Bitten

So, long time no see, everyone. Briefly:

1. Pnin and I were away on our long-delayed honeymoon to Greece and Turkey. Aside from visiting various exotic and interesting place, I was... uh... attacked by a rather large and vicious German shepherd while we were walking around the ruins of Justinian's walls surrounding Istanbul. Unfortunately, because I am kind of slow-witted (as many of you know), I failed to ask the owner for his name and phone number. Then again, it might not have mattered; he didn't speak much English anyway, and I don't speak any Turkish. After doing some research, however, it appeared that it might be a good idea to get vaccinations for rabies. Thus an adventure ensued involving me speaking to Pnin in English, Pnin speaking in Russian to the hotel desk clerk, the desk clerk speaking in Turkish to some ambulance guys... and then a visit to a Turkish emergency room. Four rounds of rabies vaccinationsl later, I am fairly safely only the (metaphorical) rabid free markeeter whom my blog readers know and love (or know and hate, as the case may be.) I may have to rethink my short person's principled opposition to the maxidress trend, but on the plus side, I did find this. I will say that the GWU emergency room here in D.C. was slower than any of the services I dealt with as an American abroad in either Greece or Turkey.

2. Time to party like it's 1899! Yes, that's right. Pnin and I are holding the Third Annual Celebration of Friedrich Hayek's Birthday. Though we were abroad during his actual birthday, it would be wrong to let FH's 112th pass unheralded. So I have been absorbed in planning a suitably Austrian menu and then making crusts, etc. ahead of time.

3. I played Dungeons and Dragons for the first time at...uh... age 29 on Saturday. Pnin and one of the fellow law professors donate a game of Dungeons and Dragons with them to the annual public interest law auction at his school every year. This is apparently a highly popular item and cost more per person than any other item auctioned off, giving the lie to any suspicions that law students are not nerds. I made cocoa brownies and white bean and red pepper dip, which the party seemed to appreciate. Also, there was beer and of course Mountain Dew.

4. I've started reading George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. They are maddeningly addictive. Also very good plane reading because they are gigantic, extremely engrossing, and don't require the level of concentration/close reading that can't be maintained because of, say, the shrieking toddler over in 17A. There is part of me that wants to spend all non-work hours trying to race through the rest of the series, which would mean no writing on the Internet for an even longer time, but I will try to avoid totally giving into the temptation.