This week while the RNC convenes, I've established a personal news blockout. I check Google News or NPR for a few minutes once or twice a day to be sure I'm not missing something big, but otherwise, I leave the news alone.

Nevertheless, I'm getting a picture of a very doom-and-gloom convention, which led me to think of a new slogan for my own party:

"Don't be a scairdy-cat,
Vote Democrat,
The party that isn't terrified by the rest of the world!"

In contrast to the conventioneers, I'm in a cheerful, floaty state, filled with happy anticipation. The reason: I have airline tickets that will take me back to France, then on to England, first thing next Tuesday. The purpose for this trip is that I'll be presenting some research results at a conference in Brighton. Since nearly all of my travel to Europe will be paid for by the Grad School, I asked my sister-in-law J to join me for a few days in France, along with my youngest nephew, O. J agreed and O was delighted (it was his idea in the first place), so today, she's purchasing our railpass while I shop for a present for French friends of J's father, who have offered to host us for a weekend in Lyon. We'll also visit Chamonix and Paris, where O will have his 12th birthday!

I'm really glad to be getting back out into the world beyond the US. Going to Europe and Kyrgyzstan earlier this summer made me aware of how fearful life in the US has become. The constant terror alerts and warnings make a slow, steady drain on the spirit, and it sometimes seems to me that many people have become a bit depressed. Outside the US, I found, people continue to enjoy life--even though the last few days of news are a clear reminder that the US isn't the only nation targeted by terrorists. In fact, this US fearfulness predates 9/11. During a business trip to France in January 2000, I was struck by the contrast between the Y2K Bug fears that largely spoiled the turn of the Millenium in the US, and the way that France had taken the Millenium to be an excuse for a big party. For example, the breakfast room in our hotel was decked out with Millenium-themed party placemats and napkins, and best of all, each evening at sunset, the Eiffel Tower began to sparkle and shimmer with thousands of tiny white lights, specially for the occasion.

So laissez les bons temps rouler, and vive la France--we're off to join the global party!