This morning at the New Haven corner coffee shop a middle-aged woman sat next to me eating her raspberry scone and writing repeatedly on a pad of paper: “Please God give Brendan strength/Please God give Brendan strength…” And just like that for pages and pages. Meanwhile, across the street, there was quite a sizable security brigade forming in front of the museum. Everyone in the coffee shop turned to stare out the windows and gawk. Apparently, there was a “special guest” visiting the Yale Center for British Art today, and “no one knows who.” There was a proliferation of Chinese flags and well-dressed Asians carrying large bouquets. My guess is it was a noted Chinese pop singer along the lines of Miley Cyrus. Perhaps the recession has forced Yale to sell off some of its fine art assets, and the young lovely is looking to cover her bubblegum-colored loft in a glorious George Stubbs tableau.

According to a textual message drifting around campus, the mystery guest was far less of a trendy tween icon than I had anticipated: “it was liu yandong the only female member of the politburo and the highest ranking female in china.” Well, I got the gender right at least.

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