Well ... I don't have any news from Singapore regarding the earthquake and tsunami effects. It's already the afternoon Monday there, and there've been no somber announcements through the faculty mailing lists or on the web site, so the lack of news is probably generally good news. Singapore is pretty well protected from tsunamis by (in this case) Sumatra and the Malay peninsula, which are very solid natural breakwaters. The distressing point is that it's quite possible someone I knew went up to Thailand or Malaysia for the holidays and it'd be easy for no one to know yet. Still, I'm supposing all is well, at least local to me, because searching for news from Singapore finds very little. I'll know for sure later this week, when I get back there.
Dad told me of it in a reassuringly absurd conversation right after I woke up and showered. ``So, what did you hear about the earthquake and tsunami?'' ``Uh ... nothing; what happened?'' ``The big earthquake and tsunami in southeast Asia?'' ``No, what happened?'' ``Thousands dead and injured and displaced and you haven't heard?'' I don't know how he thinks I get news broadcasts in my sleep. I also couldn't quite get my parents to understand why, given the epicenter's location, I wasn't more worried about flooding in Singapore.
In the utterly trivial news of the day, my streak of 18 months, 25 days without seeing snow in person came to an end, as light flurries danced about and traced lovely complex patterns on the ice-covered pond out back. Really quite lovely.
Trivia: The Shipman's boat was the Maudeleyne. Source: The Canturbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer.
Currently Reading: A Woman of the Iron People: Changing Women, Eleanor Arnason .