GW BUSH exits DSR as the noise of a helicopter fills the space. The figures of BARACK OBAMA, MICHELLE OBAMA, JOE BIDEN and JILL BIDEN look up and are held in a wash of light. As the noise of the helicopter recedes, the wash dims and their figures are illuminated in a shaft of golden light. The light fades and their silhouettes are backlit in a ( Read more... )

Sail racing all day. Wind came up just in time for the races and vanished not two minutes after we crossed the finish. So much fun.

I never thought I would say this in Seattle in January, but I think I am slightly sunburned. Hooray!

I got an email from an ecological organization in Israel ( Read more... )

So, there is this amazingly awesome sailboat race currently underway.

It is called the Vendee Globe and it can be summed up in three words: Solo nonstop circumnavigation. I believe this race to be the most incredible and badass competitive endeavor in the world (with the possible exception of BuzkashiOcean racing (esp. singlehanded or shorthanded ( Read more... )

According to my dad, I got an invitation to the inauguration.

On Wednesday I sent my visa application and an application for an Official Government Travel Passport to the PC office. Getting these things in order was quite an ordeal.

( Hooray for Bureaucracy Day! )

I remember when I declared my major in college thinking the whole process was a little deflating. I had a meeting with a departmental advisor and I casually pitched my thesis proposal and stated that I wanted to take two full years of language and graduate with honors. She gave me a cup of tea and signed a few things and then I went to a class. I ( Read more... )

Second invitation from Peace Corps came in the mail yesterday.

( behind the cut for dramatic effect )

I met the most delightful, charming and adorable couple this weekend. They are just recently engaged and had some of us over for cocktails at their lovely apartment on Friday. Then on Saturday, Sara and Aaron Reeves and I met this delightful couple (and their delightful house guest) for drinks before seeing the midnight screening of Wet Hot ( Read more... )

Dear Science,

Why oh why does toothpaste make orange juice taste like fermented death?

Love,

Raz.