Endings and Other Niftiness

[anarchist_nomad]

No coherence between topics in tonight's entry, so don't expect any. Just sayin'

• Finished reading The Nine Tailors in my hotel room before dinner tonight. It is the first Dorothy Sayers novel that I have read. Indeed, I am not a big mystery reader, so it is unlikely that I would have ever picked up the book had it not focused heavily on change bell ringing. That said, I thought it was excellently written, with intricate and elaborate detail. I may end up reading other books by her, particularly those featuring Bruce Wayne Lord Peter Wimsey. The book also made me missing bell ringing, which I have been doing less frequently between terms. Yes, it has only been six days since I pulled some rope -- and eight days until I do so again -- but I miss it nonetheless. I should practice some Plain Bob Minor for handbells to pass the time until then.
  
  
• Finished the New Super Mario Bros. after dinner tonight. First time I have beaten a video game in a couple of years. It was fun. The Kiddo picked a good Christmas present for me. I may go back and play it a bit more, just to beat it even more completely. For instance, I never discovered how to access worlds four and seven. There is something a bit odd, though, about hearing the stereotypical Italian accent that Mario sports... while I am here in Italy. Mildly jarring, when compared to the real thing that is all around me.
  
  
• Speaking of Christmas, and because I was playing with photos last night, here is a shot of me taken by theentwife in New York City last December, while we were out and about with squeektoy42 and a few others.
  
  
  Handsome bloke, ain't he?
  
  
• Many wishes for a very happy birthday to the ever-wonderful ms_redcat!!! Big virtual hugs for you, sweetie -- redeemable for real ones next time I see you! (And is it mean to point out that you are now older than me again?)
  
  
• It has been like Old Home Week^TM here at Gran Sasso. Apparently there is a meeting of some of the European collaborators from Pierre Auger, in preparation for the 2007 International Cosmic Ray Conference. Thus, I keep running into old and familiar faces from when I was a member of that august collaboration.

And that's about all the randomness flowing through my head for today. Time to go back to the hotel and catch some sleep before our video conference tomorrow morning...