i'm also craving a cup of tea

This morning, I got a long, lovely email from a reader in Botswana.  You read that right:  Botswana.  As in the other side of the planet.  Her note was so warm, and I was so touched by her kind words; but even more, I was sort of blown away that here was this young woman, typing away at her computer in Botswana in the middle of the night, and then in the morning, when I woke up in Houston, her message was in my email inbox, waiting for me to receive her kindness.  Instantaneously, messages are transmitted across continents and oceans. 

These are amazing times we live in, my friends. 

Right now, as I type these words, it's actually 9:09 pm on Thursday evening.  I'm sitting in our family room under a red blanket (the one that you see on Alex in this post), my laptop is on my lap and I've just finished a glass of Reisling.  The Mentalist is on television, but I'm only half-paying attention.  Marcus is sitting at the other end of the couch, by my feet, with his laptop on his lap and his feet on the coffeetable.  He's reading Autoblog, and isn't paying much attention to the television either.

Every now and then he shows me something he's reading and we laugh about it.  Rufus is snoring on a pillow underneath the coffee table, and Alex is fast asleep in her bedroom, and has been for about an hour and a half.

So, now you:  as an experiment, as you read these words, what's going on where you are right now? I'd love if you'd share in the comments.

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On Sunday, Marcus, Alex and I are headed to Austin for a couple of days to attend a few SXSW events.  We have a full schedule, but one place where we'll definitely be is the Girl/Guy Meetup on Sunday night.  If you happen to be there, we'd love to meet you.

And with that, have a great weekend, everyone.

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UPDATE:  Please click here to see all the links I can find for dealing/helping with the devastating earthquake in Japan.  If the comments on this post teach us anything, it's that we're all connected.  Let's help if we can.

Image:  Don't you love when you get close to weeds, and they look pretty?  Photographed this afternoon during the golden hour.  aperture 1.4, ISO 200. I think the shutter speed was 1/500.

Song: Love of my life worldwide, by Erykah Badu featuring Queen Latifah, Angie Stone and Bahamadia