Read this on the Bush twins' 21st birthday:


As the young Bushes know only too well, the United States is country with an unforgiving attitude to alcohol.



In "the land of the free" there are still some people who seem to yearn for the days of prohibition.



The police in Washington have been known to snoop outside private gardens to check there are no 20-year-olds going anywhere near a drink.



On one BBC office outing the waiters in a downtown restaurant insisted on "carding" the whole party, demanding to see proof of age from all the team, including one correspondent who was about to retire, and had the grey hair to prove it !


A columnist in the New York Daily News suggests the twins burn the fake ID cards and pay a victorious visit to the bar in Texas where they were busted a year ago.

Leaves are brown and the sky is a hazy shade of winter

So, I went out to water my plants this morning, and I think I've decided to declare my exotic hanging plant permanently dead. It was suffering during the first bout of cold weather, but seemed to burst back into semi-life last week in the sun. But the last couple of days finally did her in.

A moment of silence please.

You know, I really shouldn't complain about the "winter", its not much of a winter at 60 degrees. I mean the clouds are kind of unpleasant and threatening (I do agree with Sarah, they were just outright WEIRD yesterday). And its depressing to leave work in the dark. But I remember how active mom and I were in Switzerland last year at this time, and it was snowing and you needed to wear hats and gloves. Still let me complain, because my poor plant is in rigor mortis. But the bonus is the colors on the leaves are pretty -- that's the best part of fall!

Provence

I want to go to Provence. I want to get the scholarship Nick is on (of course, I'd actually have to go to an English speaking country -- ahhh Australia). Look at his Page Du Jour picture today. I love olives. Mmmmmmmm. My mouth is watering. It makes me want to go back to Europe on the next flight.

Time, time, time

See what´s become of me...