Travel Wish List

"Hai!" was the greeting I received in my email correspondence with a guest house in India today.

I'm going to be in India over the holidays until January 13, and in planning this trip I have re-introduced that restless, MUST-TRAVEL feeling into my daily life. Thankfully, I'm getting on a plane on Friday, I have understanding employers and my office is wherever I lay my laptop.

Not necessarily a New Year's resolution, but I did vow to make 2010 "the year that Annie travels to other places besides Chicago." I don't know how many I'll get to this year but here are a few of the destinations that are on my wish list right now.

Domestic:

1. Austin, TX: for a crapload of good music at SXSW
2. Yellowstone National Park: 2012 piqued an interest in super volcanoes after succeeding in being the worst, most miscast movie of 2009.
3. Portland, OR: It's clean, it's green, it's close to the Pacific, a temperate rainforest and Oregon's wine country. Plus, everyone is always telling me, "You'd LOVE Portland." I'll be the judge of that.

International:

1. South America: I spent two months in Buenos Aires but pretty much ignored everything else. Colombia, Brazil, Peru and Patagonia will be on the itinerary next time, probably not all at once. My Spanish could use some refreshing and, in the Portuguese-speaking sector, I would love to see what effect the Olympics will have on Rio di Janeiro.
2. Montreal: I am hoping a long weekend in Montreal will quell my annual desire to move to France, usually brought on by Francoise Hardy.
3. Iran: Among many reasons, I'm kind of an art history freak and they've got more art and more history than you can shake a stick at. I'd like to go before we start Cold War II with them.

For now, I'll have to "settle" with 3 weeks in India, but I can't wait to start checking off this list.

kbai!

A clip from BBC's "Outnumbered"

Santa, and other real and imaginary creatures that might come down the chimney and rob the Brockmans.

"Badgers exist, but they are very unlikely to be burgling us."

I love this show (see!) and can't wait until they put it on Netflix. Right now they only have the American version, which I refuse to watch because it doesn't have the exact same little kids.

This is your body on vegetarianism.

It's barely visible but the tagline at the bottom says, "Vegetables are all your body needs." Although I am an omnivore, I can appreciate the sentiment and the art direction on this International Vegetarian Union advertising campaign by JWT.