Last post of the year

Meme lifted from Robyn:
1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?
Get mugged. Moved to another country to live by myself. Scary!
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
It’s never been my habit to make new year’s resolutions…not with any intent to stick with […]

Last New Year’s Eve

Us in NYC

Originally uploaded by dynamist.

Antoine met me in New York for two nights. As he had to fly back to London at 7AM on New Year’s Day - which meant being at JFK for 5AM - I thought an early, quiet night sounded best. But I ended up dragging him into a (really nice, […]

Two New Years Eves ago

Vatican, New Year’s Eve, Rome

Originally uploaded by dynamist.

I am such a dork that I actually blogged from inside the Vatican during the Pope’s New Year’s Eve service. What a rainy, joyful trip that was.

London, Paris, Cincinnati

Hyde Park

Originally uploaded by dynamist.

I got to spend time in three great cities today. Thanks to Air France, the journey was much more comfortable, easy, and restful than I expected. And thanks to 5chw4r7z’s wife, who picked me up at the airport, my arrival was much more welcoming than I expected.
What an odd week […]

Another reason I won’t buy another Mac yet

Screen shot of email to Steve Jobs at Apple

Originally uploaded by scriptingnews.

Dave Winer is being much, MUCH more calm about Apple holding his data hostage than I would be. What a disgrace.
(I’m not opening comments on this post, since the last Mac-related one I wrote yielded some of the most psychotic, bizarre rants I have […]

No more tears

Buraki crab salad

Originally uploaded by dynamist.

Okay, sadness over, because I made the best, most unlikely thing today: Japanese/Polish fusion crab salad.
For dinner, we had scrambled eggs with leftover caviar and leftover rocket stirred in (no seasoning necessary with the salty fish eggs and peppery leaves). Who says you can’t make a fantastic dinner in […]

Au revoir, Londres

Pretty shadows, Mill Lane

Originally uploaded by dynamist.

Five stand-out things about my trip to London:
1) One of my trains left on time! (The two others did not.)
2) I went to my favorite London charity shops and did not buy a single thing. I blame it on a combination of the exchange rate and my discerning taste […]

Heading home via Paris

Eiffel Tower, all sparkly

Originally uploaded by dynamist.

I’ll be back in Cincinnati in time for New Year’s Eve. Last New Year’s, I was in New York, and the year before that in Rome. This year, I think I may be asleep before midnight.

The day after Boxing Day blues

Sloane Street

Originally uploaded by dynamist.

In America, the day after Christmas is a letdown. In Britain, you’ve got Boxing Day to look forward to! Sure, all it amounts to is another reason to have an unusually festive lunch, but still. It’s one more day off work and one more day when you can’t feel too guilty […]

Note to self

Mayfair

Originally uploaded by dynamist.

Don’t EVER think about going to Oxford Street on Boxing Day again. Even without the hideous exchange rate, none of the deals are worth it. (Walking through Mayfair to Knightsbridge and Chelsea afterwards was quite nice, though.)
Still mostly offline for the foreseeable future…

Here

Coming to London was the best thing I could have done. I’m totally relaxed, catching up on sleep, eating AMAZING food, exchanging presents, seeing friends, kicking ass at Scrabble, etc.
I’m also avoiding my stupid Mac, which is making me very cross when I bother to turn it on. (Firefox stopped working on it months […]

12 hour layover/8 hour delay blues

Actually, it could be worse. Or so I prefer to believe. (Why have I never before noticed how poorly designed O’Hare is? It’s worse for America’s reputation than…Oh, I won’t go there.)
Upside: I am getting much reading done. Just got to this, from Aeschylus, attributed to the Greek god Prometheus, circa 550 B.C., and loved […]

Perverse consolation

In 1300(ish), Dante wrote, “Nessun maggiore dolore che ricordarsi del tempo felice nella miseria.” In English:
There is no greater sorrow than to remember a time of happiness in the midst of misery.
Perhaps not. But it’s also true, for me, that remembering a time of great sorrow in the midst of happiness is quite uplifting. I […]

Quote to remember

The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.
Antoine sent that to me (from Rand) via email after I sent him this story claiming that Facebook investor Peter Thiel is an Objectivist.