I do like the userpic here--- Small Messenger Capybaras at the club. Little Ferdinands relaxing after a long tour of courier duty. I'm quite fond of Small Messenger Capybaras, and I always offer our intrepid little Ferdinand friends the traditional gift of a vanilla milkshake when they deliver messages to De Guzman House in Hokkaido.

This evening I've been reading Rolf Potts' "Marco Polo Didn't Go There". A travel book I'll offer up to Miss Ginny at ginny_mccoo. Not quite as fun as Taras Grescoe's "The End of Elsewhere"--- Potts takes himself more seriously than Grescoe does ---but a good read nonetheless. How can I not like an essay about visiting Andorra that begins with the very true assertion that "all travel stories are attempts to impress pretty girls"? Of course, Taras Grescoe once used the phrase "otiose travel panic" when describing his fears of losing his notebooks. "Otiose travel panic" would be a great name for the kind of band I'd go see in dive bars in Brooklyn. And I admire anyone who can use "otiose" in a sentence.

The lovely Sarah in Georgia tells me that her current key possession is a Swiss Army backpack--- a Swiss Gear Synergy Notebook Backpack that holds her 15-inch MacBook Pro and her key daily accessories. I did look up the backpack--- eighty dollars through Office Max. I've always been an attache case user rather than a backpack user--- the only backpack I have is a $14.95 black Jansport I probably bought fifteen years ago at a tiny store in Auburn. But Sarah's Swiss Army backpack does look fun. And I'm always obsessed with gear and accoutrements. One day I will get both Miss Ginny at ginny_mccoo and Caitlin at kissmecaitlin to send me Backpack and Closet and Purse Lists... I love knowing about the accessories and objects and things that lovely clever friends find key in their lives.

CLE seminar tomorrow. Free donuts--- all I'll be looking forward to is free donuts. And a day out of the office. I'll sit in the back of the room and read. The major decision tonight will be choosing what to read instead of listening to interminable lectures about "recent developments in jurisprudence". Patrick Leigh Fermor, I think. 1930s travel in eastern Europe. That'll go with the free donuts. Yes, I am bringing the Small Psyduck iPod.

I do hope Miss Ginny will look through the Matador Goods site and explore their travel lists and articles. I'd love to hear her thoughts on the travel essays and travel lit recommendations.

One girl writing her own round-the-world-with-one-carry-on List specified that she brought three pairs of khaki cargo trousers and then asserted flatly that bringing jeans was just...seriously wrong. No explanation offered. Is it that jeans are heavier/bulkier? That they're a pain to dry after washing? I'm not a fan of cargo pants--- too frat boy. And jeans go better with blazers than cargo pants. But I could see an argument about bulk and drying time. Any thoughts, anyone?

Next weekend--- or after my next paycheck, anyway ---I will go buy a small set of speakers for the Small Psyduck iPod. I think that would be a key purchase. And even more key if ever I'm in that rented room in an exiles' city.

This weekend...I will treat myself to Thai dinner Saturday night. A birthday treat. And probably a decent brunch with Mimosas on Sunday. Ioana at winterbymorning and Emily at iminhell both have birthdays this weekend. I do want to offer them my best.

Last birthday a lovely wicked BRDYTW girl sang Neko Case to me--- "Hold On, Hold On". I will miss that. And I do miss her.

I do keep hoping that little Ferdinands will bring me birthday messages--- I always look forward to our little courier friends. I can imagine silence on the aether this weekend. I just wish that little Small Messenger Capybaras would arrive. That means more even than free donuts.