I’m back from a week-long sojourn on the lovely garden isle of Kauai. (I would’ve mentioned the trip here, but some members of my family didn’t know I was coming, so I didn’t want to spoil the surprise.) Much snorkeling, hiking, and other outdoorsy fun was had, and I now feel quite recharged for the semester to come. Alas, I managed to hideously (sun)burn my feet on a Catamaran cruise we took. (Think hot dogs in the microwave too long…swollen, bubbling…well, you get the idea.) Fortunately, I have so much research work to do this week that I can spend much of it propped up at the PC. At any rate, forgive me if I blog a few things today that may seem stale…I have quite a bit of catching up to do.