Friday

Yesterday Ava went to her first Ballet class.  What a hoot!  She was so excited and we got some great pics.  Char will post them over on metaphase this weekend.  I think the coming week’s Youtube Tuesday will be a little video Char shot in the studio.  There were so many kids in there!  We are not pageants freak parents or trying to jump into the Yuppie role, we are worried about Ava’s balance.  It’s not very good,  she trips over air currents and such.  Somehow she has avoided really hurting herself but that is purely luck.  I talked with a couple of dads there, supporting their children on the first day of dance.  They seemed like good guys so I did not feel so strange.  This was my first experience with organized child activities and surely not my last.

Char has the camera to print off some hard copy pics at the request of those less technically savvy in the family so I don’t have any updated pics today.  However, I did scan an interesting ad from the back of the Smithsonian.  The name of the travel agency is Serious Traveler, I guess you would have to be if you chose Iran or Georgia as one of your top “exotic” destinations.  Initially, one might see this as a misleading attempt at improving their image.  The Iranian government does not have a good track record in terms women’s rights or capital punishment.  However, if you have ever had the pleasure of meeting someone from Iran you might be surprised.  One of my TAs was from Iran and probably one of the most intelligent and respectful people I met in grad school.  Even though the government has such an anti-American slant the people still continue to warm to American ideas and people.