Jesse, you were part of my very weird dreams this morning. I'll spare everyone the uninteresting and weird details, but you were staying in our guest room, and I was packing a box of books and you, quite correctly, were criticizing the job I was doing, and then we went downstairs where my father had made food, so at least you had a good meal. Also, your partner, for some reason, was Djimon Hounsou.

That sounds good for Jesse!

It turns out that my boss was panicking about the Trump thing and pre-emptively asked me to delete DEI content from our courses! I asked my other boss, and she was so confused. I also do not like have two bosses, both of whom go to the same meetings and come back with very different interpretations of the same exact words.

Suela, Mr. flea, and Christopher, I am crossing my fingers. This seems ridiculous.

David, I am so enjoying Japan.

Theo- I have my first cold since quaratine- Five Years!!! It is so lingering. I am going back to masking. At least I can work from home.

Making deliberate choices to go off plan, like the other night when we got to do a four course dinner with a James Beard nominee chef. I’m totally happy with. Randomly snacking on shit that I shouldn’t be is a different story.

Brenda- I am struggling too, and with snacks. My therapist said that I miss my best friend, carbs. I literally cried at a dinner where, even though I ordered garlic green beans instead of french fries, they brought me French fries and I could not eat them. But I started sneaking a mini bag of potato chips when we got Box lunches, and it has lead to a mini bag a day. I too lost 80 pounds. But potatoes, I miss you!

Also, your partner, for some reason, was Djimon Hounsou

Ooh, you treat your friends well in dreams!

I've been trying to imagine the opposite of diversity, equity, and inclusion. "I'm going to need a list of races and some dice. Plus I have to decide which presidentially ordained biological sex we will exclusively employ. Wait, a dartboard and a list of employees! We'll pick one at random and then hire only people identical to that person. Actually, I will need the dice - promotions and salary will have to be decided randomly as well. Inclusivity, hmm... oh! Never mind about the dice -- we'll fire everyone!"

I edited it, because I've never found a joke I couldn't overthink.

David, I am living vicariously through your trip stories. And am super-amused that Matilda got sucked into the makeup counter. Do you remember what brand of foundation she ended up with?

I am not sure I believe you about the owls on the stroller and will need more details to be convinced. Like, just how owlish were they?

These owls go to 11.

Evidence of owls: [link]

Do you remember what brand of foundation she ended up with?

Maquillage Dramatic Essence Liquid

Well, that's a disappointment about the Ghibli museum, but the rest sounds super-cool!

Obviously we would have loved to go to the Ghibli museum, but I really didn't have any regrets about yesterday. We saw owls on a stroller. We found a quaint creperie in the woods. We sat at a counter and watched a handsome young man grill yakitori for us. Matilda got a beautiful coat.

That sounds like a perfect city vacation day!!

Exactly that.

For Laura and Debet, here's the creperie. It's near the Ghibli Museum, just on the edge of the park: [link]

Tokyo has been focused on modern Japan big city living and how to do it. Nails, makeup, boutiques, massages, hotel indulgences, eating out.

Kyoto will be more traditional Japan: shrines, museums, staying at a Ryokan, onsen.

Owls on a stroller!

THE OWLS!

OWLS! Stroller! Adorbs!

These owls go to 11.

The owls are not what they seem.

The owls are not what they seem.

They sure seemed like owls.

Maquillage Dramatic Essence Liquid

This reminds me of the Mighty Boosh: "Goth Juice, the most powerful hairspray known to man. Made from the tears of Robert Smith."

It's the Essence of Drama, now in liquid form.

Jesse, you were part of my very weird dreams this morning. I'll spare everyone the uninteresting and weird details, but you were staying in our guest room, and I was packing a box of books and you, quite correctly, were criticizing the job I was doing, and then we went downstairs where my father had made food, so at least you had a good meal. Also, your partner, for some reason, was Djimon Hounsou.

Haha, I'll take it! But I would never criticize someone's packing job, because packing is the absolute worst and done is best.