Off Again

They say one important key to promoting blog traffic is to be dependable: post regularly in a way that will let your readers know roughly what to expect. Okay, that's one (maybe two) more reason(s) why Underbelly remains just a tiny clan of the stubborn and faithful, huddled around the campfire to find off the dark: I don't take care of business, I keep going away.

I'm off this morning for three weeks in France. We'll be mostly down south in Provence, and I give you my absolute word that I (a) will not buy a ramshackled old country house; and (b) will not restore it into a twee bed-and-breakfast for all my upscale American friends. No; rather we will mostly be looking at stuff like Roman aqueducts, continuing to indulge our curiosity about ancient ruins (but I wouldn't be suprised if we knock back a bottle or two of the health-giving ordinaire along the way). We'll end with a few days in Paris, which sounds like about as profitable as taking a freight car full of $20 bills and setting fire to them, but perhaps a bit more fun.

Once again, I will be taking my baby laptop, but perhaps not using it. OTOH using Google's new "delay" command, I (think I) have set up a few items here for posting over the next couple of weeks, so as to give the appearance of continued life. Nothing earth-shattering--mostly old notes that I culled while I was cleaning up my office yesterday. Anyway, enjoy, and (Lord willin and the creek don't rise), I'll be back the first of June.

Travelling Again

I’m off to a teardrop on the coast of Maine to watch the Perseids, and to provide succor for Mrs. B’s carved and scraped shoulder. If all goes well, we may stage our own private reading of As You Like It. I assume I'll be out of wi-fi range, so I'm not even bothering with the laptop. Some things to do when I’m away:

Go to Credit Slips and read the cool posts by Emily Kadens about hanging bankrupts, etc.

Watch for a new liquidity crisis with the guidance of Mark Thoma, (who reads Brad DeLong so you don’t have to).

For sane skepticism about real estate, see Calculated Risk. For a more excitable view, see Housing Bubble.

If the oil market starts caterwauling, visit Oil Drum.

Save yourself the trouble of reading all those 10Ks with Michelle Leder. If you really like getting under the hood of financial statements, visit AAO.

For a new fave in the realm of acerb commentary, visit Jenny Diski (I really must update my blogroll). For a blue/white peacock on a blue/purple tree, visit my old friend Toni.

…and if this isn’t enough, for a really cool collection of new links, go here.