Tanned, Rested and Ready

Actually, I'm pasty and somewhat exhausted after spending a weekend in a certain American city known for its extreme laxity concerning social mores and extensive mob control. And no, I'm not talking about Santa Fe.

In short, I spent a long weekend in Vegas playing an obscure form of fantasy baseball across the hall from the "International Belly Dancing Convention".

There a longer form of the story, but I think I'll hold onto that one for a bit while I process and leave you, dear reader, with a case of the "huh, Scot did what?"

The upshot is that despite my pasty, somewhat exhausted outward appearance, I really am jazzed about the school year. The time for visiting a wide gulf in cultures (Mayan villagers in the Guatemalan Highlands, barflies in Culver City, California, black bear family members in the Coloradan South San Juans, obviously mob-connected denizens of the Las Vegas Strip) is over. Now is the time to re-enter the twisted atmosphere of Albuquerque Public Schools, the anti-logic of Special Education, and the bewildering & strangely compelling mind of the middle-schooler.

Meanwhile, I see I missed a bunch of stuff, including the release of standardized test scores. And a bridge fell down. And a certain jerk hit a home run, and another guy everyone feels is a jerk just because he makes $252 million over 10 years hit one, too.

I thought I was going to have 'Net access over the weekend, but evidently the mob-controlled hotels of Vegas feel it is better to force their more geeky guests out of their rooms via outrageously expensive wireless access charges. I hope to catch up on a few things shortly, including the test scores.

For now, I just need to mainline coffee and stand in the New Mexico sun for a while. I'll be back to normal soon. I better be; our first day of mind-numbing school "in-service" meetings starts on Wednesday and registration is Thursday. Better go put on another pot of coffee.