The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by Susie Lorand:

Vicki @3: "Minimal" is too charitable an adjective for my most recent Amtrak meal. A veggie burger served on the Wolverine was nearly inedible; I couldn't finish it. I've also been disappointed by the breakfast eggs on the Lake Shore Limited. There used to be a passable veggie burrito or something on Northeast Corridor trains, but it wasn't always available.

Tim @17: On a family vacation when I was 12, during the Cold War, it took us over 4 hours to cross from Poland to Czechoslovakia. Easter weekend traffic didn't help, but the officials also seemed confused by our Dutch license plates and U.S. passports. I still don't know what the landscape between Poland and Hungary looks like: it was dark by the time we got there, and the middle of the night when we reached Budapest.

The library comic "Unshelved" from March 30 through April 3 seems like an appropriate response to the would-be censors in Litchfield. Especially the April 1 strip.

Apparently the fusion of Cuban and Chinese cuisine has a longish history in NYC.

Abi @ 109:

When my parents took us on sabbatical to the Netherlands[1], I was going into 7th grade. We kids were reluctant before we went; we did have culture shock, and probably some adjustment difficulties, but it ended up being one of the best experiences of my childhood. (And 8th grade, back in the U.S., was perhaps my worst year.)

Things that helped me with the language: tutoring from a neighbor; a classmate who knew English helping me understand assignments and the teachers; patient and accommodating teachers; watching English-language TV programs with Dutch subtitles. My siblings and I were proud that we learned language faster than our parents, and with less of an accent!

Making friends in a foreign country where I knew no-one to start with was the hardest part. I became quite a letter-writer (longhand, by snail mail). It helped that my class at school had a lot of social events, and some of the students actively tried to help me fit in.

Whatever is making things difficult for your son, I strongly doubt it's your fault. I hope it gets easier.

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[1] Home in Paterswolde, school in Groningen

I commend to the attention of McPhee fans _The Crofter and the Laird_, about his ancestral island and mine, Colonsay. Still hope to get there eventually - but the ferries don't run every day, so it takes planning.

130 -- Yup, that's the guy. Brilliant musician in many styles. (Which side are you with?)

126 -- Hi, ers, didn't realize you were here! Got any links to video of Border Crossing?

[delurking]

Tracie @ 105: The photo is a few years old, but does reflect current Ann Arbor Morris kit. (Note to self: implore AACTMAD webmaster to update the winter practice location.) More recent pictures are here.

I had the privilege of fiddling for a subset of the White Rats at the Midwest Morris Ale a couple of years ago. Lovely people and excellent dancers. They didn't sew bells to their skin in the Midwest, but several Ann Arbor dancers now have bell tattoos. Coincidence?

Last year's Midwest ale page is still up. I think the 2009 ale -- Memorial Day weekend, as always -- will be in Minnesota.

Elise @ 94 and Liza @ 95: thanks for reminding me to dig up my recording of Gary Schulte. His playing is my favorite part of the Midwest Ale. (Even better than the Sunday morning single-malt tasting workshop -- the one that frequently gets a temperance serenade from the shape-note singers...)

Has it been mentioned yet on these pages that Barack Obama is actually Irish?

Belatedly de-lurking to recommend the Zydeco version of "Yes We Can": Oui on peut.

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