Persian culture; grocery follies

I made some progress on the item response theory paper today and read about 10 pages each of three books. I think I'm going to really enjoy the book about Zoroaster; Iran is such an interesting place. It's reminding me a bit of my favorite travel book in Central Asia, The Road to Oxiana by Robert Byron, although that was written about 80 years ago. The premise of this book is that the earlier, "pagan" culture of Zoroastrianism still underlies much of modern Persian culture and thought, despite the more obvious adoption of Shi'ite Islam so many centuries ago. A parallel might be made with those who find remnants of Celtic ways in our own Anglo-American culture (especially for those of Celtic heritage).

When D. and I were at the store, I recklessly bought a whole bunch of stuff. Reckless, that is, because I would need to carry it all home while still holding D's hand. It's only half a block, but I'd bought six half-gallons of juice, 24 rolls of t.p., six boxes of macaroni and cheese, a box of cereal, two boxes of oatmeal, three cans of tomato sauce, three packages of cheese, and a jar of applesauce. This was interesting. We ended up leaving half of it on the sidewalk, carrying the other half to a neighbor's lawn, leaving it there, going back for the rest, carrying the rest to our lawn, going back, getting the first batch, etc.

Hurricane Frances may prevent J. from attending DragonCon, which would be a pity.