It is early-ish in Baltimore, where I am waiting for a bed to be delivered so I can move into “my” room at Lionel and Pierre’s home here. Not that I will be here all that much, given my vagabond life. A week from tomorrow, I fly to Oaxaca in Mexico for a time, a little time in Mexico City to see a business friend, perhaps a stop in Puerta Vallarta and then back to upstate New York, before a week in DC and, shortly after, off to the Vineyard for “the season.”
Speaking to a friend yesterday afternoon, she asked what I would be doing after “the season?” Haven’t a plan or clue. That will be, I’m sure, revealed.
While we think the phrase, “May you live in interesting times,” came from the Chinese, there is no equivalent in that language and probably was attributed to them by the son of a 19thcentury British politician, Joseph Chamberlain, when annotating his father’s papers. Wherever it came from, it is widely used, sounding like a blessing while being a curse. Interesting times are likely to be full of upheaval while uninteresting times are probably good for living but not for writing sweeping sagas.
Robert Kennedy used the phrase in a speech in 1966, which was an interesting time. Times have been interesting for a long time.
They are wildly interesting in Great Britain, as it faces ANOTHER Brexit vote in Parliament. French customs officials slowed down Eurostar trains and trucks crossing through the Chunnel, both in protest and practicing for a post-Brexit world.
If, as widely expected, Ms. May’s plan is voted down again, there will be a vote for a “no-deal Brexit.” If that fails, there will be a vote to ask the EU for a Brexit extension. Interesting, indeed.
The airline I am flying to Mexico is Delta, which does not utilize the Boeing 737 Max 8 and Aero México has grounded theirs. It would not be interesting for me, to travel on one, right now.
Mr. Trump has unveiled the largest budget in U.S. history, giving more money to the military and taking from social services. Interesting. That is all I will say.
Venezuela is dogged by massive power outages as Maduro clings to power and I find the country’s condition sad. How did a country with so much oil reserves get to this place? Interesting story there.
What else is interesting?
Algeria’s president will not seek a fifth term after massive protests. While not much of a story here, it has been big news in Algeria and France.
The robots are rising. A Swedish company has developed a robot to conduct job interviews. “Her” name is Tengai and she is programmed to avoid biases. You can see her in action here.
The internet is thirty years old today. You can find out what its inventor, Tim Berners-Lee thinks thirty years on by clicking here.Hint: he’s worried.
Space X, Elon Musk’s rocket ship company, just had a big success with the successful round trip of the Dragon capsule to and from the space station, while his motor company has been described as out of control. Never a boring moment with Elon. Oh, he owns The Boring Company.
India’s PM, Modi, is up for re-election. Raucous times expected. There has already been one bombing.
Netanyahu is mired in scandal allegations and has aligned himself with a right-wing party as he faces election. Also promises to be nothing short of interesting.
No matter where you look, there are “interesting” things happening.
What’s interesting in your life?
Letter from the Vineyard 
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