If any of you are still pondering Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, my Book Group discussion is still going on.

48 hours in Venice and I’ve…

• had gelato (yummy Italian ice cream) twice
• realized that cities without cars are really, really nice
• seen the famous glassblowers of Murano
• travelled all over the city via “vaporetti” (canal ferries)
• dipped my toes in the Mediterranean at the beach on the Lido
• applauded the string quartets playing in St. Mark’s Square at night
• taken pictures of the colorful little houses in Burano
• eaten a pizza as thin as a tortilla and bigger than a record album
• made more references to the Venice episode of The Amazing Race than I can count.

Unfortunately the city itself isn’t the only Race similarity. I used to think it was ridiculous how some of the teams treated each other. Now I realize that irritation, impatience, and general irrational behaviour is to be expected when you travel with one person for an extended period of time. Yes, the Snook and I are driving each other crazy. It’s been three weeks of seeing each other 24-7 and we’re going maaaaaad. If you don’t hear from me by the end of the week, it’s probably because one of us finally pushed the other into a canal. 🙂

HoIy crap. This post is being made on a Sony E ricsson mobile phone. How cool is that? I do miss London technology…

Ummm… My Carpenters Album Bag has been linked on The Karen Carpenter Remembrance Page. I was kinda worried when I saw the backlink that they’d be upset that I was taking the piss out of her, and it’d wind up being like the Ashley and Mary-Kate thing all over again. But they seem cool with it, so far.

Happy birthday to my sister Amy, who turns 24 today. Woo! Hopefully her new boyfriend will take her out on the town.

One hundred and eighty degrees.
Interestingly, that figure does not refer to temperature (even though it felt like it for a while there in Boston). Rather, the Snook and I have now traversed one hundred and eighty degrees of the globe. Kinda mind-blowing, huh? We took off from Boston Wednesday night (after spending our last day on the fabulous Sam Adams Brewery tour) and landed in London early Thursday morning. It was a vile flight. Being a bit of a chunker myself, I’ve always felt sympathetic to the plight of folks too big for conventional airplane seating. My patience was sorely tested by the lady beside me though, who spilled over into my seat to the point where I couldn’t fully lower my arm rest (as it was sitting on her leg). She also had a walking stick and about forty-seven packages sitting on her lap, which meant she wasn’t easily moved. Thus I was trapped for five hours with no aisle access and such limited elbow mobility that I felt like a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Grrr.

Anyway, London seems different somehow. There are lots of shiny new buses (courtesy of Red Ken, I hear). We’re staying with our friend Alex in Fulham, which looks a lot more upmarket than I remember. Times, they are a changin’. Hopefully I’ll feel more at home when we hit a pub tonight…

“It’s CHOWDA!”
Rodd and I have finally left the Midwestern plains for the twee quaintness of New England. Well, at least that’s what we thought we were doing. Instead we arrived in Boston to the marvelous sight of the “Big Dig” and the insanity of Beantown drivers. We’re having a good time though. We’re staying with my college roommate Eileen, who I haven’t seen in four years. Yesterday she took us up to the beach in Gloucester (which is apparently where The Perfect Storm was set). It’s like 90 degrees here and sunny, so it was a perfect day. Today the Snook and I are walking the Freedom Trail and checking out all the Revolutionary War sites. We’ve been through the State Building and we even saw Paul Revere’s grave. It’s hilarious because Rodd knows very little about the War of Independence, so he keeps asking me questions and demonstrating that I know very little about my own country’s history. But we’re learning now, right?

And hey, you Brits. The Snook and I will be landing in London this Thursday morning and we want to meet up with as many folks as possible. We’re thinking of having a little Netdeciders reunion Friday night either at the Suffolk Punch or at the Anchor down on the Thames. Let me know if you’ve got any other ideas or if you can’t make it. And please tell all the other ND folks that I’ve fallen out of contact with. Hope to see you soon!

Literature
I was pleasantly surprised to score 11/13 on this Famous First Lines Quiz. I had to take a couple educated guesses.

I’ve been doing a fair bit of reading on the trip so far. I managed to finish Speaker for the Dead, the Orson Scott Card sequel to Ender’s Game. It cleared up a lot of the issues I had with the first book (especially the bit about the computer game that seemed a little too sentient). My edition came with a nice introduction from Card that explained why the whole “Speaker for the Dead” thing at the end of Ender’s Game felt so tacked on. Basically, he wanted to write the second book but he needed to set up who Ender was and what humanity’s attitude would be towards the piggies. Now I almost wish he had spent more time on it. I’m enjoying the series so much that if I don’t get the next book soon, I’ll probably go back and reread the first two!

Sunburn. I forgot how bright it gets here during the summer. My forehead kills.

We’re now five days into the “family” portion of the visit and luckily the jet lag is finally starting to wear off. Highlights so far included seeing Finding Nemo (which I loved) and visiting the Mishawaka Brewing Company (which the Snook loved). It’s so weird seeing my family after so long. My younger cousins have suddenly all become teenagers, and even my own parents look different than I remember. I’m having fun with little baby Joey though. Tonight we’re introducing Rodd to another uniquely American experience: Chuck E. Cheese!