Life in the key of E flat minor

Antipodes. In geography, the antipodes (from Greek αντι- [anti-] "opposed" and πους [pous] "foot") of any place on Earth is that point which is diametrically opposite to it. These two antipodal points are connected to each other by a straight line which passes through the very center of the earth. In Britain, "the Antipodes" is often used to refer to Australia and New Zealand (and "Antipodeans" for their inhabitants), despite the fact that neither Australia nor New Zealand actually overlap the antipodal points of Britain. However there are as far away from the London as any land mass on the earth can be. So, for example, one can draw a line starting from Perth, Australia, through the center of the earth and burst through the crust in the middle of Hamilton, Bermuda. Other antipodal points include: Auckland, New Zealand and Gibraltar Buenos Aires, Argentina and Shanghai, China Madrid, Spain and Wellington, New Zealand I've been to Shanghai, ...

I realize//That nobody wins. Something is ending//And something begins. Nothing really matters. Nothing Really Matters , Frozen and Isaac are in heavy rotation on my Chinese mp3 player. I've been starting my day off with Isaac for months now and I've been just letting my mind fill in visuals to Nothing... and Frozen as I wind down from the day. I have a lot of soul searching to do. To use a term that Carrie Fisher uses, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. It's Alumni Weekend at Penn -- my first as an Associate Director of Classes and Reunions. That means that it's my first reunion (four classes) in my delevopment career that I've been in charge of running. This seems to be going without a hitch. Sure there are things. My 20th reunion class (Hi, Jake!) doubled its attendance in a matter of weeks -- it exploded. We planned for 125 and we're getting over 250! That's easy. One class has a seminar with a School VIP and we're worried about it sinc...

It's been a while since I've blogged and I'm sure that my audience of 5 people have written me off as dead. (The 6th e-mailed me and ordered me to blog. That was over a week ago.) For the sake of my sanity, I will just blog in key phrases: Traveled to Trinidad. Missed connection in Houston. Spent the night in Humble, TX. Made it to Port of Spain for the Bachelor Party. Perfect Island Church Wedding. Trinis know how to party at night. En route to Philadelphia, made an emergency landing in Little Rock, AK. Spent night. See a pattern? Made a hot pepper sauce from a recipe in the Trinidad Guardian . Craving Australian food and made Aussie Meat Pies. Been a year yesterday since I returned from there. Busy with work. Alumni Weekend and Commencement are 12 days away from being a memory. Stress now just sits in my neck and lower back. Been karaoking with the new co-workers. Finally made a pomegranate martini. That helps. I'm alive, just not very verbal now. I'll return, a...