What the Hell is "Irshal"?

It's Sunday evening. The last night of my vacation.

And tomorrow is Monday. . .The first day back to work.

Ugh.

I actually have a pretty good job, but really it doesn't matter - the first day back from a vacation is about as pleasant as stubbing your toe. Or getting a root canal. Or getting a spinal tap. You get the idea.

Accordingly, I am embracing my last evening of relaxation. I am sitting at my desk, with some Ella and Louis streaming through my speakers, sipping on a nice glass of Rioja. My window is open and there is a delightfully gentle breeze wafting through my apartment. I just supped on my favorite meal, sushi, and cannot help but look outside my window at the delicate clouds that are mystically back lit by the remnants of the sun. I've been working out like a fiend and my muscles are all sore and warm. Life is good.

This is the the calm before the storm of back-to-regular-life. But that's ok. I feel rejuvenated, ready to tackle reality again (although arguably I've actually been more ensconced in reality this week). I have ignored my blackberry e-mails this week, and know that I will have about a million e-mails to parse through tomorrow. I am off to Chicago at the end of the week for a lovely work affair at the Field Museum which will involve a private viewing of the King Tut exhibit, and I am ardently looking forward to it (although I am dreading the drive to the airport . . . sans tunnel).

Anyhoo, I think it's high time I explained the namesake of my blog, "irshal" as I am often asked about its origin. Unfortunately, I don't have any glamorous response to this query. Simply put, it was a nickname my best friend of 23 years (yeesh) gave me when we we were youg'uns. I m not quite sure where she got it from herself, but she was had a knack for dubbing people, animals and places with creative surnames. Irshal was her namesake for me and it's stuck. And when I started getting into the whole Internet thing (with all it's Stevens tubes and such), irshal was also available. Simple, clean, and I didn't have to add any numbers to it (like irshal456). Perfect.

Of course, I tried to think of a better explanation. I googled "irshal" and was surprised to learn that it is actually a great hiking mountain in Mumbai, India. If you are curious, I found a nice slide-show of one group's trek of Irshal. (I have no idea who these people are, but I am glad that they posted these pictures!) India is on my list of places to visit before I knock off, so a trek on Irshal is a must when I make it over there!

Alright, back to my relaxing Sunday evening I go . . .