People of the Middle Kingdom

Smoking on the job, and what a job it is, cruising down the river on a little boat.

Ooooh, scary looking guards, about 17 years old.

Shanghai at Night

Shanghai's famed, and somewhat ugly, Pearl Tower.

Shanghai's famed Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street.

Glad I Have No Toy Stuffed Animals

I was recently on a two-week trip and, as usual, Mimi had a dogsitter come stay with her overnight, feed her, etc. while I was gone.

When I returned home, my fake pink daisies from Ikea had water in the glass vase. Umm, fake flowers don't need to be watered. In fact, I had to dry them out fast to prevent them from molding.

Oddly, the real potted plant a few feet over was wilted and later died from lack of water.

The dogsitter got the giggles when I pointed out this scatterbrained oversight.

With this kind of discernment for living things, I'm just glad I didn't leave a stuffed toy animal out while I was gone.

Dancin' on the Train to Beijing

No Chinese people were harmed (or offended) in the production of this video.

You really must find the time to watch this. It will not disappoint.

Slow Boat through China

I just got back from a boat trip through China. I started in Chongqing (chong-ching) and seven days and a thousand miles later, down the Yangtze River, I arrived at the port of Shanghai. Rain and fog ruled the weather on the trip. Hopefully I'll have time in coming weeks to tell you more about the trip.

Dragon Boat Festival

Wednesday, June 16, was the Dragon Boat Festival. After all these years, I finally saw dragon boat races. They really do exist. Who knew?

I've been on a work trip for two weeks, and have over 100 unread e-mail in my inbox. Might take awhile to catch up.