One week from today I’ll be arriving in India. Yay! I’m visiting friends in Delhi, then spending 6 days or so in Bangalore, where I’ll be studying and photographing Mr. Das and his 40 cats, all with the aim of writing a children’s book based on this fascinating man. Finally, I fly to Bhubaneswar to fulfill the formal reason for my visit: two talks at the Institute of Life Sciences, part of the Indian Government’s Department of Biotechnology. Fun and noms in store!
On this day in 1804, the U.S. acquired the Louisiana Purchase: a tremendous bargain engineered by Thomas Jefferson. In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call (“Mr. Watson, come here–I want you”), and, in 2000, the dot.com boom ended as the NASDAQ index reached its peak. Notable births on March 10 include Clare Booth Luce (1903), James Earl Ray (1928), Chuck Norris (1940), Sharon Stone (1958), and Dr. Devious (1989). Those who died on this day include Harriet Tubman (1913) and Zelda Fitzgerald (1948, in a fire at the mental institution where she lived). It’s also Tibetan Uprising Day.
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Andrzej and Hili are having almost incomprehensible conversations. This one came with an explanation from Malgorzata: “Explanation: Hili wants to appear more erudite than she is. She doesn’t know what Nicomachean Ethics is. She thinks it is just ‘ethics’, like ‘work ethics’. So Andrzej is teasing her.”
Hili: What is nicomachean ethics?A: A kind of non-governmental activity.(Photo: Sarah Lawson)
Hili: Co to jest etyka nikomachejska?
Ja: Rodzaj działalności pozarządowej.
(Zdjęcie: Sarah Lawson)
Out in Winnipeg, Gus has nearly destroyed his Ikea box:
And another, with this explanation from Gus’s staff:
Here’s another video from today. He loves the combination of the catnip toy and the box. Lately, he will play hockey with the toy all over the living room, pick it up in his mouth and trot into the box to gnaw on it. It’s funny to watch. Shredding of the box has abated–it must be getting close to the way he wants it.
I love attending Hili school each day. I can just see a thought bubble over Hili’s head though… one that says, “Like catching mice?!”
Haha! Gus and his DIY videos… how to construct a post-modern pergola.
Also born on this day was Lorenzo Da Ponte, who not only wrote the librettos for 3 of Mozart’s greatest operas (and many others) but founded the Italian Opera House in New York, forerunner of the Metropolitan Opera
And I thought “Nicomachean Ethics” was a combination of the ethics of Niccolò Machiavelli and Manicheanism.
Gus’ box desperately needs a 24/7 webcam live feed.
LOL 😀