7:28 a.m.

In my neck of the urban jungle, summertime officially begins — well, right now.

I’ve got Gershwin George Gershwin‘s melody and DuBose Heyward‘s lyrics going through my head as I write this, but in contrast to what they sing in Porgy and Bess, my summer looks to be anything but easy.

It starts off this morning with an NYUAD conference call about course selection and student mentoring by faculty and continues tomorrow with two weeks of jury duty. Meanwhile, I have to turn in a book manuscript to NYU Press and materials for a promotion review to my department by the end of the month. And then I have to get serious about my Rolling Stones book for Continuum’s 33 1/3 series, which is due on September 1.

Meanwhile, in July I’m participating in the NYUAD Summer Colloquium and flying to Europe on NYUAD business at the end of the month. August will no doubt see me hunkering down to finish that book and then get ready for orientation at NYUAD in early September.

I think I have three days of vacation scheduled in August, but I’ll have to check. Not that I’m complaining or anything.

How to cheer up: watch these renditions of “Summertime” by two of my favorite singers on YouTube. The first is by the incomparable Ella Fitzgerald; the second is by the differently but equally incomparable Renee Fleming.