related to the fourth dimension

I'm saving my thoughts on Einstein and time travel for another day. Today, I just have three things from the past that I stumbled on this week to share with you, beloved reader.

Time Heals All Wounds
I went on an extended international adventure during the summer of 2003. One day in September, I climbed a mountain in the Polish Tatras. That night, after wolfing down some curry banana pizza, I retired to the room I'd bartered for (in German!) earlier in the day. As I sat at the foot of the bed removing my muddy pants, I noticed a weird gray insect hanging out in a newly formed little depression on my shin. I carelessly flicked him away. A couple weeks later, on my flight back to Ireland on my way home to the states, my shin started to itch. A lot. By the time I'd made it back to Cali, the itchiness had given way to a full-blown Purple Circle Of Fright. I decided to go to a doctor, despite an ill-timed lack of medical insurance. The doctor said - spider bite! I went home, researched a little more on my parents' dial-up, and decided - no! gasp! Lyme disease! I returned to the doctor, got some different medication, and was cured (per blood test results a year later). The large circle on my shin, however, took about 14 months to fade away.

Some things never change...and some things do.
This was USC, round one. Yes, that's me.

The man who renamed January
This isn't my past, exactly (except in the way that it's everyone's collective past), but I still thought it was crazy. Who knew Turkmenistan was such a secretive and strange place? Read this article.