2009, Year In Review

Cities Inhabited: New York and Washington, D.C.

Countries Visited: Canada, United Kingdom, Poland, Israel, The Palestinian Territories, Latvia, Turkey, Greece, Germany

Airlines Flown: AirCanada, British Airways, Continental, Delta, Swiss Air, LOT, Air Baltic, Aegean Airlines, United, Northwest, JetBlue

Significant Events attended: Obama Inauguration, Five Weddings (Toronto, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Delaware, Manhattan) , the first National J Street Conference, and the UJC General Assembly

Notable Movies: Up, District 9, An Education

Honorable Mentions:

Goodbye Solo, Inglorious Basterds, The Messenger, State of Play

Should have seen: A Serious Man, Invictus, The Road

Snowy Saturday

BROOKLYN - On my first day back in New York, a magical snowstorm appeared and turned Brooklyn into a whirling wind of white. I took the bus up Coney Island Avenue to Park Slope, where a friend and I got hot chocolate and walked around a deserted Prospect Park. We escaped the cold for tea at Provini, where another friend showed up to see James Cameron's Avatar at the Park Slope Pavilion.

While Avatar was visually breathtaking and a significant piece of film making, I was more impressed with the escalating snowstorm and the peaceful silence it brings to New York.

Gym Sighting #2...

Saw Senator Al Franken (D-MN) at the gym today, sitting by the squash courts in the back. He was instantly recognizable by his glasses, circular tortise-shell frames.

Apparently he plays squash.

A Warm Day in DC

It was a warm day (for December) here in Washington, a pleasant surprise. It was almost 50 degrees (F) today, and I didn't need a winter coat for my walk to work. The simple and unexpected pleasures of life...

Coming back from my shower at the gym, I snagged this shot (apologies for poor photo quality) on my blackberry:

I suppose everyone needs exercise.

Linguistic Military Intelligence

A particularly witty nugget buried in an article on Obama's Afghanistan strategy,

"The reaction at the Pentagon, said one official, was “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” — military slang for an expression of shock."

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, indeed.

First Snow of the Season

It's snowing in the Capitol. I awoke to a thick flow of flakes, which don't seem to be sticking. I hope this doesn't affect my evening travel plans. Are trains up to New York affected by non-sticking snow?