Greetings from Paris!

I spent the day in a sleep-deprived state. Whoever came up with the idea of staying up until night-time as a means of combating jet lag must be someone who can sleep before traveling. I was miserable, dozing off anytime I sat down and, possibly, a couple of times while standing or walking. Eventually I convinced Rudi that really I’d be a much more pleasant companion if we could just go to the hotel and lie down for a while…

Otherwise, we wandered a bit, getting to know our Latin Quarter (named for the Romans, not Central Americans). We walked down to the Seine and visited Notre Dame. I ate three crepes and missed being able to find tea at night.

A demain!

So, I’m heading out on vacation on Wednesday morning and won’t return home until late Monday night. During most of that time I’ll be camping on a farm in upstate New York, hanging out with my friend Shelley and her family as a folk music festival goes on around us. I’ll also be heading to a ballgame and to visit the family for a night.

When I asked Shelley how many books she thought I should bring, she promptly answered: “Four. Something funny, something thought-provoking, something non-fiction, and something else.” I’m not sure I agree with her categories, but I definitely agree with the number. I could, however, use some help narrowing down my choices.

That’s where you come in. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think I’d enjoy most while I’m away. Here are your choices:

• The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Volume 1 (This book contains two stories. I’ve read one and still have The Lives of Christopher Chant to go.)
• Sorcery & Cecilia, Or, The Enchanted Chocolate Pot
• Let’s Go France (This is a library book, so if I take it, it will have to live in the car, because I’d hate to ruin a library book if it rains while we’re camping.)
• Strong Poison
• Murder on the Orient Express
• The Mysterious Benedict Society
• Momo
• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
• Three Bags Full (I’m about a third of the way into this book, but I don’t think it will hurt it if I leave it behind for the week.)
• Something else entirely that I can acquire easily

I survived our conference and am now recuperating at my folks’. On the agenda? Knitting, hanging with the family (and a belated birthday celebration), a visit to the Basketball Hall of Fame, and a trip south to see my uncle. I bet I feel fully refreshed by the time I head home Wednesday.

Three Beautiful Things (the Boston version):

1. The view from our room on the twenty-sixth floor of the hotel is impressive. I can see the Charles River from my pillow and the Citgo sign at Fenway park if I walk to the window. Makes waking up almost bearable.

2. My birthday fell during our conference and for the first time ever I was unable to take the day off. But my friends made sure I felt loved with text messages and voicemail and phone calls and blog comments. My friend Suzanne had treats delivered to my room, and Sam and Alexis shared their Valentine’s Day dinner with us. I felt quite loved.

3. I had a dilly of a time getting the stitch count right for my new shawl. At last after four restarts, I end up with the right number and can move on past the third row.

Please get on the road now.

Rudi has to work a full day, so we won’t be leaving until what would normally be rush hour is upon us. If you leave now, you’ll get to your destination while it’s still light out and, more importantly, will not be on the road when we need to be.

Thank you.

Three beautiful things from my trip to Denver:

1. My coworker Julie and I went to dinner the middle night we were in town. We wandered around a little bit before ending up at the place she’d eaten the night before — renowned for its fish. (I know! In a land-locked state!) We chattered away through quite a bit of delicious food (she had prime rib and I had nut-crusted sole) before we eventually toddled back to our respective hotels to crash. Actually conversing with someone during a meal made a pleasant change from the rest of the trip when I read my book as I ate.

2. Frontier Airlines offers satellite tv for a nominal cost. Since I am cheap, own an iPod, and wasn’t going to be on a plane for too, too long, I hadn’t planned on spending the money. Yet when my neighbors’ screens all went dark, mine continued broadcasting and I will fully admit to having watched all sorts of retro shows (like Gunsmoke and Speed Buggy) without pointing out to a stewardess that I was ripping the airline off. I just hope the passenger who had sat in my seat earlier in the day doesn’t get charged twice.

3. My hotel was only a couple of blocks from the touristy pedestrian mall in downtown Denver. Yet it was nice to know that it was a safe place to walk at night, and I enjoyed watching them prepare for the upcoming holiday season by stringing lights on the trees and hanging dangling snowflakes from buildings. I found the local independent bookstore (the Tattered Cover), several restaurants serving tasty morsels (from crepes to tacos to a pear-date salad), and enough Starbucks to keep you caffeinated for weeks. I wandered the street several times each day.

I spent far too much time sleeping (I’m blaming the altitude), but from what I saw, Denver was a lovely city. They seem to have a rampant youth homeless population, but the city was clean, there were lots of bicycles and clean-energy buses, and the food was delicious. I’d like to go back to visit when I don’t have to work and when I have the ability to get out of city boundaries to the scenic mountains.

Tonight is my last night in Denver. I’d tell you what I’ve been up to, but my life the past few days has pretty much been the following:

Get up.
Work.
Eat.
Sleep.
Walk.

Mix up the order and that’s it. I read while I eat. I pronounced tonight a success because I wound a ball of yarn (for Monkeys, Sweetpea!) while I watched Numbers.

Home tomorrow. I can’t wait! (Particularly because Rudi tells me the weather is much more seasonally appropriate back home than here, where it’s been in the 70s and dry.)

PS: The Denver Starbucks switched over to their Christmas cups Thursday. They look so festive!