GALFROMDOWNUNDER UPOVER

UPDATE! Translation at the end of this post ... I've just received a couple of reviews for the German edition of the Handsomest Man in Cuba - re-titled Cuba Particular by the folks at Piper-Verlag/National Geographic Adventure Press. Here they are: Review 1 - Globetrotter Review 1 - a random online review See translations at the bottom of this post ... If you can read German, be my guest and post a comment below telling us all what they say! Although I studied German for 4 years at school, the only words I know are "Lebkuchen" - a heavenly gingerbread cake-cookie dipped in a thin layer of dark chocolate, and only sold around Weinachten (Christmas), and "Sie antwortet, das fussball ihr langweilig ist." which means "she replied that she found football boring." A German friend in New York mentioned that the translation sounded a little strange, so I asked the publishers to reassure me otherwise. Here's what they replied: Dear Lynette Chiang, As your

Now this is one bummer about being single - you need a permanent partner to invest in one of these! Riding the DoubleDay tandem recumbent with (happily married) Jeff Gilbert on the 5BBC Chocolate Ride in NY. See Bike Friday in NY07 for the full monty. I'm devouring a fascinating book called Singled Out - How Singles are Stereotyped, Stigmatized and Ignored, and Still Live Happily Ever After by Bella DePaulo. What keeps me reading is not only an eye-opening list of discriminatory perks you get from being married in the USA (if you die, your social security benefits pass to your spouse, if you're single it goes to the state; if your spouse dies, you get a small stipend for funeral expenses, if single, your body was presumeably discovered in your lonely walk-up bedsit being nibbled by the cat and so on) but the wittiness infused throughout. It's mischievously pointed, dedicated to the cause, yet not at all defensive. When people feel strongly about something it takes a bit