at home - bill bryson (2010)

ramblingly wide-ranging history of modern society as it develops from the medieval to the modern and my one take-home point is that europe (and especially england) of the years up to the present were dark indeed. of especial horror (and most difficult to read) is the chapter on toilet practices. you can practically smell and feel the stuff.

vintage bryson, pretty much.

little commentator

J2 sends us a recording of little A describing the world cup game.

他提ball ; 他跌倒； 他头痛；他坐下来。with entirely unrecognizable prosody almost unrecognizable tonality but (you gotta admit) much sharp observation.

we are torn between grandparent-ly delight and much generational horror.

jb is gentrifying. random spots are ig-worthy and you can see the care with design. call me shallow, but i rather like it. less grit more shine and certainly cleaner. now they just need to diversify away from f&b and retail pharmacies.

preferred poison

HOM goes for his massage.

i wander the mall.

and find my favorite type of massage.

satisfying and without human contact. the way i like it.

breakfast

pretty neat dimsum handiwork

in air conditioned comfort

mostly local clientele

nicee

lounge rat

the air side lounge is where my pretensions to fraternity and equality end and i unabashedly accept with gratitude the place to sit the access to grub the free wifi and the general air of shabby gentility. 

whatever happened to the shiny eyed socialist democrat?

quickie trippie is over

flying home today but feeling as glad as when we fly home after a longer time out. same anticipation same loose schedule same delicious inactivity. same disrupted feeling same vague guilt and same malaise looking for fruitful action. 

3 days is the new fortnight.

in other news, i am glad i attended this high school reunion. grateful again for the shiny friendlinesses and unexpectedly easy camaraderie and meeting up with people i have not seen in over 40 years.