There was a bunch of stuff I was going to write about, but I just endured sleep deprivation due to a noisy hotel room, followed by a cross-country flight with screaming children adjacent to me. So, basically, I'm even grouchier than normal and there's no reason to inflict my bad mood on the world.
In case there's somebody who doesn't get the reference, the Stockholm syndrome has to do with victims who start identifying with their kidnappers. The term originated in a case in Stockholm, but the more famous example is probably Patty Hearst. It has a certain relevance to my relationship with Robert. I went to San Francisco to spend not enough time with him and he had some big news.
The good news is he has a new job and it isn't in London. The bad news is that it's in Stockholm. That isn't super-bad news per se, but it does complicate things, especially as there don't seem to be non-stop flights between Washington and Stockholm.
The point about kidnappers and victims is that I'm a total wimp as far as Robert is concerned. I was angry at him over a couple of things and frustrated with myself about not saying anything and had a bit of a meltdown over that. It isn't really fair to him to write any details here, particularly since he reads this. Buying some very expensive but very cool earrings (another Lunch at the Ritz design) helped a little, but then I got mad at myself over spending so much money on something frivolous to make myself feel better. So it wasn't a great weekend overall.
One issue is that I'm jealous of his having an international academic career. It's stupid because I know full well that the academic life doesn't really suit me and it's not like I'm not successful in my career. My amusing job story of the week, in fact, is that I was at a meeting in Rumsfeld's conference room. Okay, Rummy wasn't there, but it sounds better if I omit that, and there were lots of bigwigs on hand. Anyway, silly or not, the whole jealous competitive thing is still there, sigh.
On the other hand, there's the fortune I got from one of the fortune telling machines at the Musee Mechanique. I won't quote the whole thing but it included, "A dear one will return from a long trip and your whole life will be different. You have a very patient disposition and your patience is about to be rewarded." It also mentioned that I have many friends, "particularly in the armed forces." Oddly appropriate and surprisingly cheering for a fifty cent investment.
Copyright 2004 Miriam H. Nadel