Taking A Week To Relax: Posts will be Occasional

It's the doldrums of August, and many of you will have noted that even the Foreign Policy Middle East Channel (a conglomerate of authors) declared they had "Gone Fishin'" this week. I'm just one guy blogging, not a group. But I have a wife and daughter who, during my broken hip, surgery, and cranky convalescence were constantly helping out all through a long, hot summer, and they as well as I need a respite from work. A planned two week vacation in July fell victim to the injury and doctors' orders, so a single week in August has to suffice. Still, we'd all like to relax as thoroughly as our dog Coco, shown here, does every day.

I don't have a guest blogger lined up, but I actually don't consider the blog to be work, am never without a computer, and I imagine I will post from time to time as I did during last year's vacation, by posting if anything major happens (Husni Mubarak dies/steps down/his hair turns gray; or Rima Fakih wins Miss Universe; or Israel/the US/John Bolton acting alone attack Iran: something like that), or I find a fun link, or I just feel like it. On the other hand the usual several posts a day will not be forthcoming. See you more frequently in a week; occasionally in the interim.