Suspicious Activity in Canada

Hi all,

If you tried to access this blog the last few weeks, you won't have found it.  The reason?  Blogger detected suspicious activity on my account and blocked it (how sweet).  Unfortunately, I was out of contact in Alaska for two weeks and didn't realize it.  Then I didn't have both internet and phone access at the same time to restore it until now.  

Here's the kicker:  the night before I left for Alaska, I made a post from my hostel in Vancouver, Canada.  I wonder if THAT was the suspicious activity.  Ooh...this travel blog girl made a post from another country!  One as exotic and distant as Canada.  How suspicious!  Sometimes I really wonder about technology.  

One of the few charges my credit card ever blocked was when I tried to buy $10 worth of Skype credit.  I'd bought Skype credit before, so I had a history of it.  It was TEN dollars.  Yet they tried to protect me from myself.  It's a complicated world.    

Icy Strait Point, Alaska

Lovely Icy Strait Point, with ms Amsterdam in the distance

Want to see this for yourself?  Check out my new book on Amazon:   Cruising Alaska on a Budget,

"Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

The first time I ever heard of Life of Pi, I was at a friend's apartment in the Czech Republic.  He loved books, and loved lending them to people who might appreciate them.  I felt privileged to be among those.  "You might not like it," he warned, as he handed it to me.  "But you'll never forget it."  I've read it twice now, and he was right:  I don't think I'll ever forget it.

I also liked it.  I loved the zookeeping trivia, the psychology of it, the absolute uniqueness of the story.  Yann Martel's writing style is smooth and absorbing. 

The first time I read it, I turned the last page, then sat there for a while staring at the blank paper.  I didn't understand what had really happened.

The second time, I knew I wasn't meant to. 

I'm still not sure what to believe, and I'm not sure what that means about me.      

Years ago, I rather scoffed at the tag line:  "a story that will make you believe in God."  Now I understand.  And perhaps that's the most disturbing bit of the whole book.

Read it.  You might not like it, but you'll never forget it.

My rating:  4+