Just to prove that I am indeed still alive (or, was at least on July 14th), here I'm modeling my new writing notebook. I'm sitting in a tiny cul-de-sac of a swank bar into which I wander on my "southwest" exploration of Rome (it's so big I need to divide my wanderings into regions). The bar is filled with mid-twenties well-dressed couples, and I have the pleasure to find a free buffet of surprisingly gourmet food. Though the price of the drink is somewhat stiff, my gin-and-tonic more than pays for the many courses of crawfish pasta, raw vegetables, bread, cheese, and salad. That, and I like gin.