I like, in general, to tour off the beaten path. My favorite part of Pompeii was after a rain shower cleared out most of our fellow visitors. The trip's best restaurant was down a back alley in a grimy southern Italian city. We have found more joy by bucking the crowds than we ever could by following them.

The Sistine Chapel was not off the beaten ( Read more... )

By the time you read this, kadyg and I will be on a flight to Europe. Visiting Italy for two weeks for my sister's wedding, with a stopover in Amsterdam along the way.

We got everything packed and managed to leave on schedule with only a little sleep deprivation, so (modulo the usual airport ripoffs) it's been an uneventful start to the trip.

... I lie ( Read more... )

I've been noticing two things develop hand in hand as I age: patience and regrets.

It's not that I regret what I've done ... just that, as I have grown more fully capable of realizing the goals that I once set for myself, as I have learned to dedicate myself to them and work for them in long stretches instead of short bursts, I have also learned -- ( Read more... )