Lulu's back in town (me too)

Puebla is gorgeous.

My doneness, on a scale from 1 to 10, is about 17. I think I taught classes today. I think they went well, too.

I'm watching a DVD of a 1993 Penguins-Rangers game, which is only important because it's the game in which the Pens set the NHL record for consecutive wins.

In any case, it's time for

Doc Nagel's Top 100 Things

37. Comidas tipicas de Puebla. I just love 'em.

One good way to visit a place is to eat the food. Especially if that someplace is Puebla. Oh, Moose alive, is the food in Puebla incredible.

Of course, there's mole poblano, the chocolate-based sauce that is best-known and most closely associated with Puebla. This is astounding. It's got something like 800 ingredients, and tastes like centuries, pepper, garlic, turkey stock, unspeakable herbs, blood, magic, with a hint of stardust.

But as incredible, as obviously the most vastly superior sauce any human has ever made as mole poblano is, I can't decide if I'm not fonder of pipian verde or pipian rojo . It's ridiculous.

36. Good conferences. I just love 'em.

We went to Puebla for the 10th annual meeting of the Society for Phenomenology and Media. I'm the only person who's been to every conference, which is a point of irrational pride.

In recent years, SPaM (affectionately) has had some rough times. Conference papers have sometimes been weaker than they should have been, there's been strife of various sorts. But this year was stronger and gave me hope that the future is bright for us.

The hidden fact here is that the Society for Phenomenology and Media once gave me a reason to hope when I didn't have one. This year, again, it fit together well, it made sense, and the papers were very very good.