tap, tap, is this thing on?

Hello friends and family,

Je regrete that I haven't been able to update lately, and this will be but a quick mea culpa. Since Betsy returned from japan two weeks ago, things have been quite hectic here. On the day she returned, my friend Geoff from EPA and his wife arrived for a few days of meetings and touring. I was lucky to be able to spent several days exploring the city with Geoff, and several evenings dining with them and others here for the meetings. Our friend Melinda from DC arrived the next Friday midday (a week ago now) and we've been spending days and evenings wandering and hanging out since then. I know we owe you lots of substantive updates, but we just haven't had time or energy to pause and write it down. Maybe it's time to explore that audioblogging feature some more .... If not, we'll get a real update to you by the end of this week, if the bridge don't burn and the river don't rise.

Love, all of us.

Last Day in Tokyo

I was on a waiting list for the Saturday flight back from Tokyo to Paris, but they didn't clear the waiting list, so I had a free day in Tokyo today since my second workshop ended yesterday (and went well, but was exhausting). Believe it or not, I actually dragged myself out of bed at 6 this morning to head over to the Tsujiki fish market. This is the main wholesale fishmarket, where they sell some of the prime tuna in the world, plus tons of other seafood too. Apparently you can actually see the crazy fish auction -- they aren't supposed to allow spectators, but as long you keep out of the way, no-one will bother you. Keeping out of the way isn't so easy, though. The scene outside the fish market is insane enough. There are several shopping arcades along the way, three or four main wholesale buildings, and a bunch of parking lots, with hundreds of trucks, cars, bikes, and forklifts zipping around -- and seriously zipping. The sign out front with the map of the market has a warning, whose English translation (theirs, not mine) says, "Be careful not to be injured all the time please."

I had hopes of seeing the auction, but in the end the parking lots were just too much to get past -- I really can't convey the pace. Plus, I wasn't totally sure where I was going, and I also got sidetracked by the shopping arcade. It has a mix of food stalls selling everything from restaurant supplies (bulk chopsticks, huge knives, 1000 paper placements, fancy aprons) to food (a million different kinds of Japanese pickes, kelp, exotic fresh product) and random stuff like sandals and china plates. Here's a couple pictures to give you an idea (note the entire display of salmon roe. Carter and Calvin would LOVE this, it's their favorite!)


Tucked in between the tiny shops are tiny restaurants selling breakfast for workers and tourists. There are places selling noodles and rice balls, but mainly a bunch of sushi and sashimi places -- conveniently located to the source. The restaurants are incredibly tiny, literally one counter that seats maybe 8 people. At the good (or cheap) ones, there is a long line outside the door of people waiting to get in, but the Japanese don't really linger over breakfast, so it moves pretty quickly. I took the plunge and had sashami for breakfast -- tuna, toro (they translate it sometimes as "fatty tuna," but that doesn't really capture it -- this is really the most tender and best tuna you can normally find), and uni (sea urchin). Here's a picture of the "menu" at the place I ate. It was great sashimi, even the uni, which I've only just got up the nerve to try again after being totally grossed out by it for years. I had a few minutes waiting in line to work up my courage, and in the end it wasn't quite as weird as I expected to have raw fish for breakfast... although now that I put it in writing, it sounds pretty gross. It helped that I'd already been awake for three hours and that tons of other people were doing the same thing.

Afterwards, I visited a couple lovely Japanese gardens. The first (Hama-Rikyu Gardens) was originally laid out in the 1600's and was used by various shoguns. The second (Kyu-Shiba-Rikyu Gardens) was laid out around the same time and was originally the site of the residence for a shogunate official of some kind. Both were severaly damaged in the 20th century -- by WWII and by earthquake and fire, respectively -- but have been restored very nicely. They run right next to freeways and train lines, but it's really amazingly peaceful inside the gardens, and it's an incredible contrast to see the traditional plantings and craggly trees with super-modern skyscrapers in the background.



I grabbed a late lunch, and then took a long nap. Now my plan is to pack my bags and get to bed at a decent hour, since I have to be up to catch a 6:30 shuttle to the airport. I love and miss you all.

Finally, a decent fare from DC to Paris - $590

Check it out at

International E-Fares Specials
Sample fares are for travel beginning Monday (September 25, 2006) through Thursday (September 28, 2006) and returning Monday (October 2, 2006) through Thursday (October 5, 2006). Additional taxes and fees apply.*

Washington (IAD) - Paris (CDG) $590

Forecast for tomorrow: 38!

Not the temperature, which will be a lovely 29 (84F), but my age. Yes, another birthday is upon us, or at least me. Betsy was thoughtful enough to leave some presents, and the boys were practically bursting to give them to me ever since she left. I finally relented tonight - birthday eve, I guess. The three of us had a small "party," with them first opening my presents, then us eating chicken wings in front of Star Wars, followed by ice cream cones and then bed for them. Soon it'll be bed for me too - this single parenting thing is very tiring for me!

Like everyone else today, I've thought of the events of five years ago. It was actually the very first time I set foot in Paris. I started to write it up, but it was getting long (and late), so I guess I'll save it for next year. As my Mom said, it's a lot easier to get in touch now than it was five years ago!

We got cousins

Last November, Carter and Calvin had one cousin, Derek & Lisa's son Peter, who was approaching two and who we haven't seen nearly often enough. Since then, they've quadrupled their complement of cousins, with the additions of Peter's sister Ashley in November, Michelle & Josh's son William in March, and Cathy & Roberto's son Victor in May. We had a heckuva time explaining this to the boys, the exchange last fall going something like this.

Dad: Boys, how many cousins do you have?
Boys: One, Peter!
D: Right, so how many cousins all together?
B: One!
D: No, three.
B: (stunned)
D: Peter, Carter, and Calvin are cousins, that's three.
B: But we're brothers, not cousins!
D: Right, but you're Peter's cousin.
B: Oh.
D: And how many cousins will you have soon?
B: (counting on fingers) Two? Five? Twelve?
D: Uh, four.
B: Oh, right, Peter, Carter, Calvin, and Victor.
D: Uh, what about Ashley & William. (Note: we didn't know their names yet, but play along.)
B: (triumphant) So we'll have six cousins!
D: Well, close, you'll have four cousins, but there will be six cousins all together!
B: Why can't we have six cousins???
D: Because you're brothers. None of your cousins have six cousins either, it's just that there are six of you all together!
B: Can we have six cousins? We want six cousins!
D: It's a lot more likely than you getting more brothers.

Anyway, check out some pictures of the cousins, with parental appendages.

Quick update from Betsy

Damn, the day went so smoothly, I feel like I have nothing to say. So here's the quick recap:

1. Slept in a little
2. Managed to figure out the trains to my target today, and get a ticket with no problems
3. Wandered around a nice park, including a couple temples, a boat pond, and tons of families having a day out
4. Had a great lunch of unagi (grilled eel, one of my favorite Japanese foods) -- even though there was no English outside, I figured I could get by, and it turned out they had an English menu inside
5. Went to the Tokyo National Museum, which has a great collection of Japanese Art, and really nice English translations
6. Had melon ice-cream
7. No problems getting back to my hotel, and had dinner at a little place near here -- no English, but pictures on the menu so I could just point

I spent the evening going over stuff for my meeting coming up this week, and am desperately wishing that I could just be coming back home tomorrow instead of heading into 5 days of technical field trips and meetings. I haven't even started this second meeting, and I already feel burned out just thinking about it.

Not sure of my plans for tomorrow. I have a meeting in the afternoon -- a pre-workshop check to make sure we have everything ready for Wednesday (tuesday is a field trip to one of the Japanese labs). ugh. I'm feeling pretty sorry for myself, can you tell? I think I'm more homesick than I realized. I finished my last book today (it's amazing how much reading I do when I travel), so maybe my mission tomorrow will be to get a new book... international travel can be so glamorous.

I miss you all.

Love, Bets

First audio blog

Betsy has the camera in Japan (see previous post), but here's our first attempt to capture some audio of the boys. I am pretty dim on the topic of recording audio on the computer, getting in the right format, and then getting it on the web in a way that you can easily listen to it. Even my mac couldn't help me, but I think it's me. Here's what I've got so far: record using Sound Studio on my eMac, then ... dunno. I found that Blogger includes "audioblogger," but it seems the only way to use it is by calling and recording basically a voicemail that posts to the blog. So, this is the result of holding the Vonage phone up to the eMac speakers. Hi-tech, eh? Here ya go, first Calvin and then Carter. Let me know if/how it works for you.