It's me, Pete... from the podcast.

Chautauqua Day 7

I’ve skipped everything so far today to get caught up on this journal and relax a bit. I’ve finished my second book of the trip, “Deception Point,” great read, and moved into “Along Came A Spider.” Spooky.

Emma’s finally feeling better, and Sophie is at least sounding better, but she still isn’t sleeping well. We were up again at 3:00 with the Motrin, trying to bring that fever down. Good stuff, Motrin.

Our housemates have a son who’s about to come out of his skin. He’s had the TV or his Gameboy on since he got here and appears to detest the outdoors. I unplugged the cable from the TV to deceptively try to guide him to other activities. He FREAKED OUT. Started slamming doors and stomping all over the place until his grandpa tracked me down to fix it. This outburst is second only to the time his Gameboy batteries crapped out in the middle of a game. I’m sure he’s ready to get home.

It’s back to the Hall of Philosophy this afternoon for the Colleen Rowley follow-up talk. Today, I believe she’ll be talking about what she blew the whistle on: her letter to the director of the FBI announcing data in support of a massive terrorist attack on the US, which went ignored and turned out to be 9/11. Tonight, it’s Finding Nemo after a somewhat frustrating attempt to understand Kira’s extended family at a picnic. It’s not so much that the family is frustrating, just that, in talking to them, they all think they’re cousins to one another, even when they are in completely different families. They think there’s a familial hierarchy, but there’s not. It’s all in their heads. Their family tree is perfectly flat.