So, I'm in Minnesota. Everything "they" say about the winter here is true. It's cold. And when I asked if this was typical I was told "no, this is great. we're in a hot spell". Thanks.

On my way I flew from Mendoza to Minneapolis via Santiago (Chile), Dallas, and St. Louis. The wine made it safe including not even paying to import 12 bottles. In 2000 when I was a grubby looking young person they gave me the full checkdown when I declared I was bringing in only 6 bottles. Was it my new style of wearing collared shirts? My baldness? Good luck? I may never know...

Whether for work or for business I've made a lot of trips through Denver International Airport. Along the way I always make it a game to see how I can get through the building as fast as possible. I'm not talking about running (though I do walk quickly) just shortcuts and processes that will ensure I'm spending the lest of my precious time in such a big slow building. A lot of these are good general travel tips, but there is a clear DIA focus.

Tips for Departures from Denver International Airport

You're leaving, on a jetplane. How can you make it move faster:

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The other day we were having dinner with a friend recently back from Buenos Aires and eating some alfajores that she brought. These delightful little balls of chocolate, wafer, and caramel are an Argentine specialty that people who have been to Argentina almost always fall in love with. It's a local specialty and something to bring back to share with other travelers.

So, as we continue our preparations for the knaddison global tour of Spanish speaking countries this morning I was walking through the bus terminal in downtown denver trying to find my bus when I found an Aisan man who looked lost. I asked if he needed help and he said yes. It turns out that he was going to Boulder and in fact going to somewhere very close to where I work. So, I offered to walk him most of the way there. He's from Guangzhou (the third largest city in China, apparently) and was very happy with my limited Chinese phrases (nee hau, shi shi).

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div>Obviously, this is not going to be a very academic argument. I read Memoirs ten years ago and although this was my pre-liberal arts education time and my mind had not yet been ideologically molded to fit films into theory I was still aware that there was something incredibly disturbing about the book. A white man writing about what life is like as a glorified Asian prostitute. Asian women who find their only power through sex (or what I would now label "hypersexual behavior").