Summer, Summer, Summertiiiiime

You know the rest. And where the hell have I been? We're nearly two weeks removed from the Trip of a Century, and I've also now had a full week of recovery time from National Lampoons European Vacation: Meet the Parents Edition.

While it may seem that my absence is the result of a general sense of bereavement due to the departure of friends and family, it's actually something else altogether. (No offense, guys). It's warm and sunny in London, people. Let me pause for a moment so you can consider the full gravitas of that statement. A point for global warming, perhaps?

I'm heading out for a run, but will share some recent highlights in the unlikely event that you still read this thing.

-The World Cup has commenced, meaning that everyone in this country has become a raving fanatic for England football. (Which, despite the tendency for fisticuffs, is actually a pretty good time). Lest you think I've turned my back on the good ol' USA, note that I've picked our boys to emerge from their group (commonly referred to as "the group of death" by, uh, people who refer to the World Cup) in both of my office pools. Although I do expect them to be pummeled by Brazil shortly thereafter.

-I've recently doubled my Fresh Prince of Bel-Air London sightings tally (to 2) after catching Shakespeare's Coriolanus at the Globe Theatre. I thought there was something familiar about Coriolanus's friend Cominius, and, well, there was. He played Banks household butler (and Will's comic foil) Geoffrey. Awesome. You aren't allowed to take pictures during the show, but I snuck a (poor) camera phone pic here.

-Oh, and my parents came to visit. Despite the inevitable "fish out of water" feeling one gets from going abroad for the first time, they enjoyed their trip. Or at least said they did. And how could they not? Within a day of arriving to London my dad was calling my mom a "bird", and they were both proactively spotting muffin tops by day 2. The rents wrote a stellar guestblog post with their thoughts on the trip, which I intend to post tonight. Stay tuned.