that is a beautiful owl

I guess the upside of waking up stupid early on a Saturday is that I've already been sitting around for hours, and it's only mid-morning.

OMG, the game at the end of this Colbert cliip, with Magnus Carlsen, made me laugh really hard.

I also miss ita ! And I was glad to see her delete Hec's post last night.

ION, for all our fans of trepanation:

The Lost Civilizations That Pioneered Skull Surgery

The surgical procedure known as trepanation is arguably the oldest known medical operation in history, with the earliest known evidence for it found dating to about 12,000 BC in Morocco. A portion of the skull was removed for therapy or thaumaturgy — for instance, to reduce pressure within the skull, or to release evil spirits.

Scientists now reveal the Garamantians — a lost civilization in what is now southwest Libya — apparently practiced trepanation, the first time the operation has been seen in the Sahara. The Garamantians, named after their capital, Garama, flourished in the harsh central Sahara for nearly 1,500 years between 1,000 BC and 700 AD. They introduced key innovations to the region, including cities, irrigated farming, trade across the Sahara and a hierarchical, probably slave-owning society.

edit for typo....

Hmm, Prado is free about the time I get back from Toledo and near the station. Maybe I'll do a driveby. I've largely avoided museums on purpose.

I have heard from more than one reliable source that the Prado is more impressive than the Louvre.

sarameg, we totally did the free Prado evenings when I was in Madrid--two days of two hours each was a great way to do it. It's the Spanish royal collection, with art from 1400 to 1900, and it's just amazing. My niece's favorite part was the Greek & Roman statuary, but they also have a bunch of paintings from Goya's "Dark" period, which were simply astonishing.

Do try to hit the Prado, you won't regret it, and the line looks more intimidating than it is: it moves really quickly.

Also belong to the group that exclaimed ita ! when seeing David's post stomped.

I'm trying to work today but keep getting distracted.

I got so museumed-out back in the mid-90s, I still haven't recovered. I'll do it as a favor to visitors (and some are oddities enough they don't cry museum to me, like AVAM) but they still leave me cold.

My body won out over my mind. I want to wander more (oh, let's see, I made it all the way down to Palacio Real by no normal path- I honestly didn't know where I was at times, was inching far to the east, I think,) but my feet just can't take it. Because the weather is crappy (though finally clearing NOW) no good outside place to sit and insides were largely standing room and I needed to SIT NOW. I'll stick close for dinner in a couple hours (likely just tapas, though I'm in tourist central at Puerto del Sol, but eh. Is what it is) so as to save my feet for Toledo. What's left of them, anyway.

You can only do so much! (Why I don't think it's worth it to vacation by myself -- I would likely spend way too much time just sitting around, because I am LAZY.)

That said, I did do my errands, and have acquired cash, so that's good.

Seriously miss ita.