S-words

There are more words beginning with "S" than any other letter in the alphabet.
The word "set" is the longest entry in the Oxford English Dictionary.
Yet another cunning show here is Balderdash and Piffle.

Today was a cold Monday. Just have printed out the first statistics paper (please do not injure yourself or those near you falling on the floor and rolling around in hysterics. that would just be rude.).

Yesterday, went to London (on very few hours of sleep) to a Rotary Scholar meeting in York Gate. Hiroko's Rotarian picked me up at 7.00 a.m. (!). Entry into London by road (instead through Paddington) is intriguing and am making an effort to create map in my head every time I go so maybe one day will be able to drive myself :) but probably not -- am easily intimidated. Driving into the City is rather odd, because the final bit is a dual-carriageway... which means that you are basically entering a Massive Entity of a city of 11 million people on TWO LANES! However, were one the person driving, at least one would perhaps not have as severe heart palpitations as one gets driving into, say, St. Louis, Baltimore, or (heaven forbid) Houston.

We drove through Chiswick (pronounced "chizz-ick"), the loveliest residential area along the Thames; then we drove through Hyde Park; and part of Regent's Park (Rotary Offices are right next to Regent's Park) -- this was interesting since haven't been to either park before. The skyline is quite hidden, so it feels very unlike London in a way.

After the meeting, we walked around Baker Street area before meeting his son for dinner at the Globe pub. On our way out of town, we got slightly lost and drove around Grosvenor Square and just happened past the US Embassy! Coming from my little sheltered bookish world, I am ashamed to say that was baffled by all the blockading. In some place in my head, it is truly obvious, but the reality of unsettlement in life shocks you sometimes.

Other things we (moi) learned:
There are multiple Monopoly versions (like London and Milan....)! (who knew? probably everyone but herself here.)
The figure to the right is 'sankofa' --it is a West African symbol that signifies the importance of looking backwards and learning from the past. It can also be in the form of a swan looking backwards over its shoulder (if a swan has a shoulder that is -- perhaps that would be a good topic for debate).

Discuss. (this means it is my bedtime)