Now I know how Rip Van Winkle felt.
I went on vacation for two weeks -- and awoke to find that I'd slept through (well, OK, I missed) the entire Republican National Convention.
And you know what? I can’t say I missed missing it.
Really, this must be the secret to how the French stay content. Vacations just seem to make problems disappear. Overwrought about politics? Anxious about the economy? Troubled by the Middle East? Try several afternoons on a nice beach, munching on fresh lobster ("That one, but wait until I’m not looking to chuck it into the boiling water, please!") and finishing it off with a sweet, crunchy elephant ear (think pastry dough and sugar and cinnamon and salt air). Poof! No worries.
Still, I hear the Republicans said many nasty things about President Obama and the Democrats; and that they actually nominated Mitt Romney; and that Romney’s wife said nice things about him; and Paul Ryan gets to be Mr. Irrelevant, the running mate; and they promised to solve our problems by giving bigger tax breaks to really rich people and by ruining the environment to make the price of gas go down.