Memorial Day Bliss

Spent Memorial Day Weekend on the Delaware Shore

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Left the District early on Saturday Morning. No traffic, a fast a pretty ride through farmland in Maryland and Delaware. We stopped on the side of the road to buy fresh corn, watermelon, and snap peas and chatted with the college-student-sellers about their post-graduation job prospects in DC.

Broadkill beach is remarkably wild and natural: reeking (dead) horshoe crabs strewn about on the shore, crabs pinching your feet as you wade out into the water, a giant sea slug, a live conch. Very few other people around for most of the weekend.

Went into Rehoboth on Saturday night to a local hangout called "Summerhouse."  Pizza at Grottos. 

Drove home Sunday night, encountering horrendous traffic. Blackberried and listened to "The Things They Carried," a short story about the Vietnam War. 

Home at 11pm. 

Food For Thought: The Failure of the American Jewish Establishment

Attended a lunch with Peter Beinart, a journalist and CUNY professor who just wrote a fascinating piece in the New York review of books: "the failure of the American Jewish Establishment."

In the piece, Beinart persuasively argues that a number of large jewish organization are out of touch with the young non-orthodox jews in the United States on the question of Israel and the peace process.In person, he was just as articulate and compelling, discussing the article with the audience and deftly handling questions from the beltway policy audience.


I agree with most of Beinart's article: most of the mainstream Jewish organizations are failing to represent young non-orthodox Jews on the question of the peace process.

Before the long weekend

Looooong Friday here at Work. Decided to review another product from bathroom vanities Very excited. 

Iceland Express announced a sale to europe for 212 outbound... Almost ready to book. 

Getting out of Dodge, Part 4: Conclusion by commencement

Graduation day, finally.  Walked over to the packed old campus interior, with thousands upon thousands of filled  seats. At around 10:30, the processions started, visible mainly from the jumbotrons. Lots of young people in black robes. The Forestry school grads had plants and shrubbery on their heads, which was the highlight.

After some speeches, each dean exchanged formal words with the President, who conferred degrees to everyone except for the law school students (who still need to pass the bar). The honorary degrees were numerous (10) and high profile. They included: Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, novelist Orhan Pamuk, the President of Liberia, and Aretha Franklin, who got the loudest cheers. None of them spoke, and accepted their doctorates silently.

Everyone marched out and we went to the Morse courtyard for the presentation of undergraduate diplomas, by residential college. This was much more intimate and consisted of a speech by the Master, prizes, and each student (roughly 100) being presented with a diploma and their major and honors noted.

We ate a terrific lunch in the commons (amazing strawberry shortcake) and went over to the English department, where my brothers introduced me to their professors, one of whom is a prominent writer.

I took taxi back to Bradley international airport and talked to the driver about weekend, the recession, and the changing demographic breakdown of the U.S.

The President of Liberia was on my flight back to DC, and I congratulated her on the honorary doctorate. She was surprised, but quickly figured out that i'd been at the ceremony. Smart woman.

Getting out of Dodge, Part 2: Convention in Connecticut

Spent the evening at the campaign parties for the CT Democratic convention with my good friend Representative Matt Lesser of Middletown. Met Gerry Garcia, a Yale-educated Puerto-Rican-Jewish-American running for Secretary of State. Learned about CT geography (there is a "quiet corner" of the state that is sparsely populated), met the Mayor of East Haven (who had just donated a kidney to one of her constituents), bought some freshly baked potato bread, and heard stories of lobbying, deal-making, and inter-legislator aggression.  

Post-11pm Hartford was hopping with nightlife activity, at least downtown. Who knew?

Getting out of Dodge, Part 1

Flew out of BWI for the first time... on Southwest Airlines, also a first. 

The local MARC train from Union Station to BWI failed, so I jumped on the amtrak regional, which arrived in 20 minutes, followed by a 10 minute shuttle ride to the airport. Fast, but expensive ($25)

Apparently Southwest was the only domestic airline to show a profit in 2009. This shows in the service: cheapest ticket, the most efficient booking engine i've ever used and passenger loading procedures. Flying discount carriers (jetblue, Southwest, Ryanair in Europe) feels cheap and some unreal, for some reason.  This was no exception, even with the Business Select ($20 extra) upgrade I purchased while checking in. For 20 bucks, I got to be the sixth passenger to board the plane, a special security screening lane which substantively improved the process of being screened, a drink coupon I didn't use, and an extra .25 frequent flyer credit. 

I liked BWI and will not avoid it in the airport. My pre-flight airport dinner consisted of delicious pork tacos, acceptable chicken tea sandwiches, and a glass of shiraz, with wonderful service. 

I arrived in the Bradley International Airport  of Hartford at 10:30, 15 minutes early. 

I'd give the whole experience a B+. 

Sick Weekend

Literally. Dinner in Dupont Circle on Friday night. Spent most of the meal discussing/arguing over Father Aristide's oust from Haiti with a future American diplomat. 

Saturday was almost entirely inside, resting and watching Season one of arrested development. 

Grocery shopping on Sunday at Trader Joes, travel planning, and Robin Hood in Chinatown. Very enjoyable, surprisingly funny and not terribly similar to Gladiator. There is a beautiful mind joke about Nash equilibria and dating.

In and out of the Apple

Two trips to New York since my last post:

1) Weekend Trip: Friday night train up, crashed on UWS at H's law school apartment. Gorgeous cool Saturday: walk in Central Park with N, then got a beer with B and his girlfriend in Flatiron, followed by dinner at Hill Country, a seemingly authentic Texas BBQ joint. Dashed up to the UWS to pick-up belongings for a rooftop party hosted by LLS, my former roommate from the Loisaida days (for which this blog is named). Slept in Brooklyn and awoke to a rainy day... spent the day with my parents, with whom I took a walk to Avenue J. F train back to manhattan, Amtrak back to DC for 11:30pm arrival. 

2) Work Trip on Thursday: stayed at the Marriot across from the WFC and site of the former WTC. Was the most beautiful day i've had in New York in a long time: clear blue skies, piercing sunlight, strong breeze, locals dressed to kill, picturesque. Dinner with one of my brothers near Grand Central followed by a long walk back to hotel, with the obligatory stop in SoHo to pick-up E. 

Both trips make the weekend-bomb-scare all the more surreal. Muggy weekend in DC. Yuck.