Fortress of Solitude

Who uses it: Superman
What it means: A secret underground retreat, 130 miles south of the geographic North Pole, that serves as a memorial to the planet Krypton and a place for Superman to conduct research and escape the demands of the world. Only Superman's dog, Krypto, gets to come with him to the Fortress of Solitude, though Supergirl has her own annex.
How to use it: When you're pretending to be Superman and need to get away.

Home. I could sleep for about 48 hours, but have a lot to do today: mail, tutoring, general catching-up with myself.

What I have learned from this trip is that five destinations and six projects are too much for one three-week period. Five destinations and two projects might be okay; six projects and no destinations would be fine. But I will not do this to myself again, especially since I dropped the ball badly on one of those projects and was less than satisfied with my work on another.

I need to practice saying the words "I can't." Someone said those words to me recently, and although I didn't want to hear them, their absolute simplicity and effectiveness are undeniable. "I can't" needs no explanation and requires no apology. It's just a statement of fact; no reasonable person could argue with it or take offense.

Superman might never say, "I can't," but Superman and I don't have much in common. Even though Gardiner is pretty far north.

My brother-in-law Scott has posted new photos of the Lavinder clan on their family blog, including a photo of my first meeting with Baby Meg. I don't seem to be able to post the photos here, so click here and here to see us.