On tennis balls, jet lag, and aging I've finally recovered from jet lag. It's never taken me this long to get back into it. I guess it's part of getting older. How...unnerving. Speaking of getting older, it was my birthday last Wednesday. I didn't do anything exciting, just my usual Wednesday volleyball and hanging out with Steve. I had lovely wishes from many people, including some I was surprised to hear from. You shouldn't be reading this because I never gave you the link, but thanks for the flowers baby. And whoever sent Steve and I the nice assortment of Yankee drinking devices, thanks! Now kindly identify yourself (yourselves?) so I can properly thank you. (Also so Steve and I can solve this mystery. We each have theories....) Phu and I played tennis the other day. Of all the people I've played down here, he's clearly the best. I beat him pretty easily, but mainly because he's out of practice and made lots of unforced errors. It should get pretty interesting after he gets a few more sets under his belt. His forehand has some nice topspin, which will force me to hit the ball on the rise. I can do so with my forehand right now, but I don't have the timing with my backhand yet. It should all come back though. I bought Dunlop balls for my match with Phu. The last few times I used Wilsons. I forgot how much I prefer playing with Dunlops. They just take spin better and bounce a tad higher than other balls -- a definite advantage for those lazy topspin moonballs I hit to recover position. Oh, I bought a bunch of Fekkai hair products at duty free. This stuff so rocks! Paul Mitchell is such a fraud. I'm totally digging my numerous shampoos, conditioners, and other goodies. After more than a decade of Paul Mitchell use, I'm totally abandoning him for Fekkai. Frederic rocks! (And yes, I'm straight.)