Absent blogger returns

(Tonight's workout accompaniment: PotterCast)

One of the struggles I have with blogging is keeping my personal life separate from my work life.

Because I have a fairly visible Web presence related to my job, it's hard for me to know where to draw the line with this, my personal blog. I know there are people who can connect the dots from this blog to my professional Web presence, and I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that.

Do I have something to hide? No. It's just that I rather like the anonymity of this blog.

I haven't blogged in awhile. That's because the most important thing in my life for the past month has been a work assignment abroad. To keep things vague for now, I was sent on assignment to two countries in the Middle East.

It was an amazing trip. I was able to meet some incredible people, and see firsthand some relief work related to a recent conflict. I have a million stories I could tell here. But I'm not sure I'm ready to, here at least ...

So here are some more superficial reflections:

• I returned Thursdsay, and by Friday night I was down for the count with a stomach bug. I'm taking some medicine with pretty scary side effects for it. Damn tabouleh. But combined with the long days and considerable amounts of walking/hiking, I think I may have lost some weight as a result.

• I also learned that tahini, while tasty, leaves stains are nigh-impossible to remove.

• They say that in order to recover from jet-lag, you should count plan a day of recovery for every time zone you crossed. Five days into recovery, I'm still waking up at 5 a.m. and falling asleep at 9 p.m. Not cool, although getting to work at 7 a.m. has its advantages.

• Coming back to the States eight days before the general elections is a surreal experience.

• Two weeks away means two episodes of PotterCast to catch up on! Since I restrict my PotterCast listening to the gym, this means I've been extra-diligent in my workouts since my return. (I'm also looking forward to catching up on two episodes of Studio 60. Timothy Busfield. Swoon. And one episode each of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me and On The Media.)