Excuses....

Not that very many people read this blog or anything, but I thought I'd write a mea culpa about why I have been so lax about writing. (A bit ironic no? writing about not writing...hmmm....must think on that some more)

Well, I haven't had much to say these days, as not much has been going on in my life. One would think, with a bunch of free time, tons of (surprisingly) good weather, and generally a world-is-my-oyster time period, a person of moderate creativity could find a way to make something interesting happen. I guess I'm just not one of those people. I've been reading, relaxing, and generally taking stock of my life. I have decided that I have no idea what I want my life to be, and have started setting out to figure out what I really want out of this strange world called life. I know I want to work, I know I want to contribute, and I know I want to use my (not small, if I do say so myself) skills dealing with China. But that's about where it ends.

So I have been silent as a ghost. I do believe, unless something momentous happens, that I may be silent for a bit to come as well - as I am not one for posting my innermost thoughts on the web for posterity to read. If you, dear reader, happen to stumble upon this post in your wanderings though the web, know that I am here delving into the strange world that is my dreams for the future...whatever those are. But for the moment, I may only say hello occasionally to my web-friends (whomever you may be)...

In the meantime, I will be blogging quite extensively here, as I train for a century bike ride (109 miles to be precise) with my other half, which will occur in Tuscon, AZ in November. I'll be raising money for a great cause, so stop by here if you would be so kind and help a cancer surviver.

Road Trip to a Great Wedding

Like many people these days, I’m amazed at how expensive flying has become. Day was, you could fly from Washington, DC to Chicago for about $120-$150. Unfortunately, those days are long gone. But we had to go to Chicago for our friend Catherine’s wedding, so we decided to take a road trip. We drove from Washington, DC through Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, to Chicago, IL. There were some great sights along the way, including this really cool wind farm in Somerset, PA:

Given the amount of time we had on the road, Doug and I had a bunch of time to discuss all sorts of issues, including how cool an old-fashioned drive-in called Swensen’s is (read about our meal there, and other thoughts on our road food on my other blog here):

Also discussed was why this truck was hauling an electronic bull across Indiana, seen at a rest stop somewhere on the Indiana Turnpike:
But most importantly of course was seeing our great friend Catherine get married after 10+ years with John. The ceremony was lovely, with an emphasis on reading really wonderful poems and quotes and such (I have to admit I did tear up a bit a couple of times). We hung out with a few friends, blew some bubbles outside Bond Chapel at the University of Chicago, goofed around a bit, and generally had fun celebrating with our friend: