Lots of things going on and still a lot to do before tomorrow, though I wanted to put a couple of things up before I went over and started working in bed....

Got in late tonight after being invited to a joint Wellsley-Harvard event-- basically a hard-core proponent of "shock therapy" for the liberalization of the Soviet economy in the late '80s and early '90s who sincerely believes that somehow bad influences (apparatchiki and the mafiya) pushed ("piratized") the Russian economy off the tracks onto which it was "shocked" (Marshall Goldman-- a close friend and buddy of Jeffrey Sachs). Of course, without such "criminal" influence, the Russian economy would be reaping all the rewards the West ever promised them. But, he and Sachs claim, "shock therapy" shouldn't be judged on Russia alone-- just look at (the poverty-stricken and hugely unstable) case of Bolivia and Poland (where private business had been operating over 20 years before, without even mentioning the huge differences in the privatization structure and political situation). And, no, the former Soviet Union was not "a total void" after Gorbachev went on TV in December 1989 and declared the end of the Soviet Union.

Meh--

Possible addition to Tricia's link to Murphy's Law according to Librarians-- "The amount of influence and attention an academic attracts is inversely proportional to how solid (and/or thorough) her/his research is" Some major exceptions, especially if you're only talking about attention within an academic field. But at least it's generally true. (Vigorously attracting attention to myself)

I also love the new moniker Tricia has given me :-) You have no idea how fitting "Straight outta Indio" is.

Miles to go before I sleep......