DISQUS

paris, paris.
get a long layover and let your luggage go on ahead. unfortunately orly is pretty far out, but sling your backpack over your shoulder, go down to the ile de france and see notre dame and the little stained-glass chapel in the police station. Picnic in the tiny park like the prow of a ship at the end of the island. Go over the bridge and take a walk through St Germain if you have time.
I did this once: arrived at Orly in the morning, took the metro into town, found the only station in town that had lockers for my suitcase (Montmartre, I think -- and it was not the station my train was leaving from, so I had to do some commuting), wandered around in a bit of a haze, and made my evening train to Rome with no problem. I did wake up with an obnoxious Italian in the compartment, but that's another story. (And there were sunflowers out the window, so that helped).
After Africa, it will completely blow your mind.

oooh! Uncle John soap, our favorite! You know, it makes excellent gifts for Christmas and for Autumn birthdays.
(I used to be a subtle person, but I've lost that in the process of raising children).

Oooh, I love Cook's magazine. I can't believe you'd never seen it before.

I'm thinking the local clergyperson must be named Rev. Parsons, and the librarian is Ms Book, and the person who runs the diner is Mr. Cook, and ...

Mr. Foreman? Really? Wow.

I was in the Little Guy's first-grade class on Friday morning, and a kid came in and said to the teacher, "Nixon was a criminal. He had people take stuff he wasn't supposed to have, and then he quit being president before they could arrest him." It's so nice to see parents supplementing their children's education.

Ah. Now I see the distinction you are making.

I may be wrong , but I think you can cut the word "women's" out of that next to last sentence and it would be even more accurate. I heard her on the radio yesterday morning, and I do believe they mentioned that she has coached more winning games than any basketball coach, regardless of the gender of the players or the coach.
(Sorry, I'm a little sensitive to the "pretty good for a girl" syndrome. It's good, and they're girls.)

Not that I ever cook like this anymore, but there was a time in my life where I would put cumin in just about everything. Even still, the scent takes me back to grad school. Of course, I mostly cooked Mexican food back then.

Are additional instructions provided for those who wish to take the extra gourmet step of adding a half a slice of american cheese to the top of the burrito?

Interesting -- while you were preaching this sermon in Shelbyville, here in Fayetteville, the county agreed to have the polls open on a Sunday. In NC, not only do we have early voting, we have one-stop early voting. You can show up, register, and vote. The lines have been tremendous, and Sunday was no exception (even with 12,000 people out at the convention center to see our out-of-town guest). Pastors preached on the duty to vote, church vans delivered voters to the polls, church groups handed out box lunches to the people waiting in line (at least an hour and a half wait, according to the paper). This was a one-time thing-- there won't be Sunday voting next week -- but it certainly was an interesting phenomenon to me, wicked westerner that I am.

pipe...wrench...fight....
pipe. wrench. fight.

So, there was nothing else happening in the whole of the British Isles that weekend? You say, "Ukelele Orchestra concert," and thousands of people just turn out?

ummm... I think it's a stretch to call us tarheels.... we may live among them, but we have yet to acculturate so completely.....

Ah, the vagaries of the cancelled class. I happen to know something about this. Different schools have different rules about how a class "makes." Usually, there is a minimum number -- 5, or 10, perhaps, depending on the size of the school and its financial stability. Other schools have a complicated matrix whereby an individual faculty member must have an average number of students, so they can teach a small specialized class if they teach several large GE classes.
I suspect what happened in this case is that it was a new class, so students and their advisors didn't know about it., or weren't clear on what requirements it might fulfill The department probably didn't advertise it on campus (that sort of thing is usually instigated by the faculty member and can help a new class make). Also, listing a class as taught by "staff" doesn't always inspire student confidence. The class was an unknown quantity to students and their advisors, so they didn't sign up. It's not you -- they didn't know it was you.

hear, hear.
I'm going to forward this to everyone I know!
oh, wait....

hey, now, I have had male students from the islands show up in class wearing sarongs. it's gender neutral attire in polynesian culture, and, as far as i'm concerned, far more appropriate for class than PJ pants.

Me, i'm such a wine wimp that red wine seems strong to me. I drink gentle white italian wines -- pinot grigio, mostly, but i know enough to make sure it comes from the Veneto. prosecco is nice. Same on the Veneto, actually. OK, I drink Venetian wines.
I do actually sometimes drink CA wines, when I find something interesting at Trader Joe's. If it's not too expensive, I figure I can try it, and if I don't like it, I can cook with it. I am going to miss Trader Joe's in NC -- good wine and organic food at good prices. Their hormone-free milk is a super bargain. There's one in Raleigh, but that's a bit of a drive for groceries.
Anyway, is there a Bedford white?

If you pack it in your backpack, be prepared to take it out, open it up, and turn it on for the TSS folks. I have traveled a lot with my laptop, and this process can be a little tedious, but no more so than the whole wierd shoe ritual, and you won't be the only one doing it. But if you're one of those folks who is made very self conscious by the inspection process, the laptop will increase the discomfort. It would likely be pretty safe in the midst of the clothes, too, although that increases the likelihood of separation.
I was going to bring up the power thing, too.
I wonder if there is some kind of hard drive/ digital gadget that one could simply tote along as a backup data dump -- plug the camera in, hit backup, scroll through the list, and go. A fancy Mp3/video player could almost do it, if the connectivity were right, which I don't think it is. I'm great at inventing things I know nothing about.

I'm a big fan of the palm platform, personally.
You gotta think -- are you going to use it more as a pda or phone? play with it thinking of it as a phone, and then play with it thinking of it as a pda....

we got our kit at michael's -- it came with dyes, fragrance, and molds.

On behalf of Daniel:
"Thank you! I can't wait! This is gonna be good and fun."

Good for you.
You know, the year I turned 21, I actually took the GRE on my birthday. I decided that it was good luck for the GRE instead of bad luck for my birthday. (and, actually, I did pretty well, and managed to have a good time doing it, but that ust proves that I'm a geek).
So have a good time! it sounds great!

mmmm, basil. When I was in grad school my roommate had a friend from Genoa, who kept a small, two foot square plantation of basil. She made tons of glorious pesto -- we were always willing to store extra in our fridge.

me, I'm supposed to be excited and yippity-yuppity about the big move. thinking about it just makes me tired.