Countdown to Chaos

One advantage of spending time in Shanghai is that Manhattan now seems calm, clean, positively bucolic. It was a good and productive week on the East Coast, and I managed to schmooze with Bruce at the MediaBistro cocktail thing and see Paula and Charlie in D.C.

And now, crunch time.
Malian Visa: Check
Mosquito netting: Check
Final rabies vaccination: Check
Sleeping bag: Check
Charged and loaded iPod: Check
Email address of person who may give me a lift to Timbuktu: Check
Map to best Lebanese/Tex-Mex restaurant in Bamako: Check
Sahara-worthy conditioner/detangler: Check


Now I only have to file 3 stories, become fluent in French, and lose 15 pounds. No sweat: I've got 11 days.