So glad that Fay and SA have managed to get to London and meet up despite the fog.

Huh. That is total Bizarro World. I didn't have a random weird childhood pet, but because I am his antimatter negative twin, this makes sense. And in fact, it explains why, growing up, I never had a pet (except the goldfish I won at the county fair) making Seabiscuit my first dog, even though my sister had a duck, a mouse, a gerbil, a goat, a parakeet, a pony, and a horse.

Reposting here because in my pre-breakfast state I tried to ask this in Beep Me (sorry about that): Fay, SA, how long are you in London for? Any chance of an F2F?

I have very common ancestry, French and Irish (and apparently native), but it's comes with a Newfie sheen, which has it's own strange culture.

My dad was telling me tonight that when they were little, the fisherman used to throw the scallops that got caught in their nets onto the beach, and my grandad used to sned tehm soen to gather them up, and the fishemen would say, "Crazy Frenchmen, they'll eat anything." No my dad is on a rather Proustian quest to find the recipe for Coquilles Saint Jacques, like his mother used to make.

Quebec and its discontents is still a mystery to me. From where I'm standing, it looks like nothing so much as another case of crass, petty, nigh-racist nationalism. "Pur laine" bloodlines and all that--it's nazisoid.

I think it's a lot about being a cultural minority on a continent where the dominant culture is totally alluring and overwhelming. I don't really agree with a lot of the language laws, but I do understand the concerns they're rooted in. There was a lot of talk in the last election about how the immigrant population in Quebec has embraced the Bloc and the PQ. That the Comments of Parizeau do not represent the new Quebecois, especially the first generation of children of immigrants that have been raised under the language laws and coming of age now I'm not sure that there's any more racism in Quebec culture than there is in the rest of the continent.

My issue about Quebec nationalism is not that they don't have legitimate claims to a distinct society or to some kind of nation within a state status, but one could certainly say that about any one of the first nations (okay, they do have nation in a state status), or the Metis, or any northerners, or Newfoundlanders, or Cape Bretoners or Albertans. I like having those crazy french people in my country, and I'd miss them if they went.

And speaking of the Franco-Americans a while back, my dad has a cousin Lucien who grew up in St. Pierre and has lived on Cape Cod for many years. He's got the craziest accent...cape cod meets isolated island French. He also claims to be the inspiration for Columbo, but that's just the craziness talking.

....so of course culturally I grew up strongly Hispanic.

My sis...er, fellow new mexican! Yeah, it's confusing, except when it isn't.

The thing about New Mexico (and, okay, this is veering way off unAmerican, although technically not since, sovereign nation) is that where I lived was largely separate from the Hispanic population. There were some in the town, of course, just like there were some Anglos, but my world was almost completely Navajo. It's fascinating that for such a diverse state there was so little interaction.

Hey, Jars and Spring--did my text come through? I've gotten a new number and texted you on it but didn't hear back, so I was just wondering if it came through at all.

I'm without text. Is it the same number? I mean incidently to that, is it the same number? I don't see why a text from a different number would come through...and I'm rambling; how's England?

No, it's a new number. I got a british sim card on vodaphone, and I am baffled about how to text irish numbers now. I thought it was +353 1 85(or 6 or 7 or whatever), but that has apparently not worked.

My number, then, is +447766084528, if you want to text me so I can text you back, etc etc.

England is nice! The fog, however, is put on The List. One hour flight between Dublin and London? Five hours. Not fun. But we're at Fay's house now, which is wonderful and holiday-like, and there's a roast in the oven and OC on my computer, thus all is right with the world.

How are you?