When I was a kid, I used to think that there were times when I was invisible to others, when I was so wrapped up in my own imagination, so focused on inward daydreams, that the external world didn’t matter. Of course I wasn’t invisible, just oblivious, but it was a pleasant illusion. It was […]

It turns out I may not be the only one in favor of silencing cell phones if new Wifi services are made available on certain flights in the near future. An online survey conducted across the U.S. by Yahoo! in late April showed that “…74% of respondents said cell phone use on airplanes should be […]

A few weeks ago, I read an article in the International Herald Tribune that struck fear into my heart. No, it wasn’t about the economy (well, not directly) or the latest health study crisis, but a more trivial subject that nonetheless makes me shudder to think of it. The headline of the article says it […]

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, my husband Joe and I recently moved to Paris. When we first started planning this move, we decided that we wanted to create a blog to document the process of getting here, since we thought it might be of interest to other people looking to do the same thing. […]

About a week before we left San Francisco, Joe and I found ourselves at loose ends on a Friday night. Needing some exercise and an escape from the piles of boxes in our apartment, we decided to take a walk. This is a normal activity for us, but on this particular night we decided to […]

Ever since I put together the FAQ for this site, I’ve pondered one of the answers I gave, and wondered if it was truly accurate. The question is “What is an introvert? What is an extrovert?,” and the answer I gave was (in part): Most basically, these terms refer to where a person gets their […]

I’ve always loved the photo (seen top right on the homepage) that Joe took during a trip to Paris a few years ago, that of a gargoyle looking down from the rooftop of Notre Dame Cathedral. I’ve taken to calling the figure in the photo “the lonely gargoyle,” and consider him the unofficial mascot of […]

Last month I had the chance to visit my family in Canada, and as always, I felt both completely at home and like I was in a foreign country. Having lived in the US for a total of eight years, every time I go back to Canada it’s interesting to gauge how different things seem, […]

I recently ran across the Slow Travel Web site and was immediately intrigued. The aim of the site is to encourage travelers to do their sightseeing at a slower pace by spending more time in one location before moving on to another. The authors recommend a stay of at least one week in a specific […]

The city of San Francisco, and the Bay Area in general, is known for its great range of eating options; from bargain bites to fancy dining, you can usually find something to satisfy almost any diner. In particular, San Francisco gets attention for the high number of cutting-edge restaurants it contains, and for the seriousness […]

One of the things I adore about Joe is that he always asks my opinion on every decision to be made. That may sound like a small thing, but for someone who is used to going with the flow, and thus living with whatever group decision gets made, this is actually a huge thing. My […]

On my most cynical days, I fear that introverts will never be understood by their extroverted peers. One phenomenon that causes me to despair of being accepted as I am is the prevalence in any number of restaurants of that most dreaded of species: the overfriendly waiter. Their usual haunt is the tourist trap, those […]