"An American has not seen the United States until he has seen Mardi-Gras in New Orleans." - Mark Twain A gray, cool Shrove Tuesday in Manhattan. Not getting up to take the photo because I'm in the middle of eleventh-hour trial prep, and my knee is absolutely throbbing nearly four weeks post-surgery. My constant pain and immobility has sort of put a damper on this adventure. Poor P--she has so many things she'd like to see and do, and she's shackled to a guy who can barely wal

"Der Führer does not say, "Achtung, baby.'" I figured this would be a quiet Monday, being Presidents Day and all. "Presidents Day"? How completely ridiculous. We used to honor Washington and Lincoln, two shining models of how to occupy that office. Now we seem also to be honoring Warren G. Harding, or maybe James Polk. Or maybe the senile jester holding the title as I write this. I had a thought this weekend that maybe, someday, perhaps even in my lifetime, we'll see a modern

"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young." — Henry Ford How I'm spending my Friday, with lunch with the beautiful P wedged between classes. Life is good. Happy Friday.

A brief one this morning before class, after an excruciating night highlighted by my knee finally giving out and forcing us home early. I'll be taking Uber to and from class for the next few days, at $30 a pop, and any walkable fun in NYC is out of the question. Not great. So, on Sunday we were driving back here from Corning and decided to stop for gas up in Monroe, NY, just outside of West Point before the final push into the city. We pulled into an Exxon whose sign announce