Flake

Yesterday we got flake ice cream cones in Leicester Square. Swooning, Emma declared them "beautiful and lovely".

More visitors

Kathi & Emma arrived yesterday on a much delayed flight from New York. It was a beautiful day so, even though (after dropping stuff off at home and whatnot) we only had the late afternoon and evening left to us, we headed into central London to wander around a bit. Meandering down The Queen's Walk along the south of the Thames, we peaked over the railing at some really cool sand sculptures by these guys. I think Kathi took a picture; I'll try to get it.

Refining my route

I thought cycling in London would be really scary and I used to be able to walk pretty much everywhere I wanted to go, so it was a good year and a half before I got a bicycle here. What a mistake. I love riding. It's definitely the only way to get around.


London has done a lot in the past five years or so to make the city more bicycle friendly. I have bike lanes along almost my entire commuting route, which is five or six miles. The roads that don't have bike lanes often have big bicycles painted in the middle of the road as a reminder to drivers that we're here. Actually, the scariest road I ride on the whole way to work is the road I live on. Unfortunately, there's not really a good way to avoid that one. When I first started, some of the roads I took near my office were a bit scary too, but I was able to eliminate those with the help of my free cycle maps.


Plus, there are four or five of these bicycle specific traffic lights on my route. Other friends of mine who ride here complain about the drivers, but they've obviously never cycled in Boston. In Boston, people would always yell at me and try to drive me off the street. Here, there are still some people who are oblivious but most people wait for me and give me space.

四川的地震

上星期一，中国有地震很大。在四川地震最不好。二万人死了，而且他们还找二万人。五百万人没有房子了。电话和手机坏。路坏。有的我的朋友和他们的家感觉一点点，但是他们都没事。我高兴他们好，可是我很不高兴因为很多人出事了。他们需要帮助。如果你可以，请给他们钱。

Sichuan's Earthquake

On Monday, there was a big earthquake in China. In Sichuan, it was the worst. 20,000 people died and they are still looking for 20,000 people. Five million people are now homeless. Telephones and cell phones are broken. Roads are broken. Some of my friends and their families felt it a little bit, but they are all ok. I'm happy that they are all ok, but I'm very unhappy because so many people are not ok. They need help. If you can, please donate.