I'll be out of town again this weekend, in Portland for the Portland Lindy Exchange. I'm just a travelling fool.

I'll be doing Lindy stuff most of the weekend, but I'm going to skip out on Saturday night to go Tango. Portland Tango folk are awesome! I'm looking forward to seeing them again.

It's a strange world we live in:

• New Service: Send the Ashes of your Loved Ones into Space (Ananova)
• Curious About Cannibals? Win a Jungle Holiday with a New Guinea Tribe (Ananova)
• Benicio del Toro Told His Family He Was Studying Law for Years, Until He Could No Longer Conceal the Truth Due To Oscar Win (Ananova)
• Postman Faces Daily Attacks from Jealous Pheasant (Ananova)
• Rent Professional Party Guests to Liven Your Evening! (Ananova)
• Human Waste Rains Down on Family Home (Ananova)
• Oven Proves a Poor Place to Store Bullets (SFGate)

The apple cider guy was on my bus again this morning. I walked by him when I noticed him, even though the seat next to him was empty. I had my pastels and a little notebook out -- was planning on drawing during the bus ride, and that's not something I'm accustomed to sharing with people I know. Also, somehow, I've gotten so used to being in my own little world on the bus. Not talking to anyone, not really seeing the other people around me. It's hard to break habits like that.

As I was about to sit in a seat by myself, though, I changed my mind and went back to sit next to him.

I still drew for a large part of the ride. Sketched some guy sitting up near the front of the bus.

Apple cider guy asked about the drawing toward the end of the ride, as I was putting it away. He said he hadn't wanted to look, but he hadn't been able to help himself. We chatted for another minute or so, and then the bus hit our stop.

I think he usually rides a little later in the morning than I do. He's cool though; I wouldn't mind riding the same bus more often.

Louie is on dogster! He'll need to edit his info a bit, though. Right now it's rather sparse.

That's right, my pup has joined a social networking site for dogs.

Read all about the site on slashdot. Dogsterrific!

Lorenzo has inspired me to start reading up a bit on US sanctions and trade embargos. There's so much going on in the world that I've never even considered! I feel utterly uninformed, although I've started reading up and working to change that.

I think almost everyone I know called me last night while I was sick and sleepy. If you were one of those many and I sounded really out of it, sorry about that. Take no offense. It wasn't you, really.

Denver always makes me sick. Twice now I've gone, and twice I've come home with a nasty sinus cold.

Hooray for Alex who babied me a bit and fed me last night! Otherwise I probably would have just moped around, felt sorry for myself, and gone to bed without dinner. I can be pretty pathetic when I'm sick.

I think I'll head into work early today, so I can leave a bit earlier than usual and nap this afternoon, if need be.

I'm back, and finally putting XP back on my home machine.

I hate MSBlast. MSBlast is my arch-nemesis. The battles were long and bitter, but I am proud to report that I have ultimately trimphed.