Brotherly Love, Indeed

Traffic-Light Lothario: I'm in Philadelphia for a tech conference. At 7:30 this morning, I was standing on a street corner, waiting for the light to change, when a guy in a car nearby looked at me, leaned out of his window and sang, "I'm a wreck without my little China Girl ..."

All the suits walking with their Starbucks lattes stopped and stared at him. Then at me. He continued singing the old David Bowie song, "I feel a-tragic like I'm Marlon Brando ... When I look at my little China Girl ...."

I was mortified. Then incredulous. And indignant. I gave him a sidelong, furious glance. The guy kept singing, smiling at me, his grey eyes dancing. Then other people started chuckling. Finally, he and I looked at each other and started laughing. There are far worse things than getting serenaded during morning rush-hour.

My dogs, they are a barkin'. I hoofed 1 1/2 miles to and from the convention center from my hotel, then back again, and all over the gargantuan conference space today. I wore my red retro walking shoes to get to the conference, but I had to switch to heels for a breakfast meeting at 8 am. I've just now taken them off.

Bonjour, M'lle Bex: I'm staying at the Hotel Sofitel. Swank. Continental. And very French. The hotel staff greets you in French. There's a French channel on TV. I was half-expecting a bidet in the bathroom.

Across the street is the AIA Bookstore and Design Center, a quirky architectural shop, with sleek watches, 50's style wall clocks and stationery shaped like sushi. I found a neon yellow leather luggage tag that says, "Unpopular in High School." Another tag says "GUILTY," while a third says "Mother Loves Me Best." I got the first one.

Running Update: I signed up for the conference 5k fun run tomorrow morning at 7 a.m.. The starting line is 1 1/2 miles away. Instead of taking a bus with the rest of the race participants, I'll run to the start, then run back to my hotel afterwards . That'll garner me 6+ miles for the day.