* not with ink

I had an idea on Thursday: one of the better ones I've come up with recently. Tomorrow (as of this writing) is June 30th. And at midnight on June 30th, we are officially halfway through the year. This deserves celebrating. So I'm declaring it a holiday!! dusk in my hood, earlier this spring The kind of holiday where you drink slowly in the twilight hours, on your deck, or in the yard, at the beach or around a fire. You talk with your friends about the best and worst of the year this far, and what you hope for the next six months. No loud fanfare, no countdown to midnight or fireworks (we have the next day for that, here in Canada, or a few day wait for my American friends). A holiday for the introverts and overthinkers among us, a chance to celebrate and regain perspective and anticipate the goodness in store. Care to join me?

Ok, here's the story so far: Saturday, 9am - can't check in online for my first flight. I call Air Canada to find out the proper code (I only have the Egypt Air one, as I booked my ticket through their site). 45 minutes of muzak and I get an agent. She gives me the code and tells me that my first & last names are reversed on the ticket, so I should enter them in the opposite way when checking in. Then she says, "Don't mention this at the airport tomorrow. Play innocent and see if they say anything." I say, Ok and we hang up. I still can't check in. I feel mildly worried, but think, If it was a big deal, she wouldn't tell me to play innocent. Sunday, 6am - arrive at the airport. I go to the line for people who can't check in. They look at my ticket and say, "Your first and last names are reversed." I say, "Ok?" They say, "Get in the ticketing line." I do. It opens at 6:30. Two people bud in front of me, but I am t...

My day is not going as planned. When I wasn't able to check in to my flight yesterday, I sat for 45 minutes on hold before someone discovered a ticket error and then advised me to "play innocent" and see what happened at the airport today. Now I have missed my first flight. And spent many hours trying to reach someone from the appropriate office. Twitter yielded better results than the phone, but still not actual, immediate help. Email got me an answer, but not a helpful/clear one. Now a friend with Egyptian family has enlisted their help. In Egypt. In the midst of major country history. I am angry with myself for making a mistake, I am angry with the person who told me to wait til this morning, and I am angry with the airline who cannot be reached anywhere in the world by phone today. I don't know if this is fixable. If you are a pray-er, please pray. If you are a do-er with travel connections, I will accept your help. And if neither of those apply to you, I...

1. My holidays are officially underway, and I am a happy camper. 2. I am singing this song: (That's also what I look like when I dance.)  3. This cartoon on text-flirting, wit, and insecurity . 4. These sleep-walking quotes . 5. This c artoon(is it a cartoon?) on travel and leaving luggage behind .

Since I woke up at 6:30am and have a computer and the internet right in my very own home (it is good to be here), I started editing some photos from the trip and now I'm sharing them with you...  Sacre Coeur Basilica in Paris  Ready to Roll (Walk) in Bilbao  The Bruised and Broken(?) Toe   Beach Day! (an accidentally amazing background capture...)   Sunrise (made 6am wake-up worth it)

I'm back! Did you notice I was gone? It was great to take an unannounced break from blogging. I wasn't planning on it, and then it just seemed like the right thing to do. Here are some things I loved on my holiday: 1. Family. "Scheme-ish people are all around me! I mean squeamish. But scheme-ish too..." - my brother makes me laugh. "That is like playing with food in my country..." - my Peruvian brother-in-law, on our nephew's new ZhuZhu pet. "When I am old and rich and own my own garage, I will get some Chia pets in my head." - same brother-in-law, on dealing with going bald. Crokinole tournaments are fun - especially when the entire family is cheering for the same person to lose . Twister is fun, especially when you play with five twenty-somethings and a 3 year-old. Hopefully the photos your aunt took of your bum sticking out of the strange tangle do not end up on a Christmas card, as she suggested. And if a cousin ever off...