Jet-setting...

I knew it was supposed to be cold this weekend. But that didn't prepare me for the high of 19 today. It's not supposed to get much better over the weekend, and that does not factor in the wind chill of the gusts of 30-40 mph we're having today...Super.

All of this definitely had me second-guessing my decision not to take that cheap trip to Portugal advertised by @cheapgirlboston on Twitter in the past couple days. Round-trip $474 (plus taxes of course, but still). Anyway, I guess I'll have to make do by turning up the ol' office space heater and taking a gander at the following articles.

Baltic the dog definitely had it worse off than I do. Somehow, and no one is sure how, he got stuck on an ice floe and ended up in the Baltic Sea. Polish firefighters tried to rescue him originally, but it took an inflatable raft and some pretty intrepid researchers (who were for something entirely different) to pull the dog to safety. They had a couple of misfires, including one where Baltic ended up in the water under the boat, but persistence paid off, and he is now warm and safe. The first link is to the story on the Boston Globe. This link is to the British paper The Guardian, which has a video interview with the researchers. You'll have to turn your volume up kinda high (or at least I did), and it's in Polish, but there are subtitles.

My parents are headed on a little European vacay later this year, and I've been doing my level best to give them more places to go to than they possibly have time for. However, I think this next suggestion is an absolute must-see, knowing you, knowing me...Even if you are no dancing queen... Thanks Boston Globe! :)

This past December, my mom and I took a day trip to NYC. We must have walked almost 60 blocks all told, but somehow we missed the Library Walk on east 41st Street. Since we're both book nerds, it is a bit of a disappointment. In fact, I would argue with E.B. White that it was as discouraging as both literature and chickens. The Papercuts blog on the New York Times has a link to see actual plaques and the quotes on them.

I've traveled a lot, but I'm sure if I ever sat down to make a bucket list, more travel would be on it. I feel like I'm too young to make such a list, but a group of college-aged, Canadian men felt no such limitation. I suppose that is why they now have a show on MTV, and I don't. Ben Nemtin and Duncan and Jonnie Penn teamed up, asked for donations and hit the road in a purple RV to do the things on their bucket lists. Along the way they realized it is just as gratifying to help others do things they've always wanted to do as well. The Frugal Traveler blog on NYT interviewed Nemtin on the genesis of the idea and what the trio has been up to since starting out in 2006.