I spent a few hours in Tom Bradley International Terminal last night and was surprised at how much of a “hub” it has been in my own life.  While sitting in the food court upstairs, I could remember being in the same place at least 15 years ago while leaving for Scotland.  I also had memory flashes of my first trip to Nepal and saying goodbye to a girlfriend in the exact same place.  In fact, if it were possible to take a cross-section of time in LAX for the past 20 or so years,  you would probably see me at many significant points in my life.

I am flying Virgin America for the first time on a short visit to DC and thought it was generally pretty good. Here are a few of the more memorable features of the flight:

• Probably the most entertaining and funny safety video I have ever seen, featuring a man with a fish head, a matador, and a geeky-looking nun.

• Hip and casual crew. “Captain Chaz” made the pre-boarding announcement and invited us to see the cockpit of his cool new Airbus. The whole crew is “a team” (e.g. “inflight crew members, prepare for takeoff).

• Purple lighting reminiscent of a trendy lounge or nightclub. Trance techno music playing when you enter the cabin (and continually in the cabin).

• The inflight entertainment seems good, but I haven’t used it as I am working on my laptop using the nice 110VAC power in every seat.

A bonus is that some of the flights seem to be quite empty, probably because the airline is relatively new. On my flight to DC there were no more than 30 people and everyone had 3 rows to herself.

As the lack of posts over the past month and half might suggest, things have been fairly quiet in my life. Work is keeping me very busy, as is the dissertation and two articles I have been working on. I just finished Nepal in Transition: Educational Innovation written by Horace and Mary Reed in 1965; it describes education in Nepal at a crucial time from a very unique perspective. I also read an article on BBC today that claims individuals are willing to make significant changes in their lifestyles to avoid climate change.