No unicorns, either

When visiting a country like Cuba, the conversations among traveling companions tend towards the profound. Witness one such exchange between my father and me:

Me: God, this place is just so amazing.

Dad: Isn't it? We haven't seen any dwarfs though.

Me (after sideway glancing over at my hysterical husband): Uh, no, no we haven't.

(A week later)

Me: So, dad, we never saw your dwarf.

Dad: Did see an albino though!

Twenty-four hours into my capitalist reentry....

and socialism is looking pretty darn good to me. I need a mojito.

To my 1.5 remaining readers

I'm back. Where have I been, you-and-a-half ask? Well, Cuba for starters. Just got back from a 11-day education tour of the island, with an unanticipated jaunt to South Beach tacked on at the end thanks to some airplane madness. It was truly a once in a lifetime trip that I'll attempt to deciminate here and there over the next week or two.

Leading up to the trip, I spent a month working 80-90-hour work weeks, with six weekly hours of class tacked on for good measure. When I slept, it was often in 30-minute spurts, curled up against my dog. But rest assured that I never forgot you, reader-and-a-half. I merely resented your guilty-inducing presence. Which may induce me to start blogging again.

Okay, back to email catchup. Man, Barack sent me like 50 messages. Obsessed much?

No doy headline of the day

From Boston.com:

"Winters a Trial for Maine Nudists"