This was one of the most enchanting and serene places I've ever been. We were on the east side of Cozumel in Mexico. White sands, Caribbean Sea, and a handful of hammocks.

 

Just back this evening from Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. It was truly delightful.

Oh, and on Monday I'll be starting work at... ahem.

 

Here's another picture from Beijing. We got to the Forbidden City after it had already closed, so we went to an adjacent park to see if we could climb a hill and see in. We couldn't, but the park was gorgeous.

 

I met Tom today. I was being measured for a new shirt.

It was quite an amazing confluence of incongruities®:

• a blogging Saville Row tailor with 19th-century shears and his Google Calendar up on his laptop sitting atop a pile of cloth;
• two blokes from the North of England meeting for the first time in a fancy hotel suite in San Francisco;
• a bespoke shirt being made just for me, of all people...

Thanks Wendy for a cool birthday present!

Statistics:

• In the United States, since 1980 the share of overall income going to the top 1% has doubled from 8% to 16%
• 22% of Americans believe in evolution; 69% believe in angels; 46% believe they have a personal angel
• 2 people each month jump from the Golden Gate Bridge, making it the most popular place in the world for suicide

I'm thinking Emperor Chongzhen needs a better publicist:

 

Ahh... wise words as ever from the Chinese:

It sure is a slippery slope.

Thanks to JP for providing the link to this hypnotic video. This is exactly how I remember it. It also reminded me to post the link which Matt sent to this inexplicable chaos.

I'm sat on my flight to China right now, posting with new-found 2.5G-and-Bluetooth technology. Nice! Congratulations to Sue, whose new book was reviewed in the Times today.

I was at at&t in New Jersey yesterday, and discovered two things:

• at&t folks don't find jokes about the NSA funny
• you get REALLY good Cingular signal at at&t head office. T-Mobile, not so much.

Off to China tomorrow. Beijing, then Hong Kong. Then Singapore, then back home. I have no idea what to expect.

Absolutely the oddest thing ever. Maybe. Drag the girl around with your mouse:

I've finally got around to posting some photos from Thanksgiving in Truckee. That's rather pathetic, but better late than never...

We also did some high-speed photography at the show. This is Paul popping a Balloon and looking very serene:

Went yesterday to the Maker Faire with Matt and Paul. It was really very cool. Woz was there organizing Segway Polo; saw fire, robots, some beautiful art, lots of fascinating interactive exhibits, great engaging people, loads of kids having fun.

I also saw a woman making some very photogenic neon tubing:

Took this one a while ago down by the Atlas Cafe.

It's Wendy's birthday today and we're headed to Vegas...

We went up Bernal Heights yesterday. What a strange place that is; a grassy lump of earth in the middle of the city. Rather pretty in the sunshine, though, and nice views.

I'd never stood on a frozen lake before. Wendy took a photo of me. Hearing that sucker creak underneath you is pretty scary...

 

Cookies

A while ago Matt and I were having lunch in a Chinese restaurant in Chicago. We were at Supercomm.

When the fortune cookies came, we were underwhelmed by the outlook they offered. Matt's was "You will be happy and healthy for quite a long time"; mine was "You never worry about the future".

We felt a sneaking suspicion that there was a hint of something missing; something with perhaps slightly pessimistic intent. "You will be healthy for quick a long time but after that things will take quite a nasty turn". "You never worry about the future but you should".

How about a new line of double-edged fortune cookies?

This is from a while ago in Minnesota. There were a whole bunch of pretty cars there.

We've been in the wine country. It was gorgeous.

At Stinson Beach...

On the way to Stinson Beach...

Bard's conference call wasn't going well.

Chris and Ann-Margaret, currently in Sri Lanka.

Me, I'm still in Cardiff at Ubiquity Central. The Hilton is getting busy... I'm thinking it might have something to do with the Cardiff Mardi Gras this weekend.

Wendy was happy to receive flowers the other day from a secret admirer. She took this self-portrait of self-joy. Yay Wendy on all things.

Congratulations to Chris and Ann-Margaret Hind, who were married yesterday at the National Liberal Club in London. Pictures to appear here soon...

I'm in Cardiff at the moment, at Ubiquity Central.