Where have I been?

I feel like I've been away a long time. I've spent a lot of time blogging mentally, just not virtually. Here's a quick update.


First, the Icelandic connection. Ok, it's very limited, but still it pleases me. I just started reading The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama (did you see the current articles in Time and Newsweek?). On page 14 I found:

The concept of achieving true happiness has, in the West, always seemed ill defined, elusive...Even the word "happy" is derived from the Icelandic word happ, meaning luck or chance.

Is it happenstance that I encounter Iceland...almost everywhere?

I spent a lovely evening visiting with blogger pals Batty and the Weaver, and Comica and her beau. This was the best Iceland connection.

I have been reading a lot...Rockwell Kent's N by E (I'll review this fascinating book soon!), several books by Vietnamese Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh (my favorite being True Love), I'm filling in all the Bronte books I hadn't read (Villette; Tenant of Wildfell Hall), and I finished Gaiman's Anansi Boys today on CD.

It is spring, which is mostly a good thing, except that the lawn is growing and the kids don't live at home. You can guess what John and I did this afternoon.


The cherry blossoms in DC? Not exaggerated! I think I was in fairyland, not Washington.

Some of the kites seemed to be as high as the Washington Monument. Now that's a lot of string! If you go to Washington, there's no more delightful place to stay than the Tabard Inn. And the food at the Tabard is just as good as the ambiance.

Speaking of fairyland, I had a charmed evening enjoying Enchanted recently. I loved it, and I don't even like musicals.

Handsome men hang out at art museums in Washington...