Monthly Archives: July 2005

Our first batch of house guests, namely Ray and Geoff, arrive one week from tomorrow and I am beside myself with excitement. This is the first installment of a series that will be running pretty much nonstop into October. As … Continue reading →

My primary objective on our Tripoli jaunt on Saturday was to try to find an oud, but I knew beforehand that I probably wasn’t going to be able to find that sort of thing in the souk. After we wandered … Continue reading →

Maybe it’s all the hours I’ve been spending on a slow-moving remote desktop connection to the other side of the globe, but doesn’t my cellphone bear more than just a passing resemblance to Spock’s coffin from the 2nd and 3rd … Continue reading →

More information on the Geagea-related incident I mentioned yesterday: http://dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=16918

I was getting ready to take my evening constitutional last night and I went to get some cash from our secret stash. Right next to all those portraits of Madison were some errant of British pound notes. Seeing those took … Continue reading →

Friday night. After 10 or so hours of coding automated xml edits and user authentication, I like to unwind with some nice taxi-driver hijinks. Unfortunately, I can’t just flag down a cab and ask the driver to rip me off … Continue reading →

My favorite saying about the Southern U.S. refers specifically to Florida: “The further north you go, the further south you get.” Last weekend, we finally made the trip down South with George, the Lebanese journalist that Amy met when she … Continue reading →

This weekend, being the weekend after 4th of July, was the weekend of Twin Lakes VIII. Every year, our dear friend Michael generously invites his friends to his family’s lakeside cottage in western Connecticut for a few days of relaxing, … Continue reading →

It’s nearly a week later, but I wanted to write a little something about our 4th of July in Beirut. Without exception, I have spent at least a portion of every one of the last seven 4th of Julys on … Continue reading →

Last Sunday I was finally able to get together with Michel, my arabic tutor from NYC. He’s been living in Brooklyn for the past five years, but he’s originally from Kfarabida, a village about halfway between Byblos and Batroun. He’s … Continue reading →