At Starbucks

I'm in a Starbucks on Dupont Circle, doing e-mail and generally trying to get my online self caught up with the rest of me. This is a pleasant, if warm, version of the SB empire: because the buildings on Dupont circle are all large triangles or trapezoids, the retail space that faces the Circle is pretty daramtically non-standard, and the seating area here is a bit like the nose cone of a B-29... but with coffee, of course.

Bacchus was closed last night, alas. However, Anne and I found a terrific Malaysian restaurant just around the corner, a place called Panang. Boy, was the food good. I can now see why my dad likes going to Malaysia.

The American Scholar board meeting starts in an hour, and its the reason I'm here. It's the last meeting that Anne will be presiding over, and I suspect it's going to feature what diplomats refer to as a free and frank exchange of views. Afterwards I have a couple hours to kill, and plan to spend it working on an article on how pervasive computing will affect the way we think about cyberspace-- I've been struggling with it for months, and finally made a breakthrough on it on the flight out here-- then will head to the airport. I'll be back in San Francisco late tonight.

No matter how often I do it, I'm still amazed that you can start out the morning in one city, get on a plane, and go to bed in another. It's especially incredible during these really short trips.