mixed metaphor

Every so often UC Berkeley’s Center for Latin American Studies sends me their magazine. The one I’m reading now was actually published in Spring.

In an article about the rocky first year of Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet analyst Kirsten Sehnbruch writes:

As long as her brooms continue to sweep independently of each other rather than being reigned [sic] in to some sort of order, the sensation in Chile will be that of a government adrift.

Brooms? What’s that about brooms? In the article Sehnbruch was likening President Bachelet to the Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Mickey Mouse?) who loses control over the brooms he has magicked to clean the house. You use reins on horses (whereas you reign as a sovereign or king). And boats drift. So. Bachelet’s gotta grab the reins on the brooms before they drift away on the spilled water (Mickey is, after all, washed out the door by the excess water the magic brooms have hauled and thrown on the floor). Splash!

out of town

I’ve been immersed in planning two vacations: one to Disney World & surroundings (supposed to be quiet there ‘tween the holidays), the other to Baja to see the gray whales at San Ignacio Lagoon in the spring, which trip may take us across the Sea of Cortez to the Copper Canyon.

Other than poring over guidebooks and websites like Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree (where travellers share tips) and tripadvisor.com I’ve been slowly drifting through Dick Russell’s Eye of the Whale and just began Harry Crosby’s Cave Paintings of Baja California.

One trip resource that’s proved valuable is the blog search. Lots of people like to blog about their adventures.