red lentils

As I've just this morning embarked upon David Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas" (thanks Bibbeth), today has me pondering--among other, less important (read: work-related) things--the Chatham Islands, and more generally the New Zealand archipelago. Which I miss. Dearly.

Colonial Britain had its grubby little fingers just about everywhere during its heyday, and tiny South Pacific islands were no exception. That said, the original Kiwis, and especially the Maori, posed some distinct and unusually bloody challanges--challenges I won't detail here, as that's why God invented Wikipedia. Nevertheless let it be typed that nonviolent movements, albethem pretty durn grand, can by no means accomplish everything.

In this spirit of armed resistance, then, some words from Hollywood's own First Lady:

If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.

Happy birthday, Kate.

-rrr