunday.
- It's hard to believe it's already Friday. This week has flown by despite the fact I had little to do aside from work with our new dog.
- I've been yelling, "Did you hear that!" after burping ever since I watched Elf with Will Farrell earlier in the week.
- 24 days until my first class in the Spring semester.
- I'm loving my iPhone, despite the crappy AT&T coverage at my house.
