I am happily ensconced in the humanities approach to literature, historiography, philosophy and religion. As Einstein said, "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." To limit ourselves to only that which can be discerned quantifiably is a boring proposition. I encourage the Liberal Arts ideal of an education, but a less myopically Westocentric one, for there is much to learn from turning East. My training began with a classical Western foundation at Mt. Angel Benedictine Abbey, where I read Aristotle, Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, and later thinkers such as Kant, Kierkegard, and Sartre. I eventually found my way to my great passion - China. I received a formal sinological education at the University of Oregon where I wrote a dissertation on the Han historian, Ban Gu (32-92). My subfield, which has become my primary interest, was in late-imperial to early-modern literature and history, focusing on late-imperial novels and book culture. But beyond this classical formation, I still indulge frequent forays into the modern, viz., I harbor surreptitious interests in jazz, existentialist writings, and Ingmar Bergman films. My most overwhelming passion, however, is for books and reading in general, for as William Ellery Channing said, "It is chiefly through books that we enjoy intercourse with superior minds."