Back to Maggie's Farm

Back to work after the New Year's break. First day of a new job in Arlington, Virginia. Was amusingly taken to lunch at Brooklyn Bagel by co-workers.

The New York Times says that Bill de Blasio is going to turn the office of the Public Advocate into a community organizing center to rally new yorkers against city call.

Re-enabled blackberry service tonight on the way home from work. Turned off the buzzing after 10:30pm...

New Year's Day

Day one of 2010 was devoted to consuming media about Africa. Saw Invictus in the afternoon and finished reading "Strength in What Remains," by Tracy Kidder (who previously wrote the Paul Farmer biography). Morgan Freeman was terrific as Nelson Mandela, and the book is a thoughtful and moving account of a survivor of the 1993 civil war in burundi. Most remarkably, it raises criticisms of Paul Kagame and the current Rwandan government. Until recently, the Kagame regime was the darling of the international community.