“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
          ~Mark Twain

The next time I post, I’ll be on German time.

I returned tonight from House’s wedding to Nikki. House was, of course, my freshman roommate. Nikki was a good friend of Martin during my freshman year, during which time Martin was House’s and my SA. Back then, I never would have guessed that three and a half years later I would be at their wedding.

The wedding itself was traditional (in a church) with all of the usual suspects present. I was honored to be one of the groomsmen, a role I have heretofore not played in a wedding. The ceremony was nice; the reception had great craic.

I hope that Nikki and House enjoy many years of happiness and love with one another. It was a privilege to see them joined in matrimony.

—–

As I write this at 3:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, I can’t help but notice that I will be landing in Germany in 49 hours. I think I’m prepared; if not, I can deal with just about anything so long as I have my plane tickets, rail pass, and credit cards.

People have told me that having a book along for the trip is useful. After much thought (and, admittedly, some help from the proximity of the “bargain books” table to the checkout at Barnes & Noble), I chose The Sun Also Rises. The connection? Pamplona: running with bulls!

And, should you (and by you I mean my family) feel obligated to point out the danger inherent in bulls, let me go on the record now as saying that if I get gored, I vow to eat a steak from the culprit bull. Yeah, it’s hazardous — that’s part of the appeal!

After several days of my server being agonizingly slow, I think I’ve fixed the problem. For all of you with accounts, let me know if there’s anything else I need to deal with that can’t wait another month.

So, it’s about a week and a half until Webb and I fly to Europe.

The current list of cities on the itinerary is (in order): Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Munich, Interlaken, Venice, Rome, Barcelona, Pamplona, Paris, and back to Frankfurt. If any of you have suggestions on places/museums/monuments/ parks/clubs/restaurants/ sights/buildings/events/whatever to visit, I’d love to hear them!

And yet again life shows me that there’s always room for a new surprise.

On an unrelated, less-cryptic note, I noticed that Science is well on its way toward creating cattle with extra-tender meat! The article adds the qualifier that practical applications are still a ways off, but when they figure it out: Mmmm! Just think of the possibilities if this were somehow combined with Kobe beef…