So I’ve just arrived on St. Vincent, an island I’ve never been to before and which I would still have a little trouble finding on a map.  I’m working and settling in and puttering around figuring out which power adapter goes into what, and finally I flip on the TV before bed.

And the very first face I see, on the channel the previous occupant of this room must have been watching, is somebody I just met for lunch, a friend of a friend.  She’s not famous, she’s not on TV all the time, if ever.  You’d have no idea who she is.  That’s what makes this so odd.

Eeny little planet this is.

From the BBC, a report from the Oxford Research Group worth reading.  Which means Bush and Cheney will never see it, but still.

The idea may sound surprising, given the presumption of overwhelming US firepower that somehow still survives. This flash animation helps explain why our nukes don’t necessarily trump their nukes, and our bunker-busters may not be able to bust their bunkers.  Although we’d kill vast numbers of people in the effort.

Another hint about where I’m headed…

The book should stop completely kicking my ass as of the end of this week. As of about Saturday, it should begin kicking my ass only moderately.

I’m a little tired of stringing together words, and I’m about to start doing some traveling for a few months, and I’d like to force myself to think more visually for a while. So this space may become mostly a series of photos. With luck, they’ll mostly speak for themselves. I could use the change. This is a small and silly blog anyway, so I can’t imagine why not.

Here’s one for starters, which can also serve as a hint to one of my probable stops:

I’m not certain, but I believe the above may involve some sort of dairy or milk-related product.

I’ve been asked to speak to a cognitive psychology class at UCLA on Monday morning, talking about memory skills and learning and whatnot.

At least, I think the class is in cognitive psychology. They told me, but — this is the beauty part — I forgot.

Maybe I’m not supposed to be there as an example… but as a specimen.

UPDATE: That was a blast.  My thanks to professor Steve, and to a great group of about 250 students, who made me feel welcome despite my complete lack of formal education in stuff they know lots about.