lollardfish

My first published op-ed piece is now online. I assume it will appear in the Sunday Star Tribune tomorrow (in paper).

It is interesting to see how the editor changed some of my language, mostly removing conjunctions and other words that I found created better flow, but that were clearly "un-newspapery." He also added the title. It's an odd feeling of powerlessness to submit such a thing and see it published without getting a final say-so. And that's the newspaper business.

Anyway, it's nice to see something like this published.

Dear friends,

Shannon, my fiancee, is pregnant. In fact, she's about 22-weeks pregnant. We've known for about 3 weeks. That puts her as due on January 14th, although it's + or - three weeks.

There's a longer story about how we did not know that I would be happy to tell you in person. Suffice it to say that I did notice that Shannon had put on some weight directly in the belly and was a bit confused about it, because we were exercising regularly and eating well. Then four people in Italy asked if she was pregnant, and I stuck to the party line and told them no. We were sick at the time and her stomach had swollen. Doubt did creep into my mind, but it's not an easy thing to ask one's beloved if she's really sure she's not pregnant. We got back from Italy, she felt a little wierd (as her organs compressed), and finally took a test.

Today she had the first ultrasound, and we saw everything - he's a boy, he's got a head, a spine, some limbs, and, well, boy-parts. We could see and hear his little heart. Both Shannon and the baby are healthy.

Today may have been the most amazing experience of my life so far and I'm quite overwhelmed. I expect the next most amazing experience to take place on January 14th, plus or minus 3 weeks.

The tiny little birds are eating all of my grass seed.

I'm going to have to get the grass "mulch" stuff.

Damnit.

.... now joined by two squirrels and five robins.

Dissertation is re-drafted. This is the antipenultimate draft, but the penultimate draft before the defense. I need to edit the bibliography and footnotes tomorrow, and maybe do a global search on "thus" and "however." I overuse them. I think I've conquered my "certainly" and "clearly" overuse.

Also first day at Mac tomorrow. Orientation. Will wear a tie!

The British Terror Case.

Essential reading for, well, everyone.

Salient details include:

- There was a serious cash inflow from someone, presumably abroad.
- There was no imminent threat.
- The threat was real, and it's not clear to me whether current security systems would have detected it (i.e. whether the liquid would have left detectable residue).
- These people were radicalized by the war in Iraq, although one cannot say whether or not they might have been radicalized without it.
- They were caught through police work, having been under surveillance for more than a year.

We're home safely, happy, and our digestive systems are more or less functioning normally. It make take a day or two for our bodies to re-develop the ability to digest dairy (the body expels those enzymes along with the bad stuff), and I'm wondering if we had salmonella. It lasts a little longer than other forms of food poisoning, and the culprit may well have been a chicken-egg-mayo-potato salad we bought in France on our last day. As long as we don't have various types of recurring symptoms, no lasting harm done.

At any rate, we spent our last few days in Italy in a grand old hotel on Lake Orta, the most western and one of the smaller of the Italian lakes.

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One advantage of not eating is that you spend relatively little money on food. So we are staying in quite nice hotels thank you very much, and are currently lounging around doing email on the TV in a Sheraton in Milan. We've bought cheese. We've seen the Duomo, and the castle, and Prada ...

I shall write up more about Lago Orta when I'm back home tomorrow. Everything, except eating, was perfect there. But today is the first day that food agrees with us again, and I am going to eat some tagliatelle and some buffola mozzarella if it kills me. The girl feels likewise about gelato.

Back in the states tomorrow.

Ciao!

(P.S. A guy in Orta peered at me, while selling me white truffles, and asked me why I sounded like I was from Treviso, or maybe Venice ... I do have an accent)

The girl and I are currently in a ski resort (peaceful in the summer) on top of Monte Bordone, 1600m above sea level.

We got poisoned in Soave, but are having a lovely time despite recurring minor maladies.

And I am on an Italian keyboard in a hotel lobby, so more later ...

On August 11, 2006, Shannon and I both woke up around 5:00 A.M., tossed and turned for awhile, then got up. By 6:30, we were dressed and out the door and walking into Azay-le-rideau, the town in which we are staying.

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The girl and I are happily in France, and rested after a full night's sleep. Yesterday featured a little farming hamlet of caves and blood sausage.