Sick.

For the past few days, I've been down with a cold. And when I say down, I mean down, baby. I usually have the constitution of--well, let's see, what's a simile for a sturdy constitution? Block of cement? Boulder? I never get sick. That makes the times when I do get sick stand out. When I was in junior high and high school, I had a run of strep infections that culminated in one episode that kept me out of school for almost two weeks. It was horrible and awesome at the same time. I watched soap operas. My mom brought me cut-up oranges on a plate to eat in bed. I didn't wash my hair for days on end.

The other string of illnesses I remember all had to do with the ends of semesters when I was in school. I used to stay up till all hours finishing term papers, etc., only to fall ill when everything was finished. It was like a bargain I made with my body, which allowed me to abuse it if I would nurse it back to health when the extreme hour had passed.

So maybe this is one of those post-semester letdowns. In any case, I have been alternately sleeping and woozily reading and drinking tea. And then sleeping some more. I'll wake up to watch some minutes of the playoffs, and then drop off again. Sleeping, as it turns out, is priority one on my list of summer ambitions. Even if I had to get sick to realize it.

I have a couple of things to say.

First of all, some people need to blog, and in a hurry. You know who you are.

Second of all, in my catch up reading, I found a very interesting piece--a manifesto--about the digitizing of all the books in the world. It was in the New York Times Sunday magazine either last Sunday or the Sunday before. I want to know if anyone read it, and if so, if you will talk to me about it.

Third of all, I'm announcing my intention to briefly (a) take the word creative out of circulation, and then (b) repatriate it to refer to all kinds of writing. In fact, consider both (a) and (b) done and done, as of this writing. If anyone would care to discuss this matter with me, you know where to find me.

Finally, I am in the process of beginning my long-awaited (at least, long-awaited by me) movie-making venture. I am, to start, using bits of footage of my granddaughter. Right now, I am working on "The Miriam Project Part 1: She Swears." World Premiere planned for this summer.

Back in the USA, or: The Wireless Situation Is All Fouled Up.

No pictures yet, as my wireless apparently decided to take a vacation to tropical parts, and hasn't yet returned to play its part in the vivid mental picture I have of my summer. When I get it back up, there will be pictures of the U.K. trip. Oh yes: there will be pictures.

However, I would like to report that although my sleep patterns are still a little unsettled, I had a perfectly peaceful, calm day yesterday in which I

1. bought groceries
2. watched the season finale of The Gilmore Girls, which I missed during my travels (agenda item for today: season finale of The O.C.)
3. bought sandwiches for the kids at Subway
4. did the dishes
5. made tabbouleh with lots of mint, as well as hummus that I added parsley to, making it a rather lurid shade of green, but otherwise delicious
6. began working my way through the stack of enjoyable mail and leftover parts of the Sunday Times (news flash! best American novel of the last 25 years is Beloved, but a runner-up is my personal favorite, Underworld)
7. watched parts of the Mavs/Spurs game and the Suns/Clippers game.

All in all, a satisfying day.

Today, there's more to do, but I can do it in the peace of my little summer kingdom. One thing I intend to do is shuffle piles of books and other reading material around so that I can begin the reading queue. Also, move other stuff around so that I can establish a foothold of my study, which I think will be a key location in the summer kingdom. If I can establish a foothold.

Questions from the U.K. (only some of which I know the answers to)

1. Why are beets called beetroot?
2. Why are ruins so fascinating?
3. Why have the Brits not yet come to understand the importance of ice in improving the beverage experience?
4. Why is it that I have watched my first episode of Desperate Housewives here?
5. What is a Pict?
6. Why are chips crisps, fries chips, and diapers napkins/nappies, and napkins serviettes?
7. And by the way, why is a sweater a jumper?
8. Why were there so many French youths, apparently unsupervised, at Loch Ness? And why did one of them have both a Slipknot and a Marilyn Manson decal on his backpack?
9. How old, exactly, is Auld Toon Aberdeen?

and an observation:

10. In really old cemeteries, the monuments stand as thick as trees.

Short update from the U.K.

Well, bloggers, I have been away from home for a week now, and here is a short list of my accomplishments:

• slept the minimum amount to still be a human being
• breakfasted, lunched, dined, and taken tea with international academics for two days
• wrote and delivered, with my colleague, a paper, with stellar results
• saw a splendid retrospective of the work of Kiki Smith (at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, during a lengthy layover)
• saw a great exhibit of the drawings of Michelangelo at the British Museum, as well as terrific exhibits on writing in Egyptian society and also the Elgin marbles, just for good measure
• saw a series of four gigantic Cy Twombly paintings at the Tate Modern that just blew me away. Also a gorgeous Joan Mitchell painting, a beautiful Arshile Gorky, and some really cool boxes by Susan Hiller and a surrealist guy that I can't, at the moment, remember.
• Ate three splendid dinners at Exmouth Market in Farringdon.
• Took a very early plane to Aberdeen from Luton airport (note to self: Luton is in the sticks)
• spent the day in the charming village of Inverurie with the princess of Scotland, Miriam, going to the organic green grocers (Aberdeenshire honey), library, two charity shops, a chemists, and the Tesco, this last a grocery store which I inexplicably find utterly entrancing. We bought really good crisps (potato chips) and excellent Danish and jelly doughnuts. Then we took naps and made dinner and entertained another set of grandparents and went to better.

Today I almost feel human again. (it's not a static process, by the way, with international travel). We're off to Inverness this morning. Cheers!

[Pictures to come.]

Hello, is anyone else awake?

The insomnia fairy has come to visit tonight/this morning. Despite my having all but finished my grading, I have piles of things yet to do before taking off for the U.K., including doing the actual writing, as opposed to the evidence gathering and the talking about, of the paper my colleague and I will deliver at the Open University. Is that what's keeping me awake? Perhaps?

Also, I haven't decided what clothes to take to the U.K., nor am I sure how to get from Gatwick Airport to Milton Keynes. Never mind, this can all be sorted out tomorrow. Tomorrow will, however, go a lot better if I sleep tonight.

Here are some pictures of what's been going on around the megastore in the last week or so.




I fetched my daughter from the intellectual environs of Utah State University.



We had a family dinner with children and grandchildren.



Bruiser's enigma and allure persisted.


Teen Boy Squad came to chill.


Bruiser and Betty arrived at detente.

The Suns.

Anyone besides me see the Suns' win over the Lakers tonight as a vindication? It's too late (aka, it's past midnight) to elaborate. Suffice it to say that we're glad to see the Suns live to fight another day. Etcetera. Steve Nash is the bomb.

. . . and we are wireless!

Sitting in the big red chair with two tired out dogs, I am totally connected to the internet, yet totally not hooked to cords and cables. I feel like a kid gone to the circus. With cotton candy and popcorn.