Honk If You Passed P-Chem

"Hey -- you know, I think I know what your bumper sticker means."

"Oh, did you take p-chem?"

"Take it, it's a high school course, a college course?"

"Yeah, short for ‘physical chemistry’."

"What's it about?"

"It's, well, without things really reacting with each other, just melting, dissolving, like that."

"A course about that, huh. I don't remember they had that when I was in school; maybe they did." The gas pump clicked off. "I figured it was about drug tests."

"Hm?"

"You know, they test your pee. I just figured. Have a good night."

"You too, good night."

seventeenth-century Iranian architecture

When we were in Portland for Thanksgiving, I was leafing through one of my brother's magazines, and ran across an article with stunning pictures. You can't see enough detail in the online images, but look anyway. Look at Chehel Sutun!

a book returned by a search on "Pamela Dean"

The Lore of the Fried Clam and a History of the Soft-Shell Clam Industry
by Dean Merchant, Pamela Merchant

[EDIT: hrefed for rubricity's gratification.]