Me at the local yummy vegetarian foodie place (Life Alive. Stupid name, delicious food. Also, no, I am not a vegetarian): I’d like the Romantic Wrap. Please add eggs and greens.
The guy: The Romantic Wrap, add eggs and beets?
Me: Eggs and greens.
The guy: I’m afraid we don’t have any beans.
Me: GREENS!  I WANT GREENS!

***
My sister, codename: Apocalyptica the Flimflammer, on the phone in the wind: I just got to Harvard Square! I’m sorry I’m late! I’m on my way!
Me: Oh, don’t worry, I’m just doing crap.
Apocalyptica: Crafts?
Me: Crap.
Apocalyptica: Crack?
Me: Crap! I’m doing crap! I’m paying bills and filing paperwork!
Apocalyptica: So you’re not doing crack?

***
So, travel puts a lot into me, but it also takes a lot out of me, and lately I’ve been using what I’ve got for stuff other than blogging. My expectation is that this will result in you someday soon having more fiction by me to read. Fair deal?

On Wednesday I leave for Rome and environs, where I’ll be doing some research into small medieval towns. A friend doing research into small medieval towns talked me into joining her. It’s nice to have friends with common objectives 🙂

Unrelatedly, here are some beautiful photos of ranchers out West (in Colorado), taken by Michael Crouser. Make them nice and big on your screen.

Finally, my lack of blog brain makes me grateful to Brian Ibbot of Coverville for providing me something awesome to repost: this video of the band Walk off the Earth (link automatically plays music) covering Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know,” all five of them on a single guitar. Funny that around 2:55, the guy on the far right is making the guitar sound like a piano (IMO) — reminding me, of course, that a piano is a string instrument.