In Which I Keep Trying New Things

The trip on the underground was supposed to take 30 minutes. That’s what all the apps told me, but I was worried about getting to my train. It wasn’t the subway, but instead I was concerned about the crowds at King’s Cross Station, where people visiting London for the funerary spectacle were most likely to […]

In Which We Could Have Crashed the Funeral

When the guard asked, the person in front of us said he was camping. Vivian followed close behind, and I kept just as close in her footsteps. I’m sure we looked like a group, so the guards scarcely looked up when they let us into the area lining The Mall, where mourners were spending the […]

In Which I Don’t Get Lost

September 16, 2022 Conference day today. That means plenty of time spent sitting in hard, uncomfortable chairs and processing information, both new and old. And that means a mostly boring conference lunch. Still, there’s just something great about international conferences, learning different perspectives and other approaches to similar problems. This is my first conference since […]

My First Task In London Is Shopping

I’ve said it before and I’ll reiterate that sentiment: conferences aren’t great fodder for blogs. I’ll further state that neither is sleep deprivation, which has been an issue over the last week leading up to this trip. I’m once again in London, bidden to come here by a conference. This is the same conference I […]

Unpacking from the Trip I Didn’t Take

Greetings, readers! Labor Day is now well behind us and the summer days are winding to a close. This means the rains of fall have returned to Ann Arbor, night is falling quickly, the overnight temperatures are dipping ever further toward winter, and the morning drive is darker. I can feel the seasons pressing forward […]

The Draw of Lisbon

People love Lisbon. I’ve had so many people tell me they love it here, and I can see why. Lisbon is easy. It’s a great place for wandering, munching, drinking, and just being. It was mostly destroyed in the earthquake of 1755, so it feels relatively young. Transportation is simple, and the town itself is […]