I just got back from Barnes & Noble, where I purchased the Michelin guidebook for Scotland, which has me very excited. I've been researching various ways to get from Amsterdam to Scotland, and it looks like I can get from Amsterdam to London via the Dutch Flyer, and then take some British train system to Edinburgh, which is just four exciting ( Read more... )

( Read more... )

This weekend, everybody I know is leaving for Burning Man, and I'm going to be very bored. Ok, ok, ok - that was hyperbole. Just a couple of folks I know are headed to what they alternately call "The Burn" or "The Man." But two of them happen to be people I spend a lot of time with, so it's going to feel like Burning Man is massacring my social ( Read more... )

Today I'm going to say a few short things about my recent trip to Las Vegas. Let me begin by saying that for a laid-back, hot-weather-hating, clothing-wearing fellow like myself, summer in Sin City does not bring with it an enjoyable climate. It reached the low 100s during the day, and at night it supposedly cooled off to the mid-80s, though I ( Read more... )

Yesterday I returned from a very busy weekend, wherein I spent time in Sunriver with my family and attended the memorial for my old friend Damon. It was exhausting, and I can't say that I'm starting off this week all rested and refreshed! In fact, as my roommate and H- spent a good portion of the night cooking things with plums and messing up the ( Read more... )

"When I was younger I made it a rule never to take strong drink before lunch. It is now my rule never to do so before breakfast." - Winston Churchill

This morning I woke up promptly at 6:00 and after a bit of contemplation decided that I really, really needed to take a day off. It had been a taxing weekend and I'd pretty much wasted my entire ( Read more... )