Spent the day in Prague and flew into Brussels tonight on a plane that was unfortunately delayed. I arrived at the hotel just a little after midnight.

Prague was beautiful and I wish I saw more of it up close instead of just scenes whizzing by from within the shell of a car.

While the plane was delayed, I was handed a European version of the Wall Street Journal.

On page 6 (Oct 15, 2008) was an article entitled, “Cadbury’s CEO gains more control”. It was an interesting article about a corporate restructure to improve profit margins, but my mind quickly wandered onto thoughts of chocolate in Belgium.

Unfortunately, when I landed the shops were already closed. I could only reminisce about the chocolate and great lattes I had over a year ago when I toured Brussels with a group of colleagues from Stanford. This was after a grueling week of project planning at Eindhoven University for an RFID value assessment model for the chemical industry.

Brightly lit signs in the airport only teased me with thoughts of warm chocolate melting on my tongue.

It was only after I logged into my computer in my hotel room and checked the stock market did I realize how much I needed some chocolate to cheer me up. Another drop of >700 points…I need to stop looking at my 401K. Any more volatility in the market and the balance of my 401K could almost come from a random number generator.

At times like these, I sigh and note I at least have my health and for now, I am in a country world-renowned for chocolate. Tomorrow will be a new day and I will at least have one certainty…I will be getting some chocolate.

Loni Stark is an artist at Atelier Stark, self-professed foodie, and adventure travel seeker who has a lifelong passion for technology’s impact on business and creativity. She collaborates with Clinton Stark on video projects for Atelier Stark Films. It’s been said her laugh can be heard from San Jose all the way up to the Golden Gate Bridge. She makes no claims to super powers, although sushi is definitely her Kryptonite.