Saturday 9/10 - Woke to a warm clear day in Geneva. Took the tram from Cornevin Station (which somehow houses the Swiss-France border crossing) to CERN, home of the world's most powerful 'atom smasher' - the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). An $8 billion particle accelerator in a 17-mile circular tunnel buried 150-500 feet under the Swiss-French countryside. More than 10,000 researchers from 20 member nations searching for the deepest mysteries of the universe. . .We're here because the Lab just recently announced an intriguing Digital Artist award called Collide@CERN that I intend to apply for next month. Winning artist spends expenses-paid three-month in residence in spring 2012.  Seems like a perfect fit with the current focus of my work . Nanci and I took a fascinating three-hour guided tour of the complex. . .then a delightful lunch and conversation on Lake Geneva with UoM researcher, Yuichi Kubota, who been at CERN for a year. I took this shot of Nanci's finger . . what an aura! Off by HS train to Milan-Florence-Tuscany tomorrow. Then six nights in a villa near Casole d' Elsa with friends. Can finally unpack (and wash some clothes) from our carry-ons. Believe it or not, Nanci has become a super-light packer and nary a broken nail!