I'm wondering about the concept of "fashionably late." Here's the story: I'm under the impression that when someone invites you to her house, you should get there about 15 minutes late. Somehow I learned that this was the polite thing to do, probably from my mother. The idea is that you shouldn't rush the host. Dan seems never to have heard of this concept. Also, we've hosted several gatherings for friends (not family - family is supposed to be on time, I'm pretty sure) in the last year, and most people are not 15 minutes late. They're less than 5 minutes late.

So, what's the story? Are we supposed to be 15 minutes late, or what?

I looked it up online because we're in a learning challenge here on this blog, and I discovered that the phrase means you're so popular that you can't arrive on time because you've been busy with other engagements. Also, I found out that it means you have dinner at a later, more sophisticated hour. It doesn't mean that out of politeness, you should arrive late. Maybe that's called something different?

What's your understanding of this pressing etiquette matter?

Feeling a little blubbery, and discover right in my facebook feed a 30-day ab challenge.


The first day seemed really easy on paper, but when I just got down on the floor to do it, it seemed hard. I didn't take any breaks in between the exercises. I pushed right on through. In 30 days, I'll probably have a two- four- or six-pack. If I lose a few pounds.

Today I learned about this video from my school pals at the conference. I laughed really hard.

It's going to be hard to narrow down what I've learned today. Basically, I'm learning at a rate of maybe 10 or 11 things per hour here at the High Tech High Summer Institute. Just now I learned about how to co-design a semester-long (or really any length) project with students. It was really inspiring, and I bought the presenter's book. The book was only $10. You might actually want it.

In another domain, I'm learning that my typical travel gas (yes, I'm referring to flatulence) is exacerbated when I eat lots of Mexican foods, like I'm doing here in San Diego. I'm already gassy, so this is kind of a serious problem.

I've learned a bit more about an annoying condition that I myself suffer from. It's called psoriasis, people. It's a common skin condition, and boy is it irritating. After perusing the Mayo Clinic website, I've learned that changing your diet doesn't really improve psoriasis. Damn it! I've also learned that taking fish oil supplements may help psoriasis, but probably not. Damn it! To be honest, I've googled nutritional healing options for my problem before, but I've never consulted the Mayo Clinic; and I think we can agree that's a definitive source. I learned some other things, like if you have psoriasis, you're more likely to have other debilitating problems like depression and cancer. Basically, psoriasis is just not a great thing to have. You might want to get a lemur instead of psoriasis.

I knew already that psoriasis is cyclical and chronic. Basically, once you have this dumb skin affliction, you've got it for good. You can use steroid creams or stress reducing measures, but basically, you're stuck with a life of itching and embarrassment. I'm starting a psoriasis support group. If you have psoriasis and you hate it, I support you.

What I learned this evening is that if you have an iPhone, or perhaps another smart phone, you'll get severe weather updates without trying. This happened tonight when we were having dinner with friends at our house. All of a sudden, our phones started buzzing and beeping. And then, several trees hit our house. Seriously! The there are like three or four large tree branches down in our front yard. It was crazy, and the other parents started using our land line to call their babysitters. Everyone seems to be okay. Later when I walked Skip (our dog, whom I love), I noticed several trees that were flipping UPROOTED within a two block radius of our home. Apparently the winds were like 60 mph. Our phones warned us.

Then they warned us about a flash flood warning. We're still under that, but we still have power. Geez louise.

Mac and I had our violin lessons with fab teacher Jennifer today. I got a sticker on the Seitz Concerto No. 5 in D Major, Op. 22, 1st Mvt. To be honest, I did not give a perfect performance of said concerto, but Jennifer said, "I think it's sticker worthy."

Bam! I'll take it!

After that, I learned something. I learned that Mac is ready for a 16th size violin. I also learned that the problem with him playing the 32nd at this point is that his fingers are crowded on the fingerboard, which may cause him to get in the habit of playing out of tune. We can agree that's not the greatest idea. Let's keep that kid playing Twinkle in tune. Let's make it our #1 priority. I'm trading in the 32nd size tomorrow for the 16th. "You'll be so happy with the 16th," she told Mac. "The sound is so much better." That's the third thing I learned.