When I visited Beijing in late 2001, I certainly knew more about authentic Chinese food than the average American, but classes in Chinese cooking hadn't prepared me for what turned out to be the food adventure of a lifetime. This was before my food-blogger-with-digital-camera days, so I couldn't photograph my Beijing experiences, but plenty of other food bloggers have shared about food adventures in Beijing.

Things that crack me up: Paris Hilton reads Conde Nast Traveler. Maui, eh? --The Perrin Post Stories we never stop shaking our head about: More climbers dead on K2 - Travel Babel I recently read Dark Summit, yet another tale of mountaineering gone wrong. Deep sigh here.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. --The US Constitution

In Canada we like to believe that violent crime does not happen but of course it does. Sensationally violent crimes, however, are so infrequent that they are not part of our collective consciousness. When I got up this morning and heard the news that a man had stabbed and decapitated another passenger on a Greyhound bus in Manitoba I was stunned and horrified. This should not happen in Canada. This should not happen anywhere.

First things first, the editorializing. Pay the extra bucks and get a real passport, already, okay? Now, from the State Department:

In a rare spin of circumstances, we find ourselves staying put more than usual. Don't be using that word "staycation" on us, we're not dash-cationing of any kind. I'm working, my guy is doing odd jobs, and we are living the freelance equivalent of making hay while the sun shines. When work is plentiful, I stay put and squirrel away my dollars for the day when the market is less kind or it is impossible to stall the wanderlust for another day. In the meantime, our home has been transformed into an international crossroads for those not staying put.