Today's Breakfast

Special Saturday-before-leavin-for-Europe (leaving on Monday evening) treat:
cilantro dumplings, jasmine tea, fried bean curd with veggies.

As I told most of you, I'm giving two talks on the trip: one at a science outreach program in southern Sweden and one as the first overall lecturer at the European peptide symposium in Prague. The Prague talk is just about ready, but the Sweden talk will take some serious work this afternoon.

I will close with a semi-humorous anecdote: the only other time I was in Europe was to accompany my father to a chemistry conference in York, Britain. The walls of the Yorkminster Cathedral had iron placques commemorating the wealthy donors who funded its construction. One epitaph read as follows (paraphrased): "Sir _____ was a prominent individual in service of his king and country who died valiantly upon being thrown from his horse while preparing to do battle against _____."
This leads, of course, to my wise words of the day: "don't get drunk and fall off a horse today."
That is all,
Michael