Jottings from the Granite Studio

Before any of my colleagues back home get on my case…Yes, I do know that today is the 137th anniversary of the Tianjin “Incident/Massacre/Dissertation fodder.”

The lessons so far: Buying orphans is a bad idea because it makes people want to sell you other people’s children, Manchus make bad officials, the French are even worse, and if you’re going to open fire on an intensly hostile crowd itching to dole out a Tianjin-style beat-down, make sure you bring more than a couple of guys.