Hi Everyone

Well, since I'm going to be "untethered" for the next 3 months, I thought I'd start a blog to keep people up to date on happenings, etc.

Notes on what's happening:

• I quit my job this week: thought it would scare the bejesus out of me, but turns out it just made me really happy! (for those of you who know me well, I have a long and nefarious history with my doomed job at the Department of Commerce, which is a story for another day).
• I'm getting ready for my stint at the homestay immersion program in Beijing China. As many folks know, I have a long fascination with China, beginning with my Junior year of college, when I went on the Carleton Beijing program (http://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/ocs/beijing/). Roy Grow has a way with making you fall in love with China...and once it's in your blood it's very difficult to purge the obsession. So, I'll be living in Beijing for 2 months. Bought a one-way ticket today.

So that's the long and short of it. From time to time I'll update the blog, hopefully upload some pictures, and in general use it as a lazy way of keeping in touch with friends while I'm immersed in China.

I'm imagining my first posts from China now - briefing all of you on the tasty goodness of Chinese food (yummy jiaozi - boiled dumplings not to be confused with the run-of-the-mill potstickers - is all I can think of right now).

So...welcome to my silly blog!