Ah great news! David Bale is one of my heroes too. All of the work is so exciting and I believe that the perspective you'll bring to the conference is especially valuable.

Off the wall as usual this short column by David Brooks The Neural Buddhists amused me; so if you're looking for a short distraction...

You are another one of my heroes (heroines)! That the sun is coming out from behind the clouds puts a smile on my face:-)

John....a video for you! I have reason to believe that this man will be at the conference we are throwing here in December. I was told that he got my personal invitation and has suggested he might be here.

EDIT - grammar

It's curious that you two are my heroes too!

I wonder why that should be?

:)

But to get down to the really serious stuff - Linda, I didn't know you had a yen for cheese. There used to be a place, just off Sidney Street in Cambridge called The Cheese Shop which stocked only specialist cheeses. I think it is still in business.

<break to google cheese shop cambridge - mixed reviews!>

What I was going on to say was that 20 years ago, every small town seemed to have its cheese shop. The one in Huntingdon, run by a Mr Lancaster I remember, was superb. But with the increased sophistication of supermarkets, every good supermarket now has a cheese counter offering countless well-kept cheeses and the niche market seems to have all but disappeared taking the cheese shops with it.

Anyway, just to salivate a moment, what is your taste in cheese? And in bread? (There are still plenty of bakeries!)

And thanks for sharing the video - what a great addition he would be to your conference!

:)

I have always liked cheese. Since I moved to Ubon, it has become an obsession! Cheese is not really a Thai taste except perhaps mozzarella on pizza. About the only cheese you can find in Ubon is "plastic" slices of soft American. yuck

I like just about any kind of cheese: Salad with blue cheese, French onion soup with swiss, pizza quatro frommage, tacos with a good sharp cheddar, oh my - limburger and onion on rye! Grilled cheese with a nice colby. Fresh parmesan on pasta!

Listing these are a terrible way to start my day! hahahah

Bread - something that is not plastic and has substance - black bread, whole grain breads, sourdough, soda bread, farmers bread....

When I went to Hungary last year I ate bread, cheese, tomatoes and fruit every meal for a week....hahahha

When I am here, I eat Thai all the time. (Well - I did find a great Italian restaurant in Bangkok and I have a treat and go there when I am back - 2 times in the last 2 years?) It is incredibly inexpensive and I am incredibly cheap - or kineiow as the Thais say (miserly...it is one of the first words I learned in Thai! hahahha)

I should be able to figure out my final travel arrangements later today!

I love you guys!

Thanks for the video link. I really enjoy watching those TED Talks.

My father was a chemical engineer and my mother studied bacteriology in college. None of us five kids excelled in science. Nevertheless Dad really always talked about C.P. Snow's Two Cultures. Whatever the criticisms of Snow's thesis about science and humanities, my father viewed both as important. He was interested in the dialogs across disciplines.

The conference is "heterodox" not so much inclusive of the humanities into economics but the social sciences. From my naive perspective of economists it seems like the ones at the conferences are economists who think economics ought to tell stories. I see there is one paper presented providing a model of Buddhist Economics. There is also some geographic diversity. You, like Matthieu Ricard, straddle different cultures so are able to "translate."

The conference looks great and the association with University of St Andrews looks very promising. The whole trip looks very cutting edge and I'm happy you will be making it.

Even though I wrote it in a PM, I just have to post a

Scotland was canceled as the people I need to see will be in Canada at that time. (Smiling very BIG because.....) That means I get to spend more time with David!

Means I should be arriving in Cambridge about 11:00-11:30 on the 3rd.

And return

All Confirmed

Woo! Woo!!!!!!!!!!

......bread......cheese....sigh....