Where've you been?

I know, I know; it's been a while. Luca has been sick for two weeks, and I've spent a lot of time taking him to the vet, torturing him by shoving various medicines down his throat, and being anxious about the little guy. He may be getting better; it's hard to say with these cats. They just don't let on when they're not feeling well.

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I got a battery-powered, pocket-sized radio from my brother Dan for Christmas. I had wanted one at one point, because the time I spent walking to work was cutting into my NPR-listening time. Then I decided I didn't want to cut myself off from my environment in that way, but Dan didn't get the memo.

I tried it out for the first time today, in the three blocks to the subway. Yes, it has come to this; I've been waking up so late lately that I have to take the subway to work. I enjoyed getting that extra five minutes of BBC World Service, though. Stampede in Mecca, Iranian nuclear crisis, then something about the African Union and Darfur. I was going down the subway steps by that point, and the reception was going out.

I was a little self-conscious, joining the ranks of the headphones-on-the-street wearers -- there is no way to make those cords look elegant -- until I realized: just about everyone I passed was wearing them too.