Liberian gentleman who assured me that not only was he a pop star in his own country (one of the top 3, apparently), but he just so happened to have a huge amount of pure 24 carat gold in storage at the airport, which he had brought out to Bangkok for his dead father's business partner, but that since said business partner had vanished back to Japan leaving no contact details, here he is in Bangkok with lots of gold, needing the help of some selfless soul.

You should have told him that the Nigerians seem to have more luck with this using e-mail. I say that even though there was a little old lady taken in by a similar scam here a month or so ago. I hope when I'm old that I remember that there's no such thing as free money, no matter how nice that young man seems to be.

MM, I hope you managed to get a nap in. Can you and Aims borrow an appropriately sized kennel for Ollie? Something small enough that he couldn't jump around in but you could keep closer to you guys so he could feel a bit more social but still be physically calmer?

I know it's difficult to crate train an adult dog but he might be calmer if he can be with the family.

Just a suggestion. I was up till nearly 4. I got lucky and no kids crawled into bed with me until 7:30! And here I am awake at 8:30 while they sleep on--in my spot. Parenthood sucks.

Lone picture of me from Saturday night. (At least that I'm letting out into the world.)

[link]

And then Matt Lewis posting: "@stephenfry: I couldn't have put it better myself, sir."

That is adorable.

I'm always terribly disarmed by Americans using "sir" and "ma'am" at people, but I can tell you it's a hell of a rarity in the UK.

I never used "sir" or "ma'am" when I was growing up, but after moving to New Orleans for college, I very quickly learned that I needed to use them in the South. I was also frequently startled by people calling eighteen-year-old me "ma'am." Like, people my own age, not just kids. (The kids I tutored, who would have just called me "Hillary" up north, called me "Miss Hillary" there. Which was kind of cute. I think that, in the NYC area anyway, we stopped the "Miss Firstname" stuff after nursery school. Everyone after that was either Mr./Ms./Miss/Mrs. Lastname or just Firstname.)

I am disappointed. I just found out that the veggie hot dogs sold at the stands in Freeport, Maine, are not vegan. There is, as far as I know, only one non-vegan brand, and they use that one.

y'all are not helping to convince me to get a pet. Yup. Happy my apartment doesn't allow them. Sleep is a very valuable thing. Speaking of, that headache yesterday, that finally went away around 1am, ya, it woke me up around 6 am. However the Tylenol seems to have worked this time. Thankfully. Now, off to work. Maybe I'll leave early today. Ha. As if.

A few of DH's basketball kids call me Ma'am, others call me Mrs. Holt, or Mrs. Coach. Some of the neighborhood kids call me Miss Laura. I think it is a southern thing because I haven't encountered it other places, but it could be because I got old in the south.

Not much to do with age, I think. Frankly, if I think that the person is older than me, I use "ma'am". I like the "Miss Firstname" thing. It shows some respect for the elder, while still having some familiarity beyond a stranger on the street.

Barb, you are definitely foamy. The girls do so like to come out to play, and that is a lovely color in which to showcase them.

I like the "Miss Firstname" thing. It shows some respect for the elder, while still having some familiarity beyond a stranger on the street.

Yep.

Vortex, I posted something for you today in my blog, btw.

Also, I need motivation to go to the grocery store.

Fay - I was wandering through uni today, and came across some lads watching a big screen that had the Ashes scorecard up. They told me the boys had won (I now find that I cannot confirm this), and I got all excited and we had a little chat about cricket. It's lovely how these things bring people together.

Must e-mail amorphia from the Bronze, who is the world's biggest cricket fan (quite possibly literally), and who is responsible for my middling-level interest in cricket. Given that when we started sharing a flat, I knew nothing of it and cared even less, she really has done well.

ETA: And now I've confirmed the win. How adorable does Flintoff look in the photos? [link]