Spinning back up to speed, here's a filter pass on the weekend+week of 9/25-29, which I spent traveling to and in Chicago.  The centerpiece of my trip, it featured some rather excellent encounters and meals with friends and colleagues amongst the College of American Pathologists' annual conference.  Aperio made a big splash with our Discover Your Path promotion - that was super cool - and although I was happy to come home, I was sad to have the music stop, so to speak; it was quite a voyage.

• Sunday my colleague and friend Jared Schwartz, Aperio's Chief Medical Officer, was named the CAP's 2010 Pathologist of the Year.  That was pretty cool.  We celebrated afterward with a private party at Timothy O'Toole's pub in their Guinness Room.  Some beer was drunk, some darts were thrown, and considerable fun was had by all.  I will have little more to say about that picture of me popping out of a limo :)
• Among the many great meals on this trip, a quiet dinner with colleagues and friends at Spiaggia, "Chicago's finest Italian restaurant".  Most memorable.
• I had a chance to see Jeanne Gang's Aqua building in person (pic at right).  Wow, just wow.  So beautiful, and so different to all the buildings around it.  Three stars: worth a voyage just to experience :)
• I must recommend Bella Bacino's, on E. Wacker.  Excellent pizza, excellent Pinot, and the Lemon Ice is not to be missed.  I can confirm it's a perfect spot for great conversation.

From the 'truth is stranger than the Onion' file: U.N. appoints official representative for space aliens.  That isn't even the strangest thing they've done - electing Libya to chair the human right council tops it, for example - but it does make the list.  Wow. 

And so I love this story: asked whether he was giving out candy, a candidate replied "no, get a job and buy your own candy".  And so another conservative was born :) 

Four visions for the future of California.  Cool and thought-provoking.  The main obstacle to achieving any of them is public spending; we simply must reduce the size of our government and let private enterprise do its thing.  We are always a bellwether for the country, which has the same problem, perhaps we can show the way out... 

Are houses the greatest threat to peace?  "Israeli settlers in the West Bank celebrated the end of the building moratorium by pouring concrete for a new day care center, the construction of which had been halted due to the ten-month ban. The notion that such construction is a threat to peace tells us everything we need to know about the "peace process." 

John Gruber links John Wayne, accepting his Oscar for True Grit.  Wow, now that is how you accept an award.  And check out Barbara Streisand as the presenter, and that lineup of nominees!  My how the mighty have fallen... 

Check out this sign outside a Lockheed Martin facility.  No unauthorized gathering of information!  Sign, sign, everywhere a sign, blocking out the scenery breaking my mind... 

Some good advice: stop calling him honey and start having sex.  I haven't read the book, but the blurb feels so true.  I encourage all women to read this :) 

Photo essay of the week: Inhabitat's Unbelievable Stacks of Chinese Goods Piled High on Bikes.  Wow, I love it.  Please click through and admire the ingenuity on display.  Just when you think you've seen it all, you realize "it all" is so much more than you thought. 

While I was out: Los Angeles breaks it's all time heat record.  113°F at high noon.  That is hot! 

Bad news of the week: Jure Robic, the world-class ultra-cyclist (five times winner of RAAM) was killed by a car while riding his bike.  I love cycling, but I hate the car-bike collision danger. 

Here we have the world's lightest bike: six pounds!  Wow, that's astounding. 

Daily cycling is secret to 96-year old's health and happiness.  Mine too :) 

Did you know?  Yesterday was national coffee day.  ("In which we celebrate socially approved addiction" :)  I didn't know, but I celebrated by drinking coffee anyway :) 

AOL has acquired TechCrunch, one of my favorite blogs / sources of tech info.  I know what you're thinking, does AOL even exist anymore?  Yes, apparently.  It has been years since I visited AOL. 

More from the 'truth is stranger than the onion' file: Senior Advisor Plays Pac Man on his iPad during White House Meetings.  So be it.