Unexpected Guests

-
Yesterday, I got a Facebook message from a stranger saying that she was a friend of Vianney's, coming in on a plane from Scotland and then a train from Paris, and could I please remind him to pick her up from the train station, because he wasn't answering his landline or his cell? I left him a message.

And about two hours later receive several frantic phone calls and text messages advising me that he'd completely forgot his friends were coming in from Scotland and was in Toulouse with Christine, and could I pick them up and keep them.

And so I found myself with Lily and Philippa, who are Scottish and English respectively, last night. We dropped their stuff of at my apartment, got a drink with Benjamin at the Frog & Rosbif, and took a walk by the river. I guess we're going to try to see the major sights of Bordeaux today.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2025 Year in Review

-
Image
 Here’s a quick recap of my highlights for the year 2025. January We began the New Year in Omaha and roundtripped home to Knoxville through an ice storm. I learned to make orecchiette by hand. Construction finally began on my long-awaited lab space at work. February I baked a lot of sourdough using the starter that survived our move home from Australia. I stayed inside a lot with the cat on my lap. I saw Adeem the Artist play the Blue Plate Special in Knoxville and went to Nashville to see Christian Lee Hutson play the Blue Room. I gave a seminar in Pittsburgh, which was fun. Construction continued on the lab. My mom had spinal surgery, necessitating a trip to Oklahoma. March In March we protested unsavory actions by our government, including massive threats to science funding. I saw Bright Eyes in Knoxville and in a cavern in Middle Tennessee and Tulsa with Stephanie. I visited some Cherokee historical sites with my folks in NE OK before I drove home to TN. I stopped in Nashville ...
Read more

2022 in Concerts

-
Image
Living in Perth had many perks, but the biggest downside was the lack of live music. Since moving home from Australia, I've been making up for lost time and seeing as many shows as I can. It was fitting that my first run of shows back was to see Bright Eyes, my longtime fave, who were touring in support of their long-awaited record Down in the Weeds Where the World Once Was , released at the beginning of the pandemic. Here's a list of what I saw in 2022. The Bright Eyes Tour 1. Bright Eyes with Christian Lee Hutson at the Sylvee, Madison, WI 3-25-22 2. Bright Eyes with Christian Lee Hutson at the Chicago Theatre, Chicago, IL 3-26-22 3. Bright Eyes with Christian Lee Hutson at the Pageant, Saint Louis, MO 3-30-22 4. Bright Eyes with Christian Lee Hutson at Old Forester's Paristown Hall, Louisville, KY 3-31-22 5. Christian Lee Hutson album release in-store performance at Grimey's in Nashville, TN 4-1-22     Best day ever. We ran into Christian in our hotel in Louisville a...
Read more

What I Read This Year

-
I've been accustomed in my adulthood to reading between 40 and 60 novels a year -- almost entirely science fiction and fantasy. But this year, I spent virtually all of my free time trying to learn Cherokee. It used up all the time an energy I might usually spend on fiction. The books I managed to read this year were largely in support of my language learning, and uncharacteristically and disproportionately skewed toward non-fiction. Here's the list: Cherokee related: Original Teachings: Designed to Stand as One: Early Keetowah Teachings and Traditions by Crosslin Fields Smith Think Cherokee: A Cherokee Language Student Reference by JW Webster Cherokee Reference Grammar by Brad Montgomery-Anderson Cherokee Earth Dwellers: Stories and Teachings of the Natural World by Christopher B. Teuton A Lifetime of Healing by Crosslin Fields Smith Journeying into Cherokee: Help and Encouragement for Learning the Cherokee Language by Ed Fields and Mary Rae Other Non-Fiction: The Frogs and Toa...
Read more