Irene's First First

Irene and I ran an incredibly hot, hilly 8K tonight. And Irene won.

The Silver Bullet

She's done it. She's gone and gotten a new car.

Yesterday morning Irene purchased a 2005 Silver Prius with ~50,000 miles for $13,000 (which is quite a deal). The sticker price was more than $15,000 and Irene got all the taxes and fees included in the price, plus a free Sirius radio set.

Now that's negotiating.



And she paid for it in cash, so there won't be any monthly payments. And, at around 45 miles per gallon combined, the baby seals can be happy as well. Now all we need is a name...

The Gold Cup

I don't know if you've been following it, but I've gotten quite a bit of enjoyment out of watching the US play in the Gold Cup. I would imagine that after our stunning victory over Spain and our close loss to Brazil, quite a few people are giving US National Soccer another try.

And for good reason. Just check out the excitement of last night's match against Panama.



That Beckerman goal was incredible. And, sorry Panama, but there are no jump kicks in soccer.

Multimedia Bonanza

Fun with Photobooth

Normal Chris



Cro-Magnon Chris



Roman Chris

Calling All Cars

So, following Irene and my trip up to Binghamton, New York for her grandmother's funeral, Irene and I are without wheels. Her parents car broke down on the way to Binghamton, so we lent them Irene's car and took the bus back (which was another adventure entirely).

I don't mention this to show you how selfless Irene is, but it does limit the amount of trips Irene and I can make up to Westminster or to Lexington Park for visits. It's really a shame, of course, because we hadn't even had the chance to see Amy and the boys.

What is required is some trip ingenuity. For example, Irene and I can publicly transport ourselves up to Owings Mills, and maybe we could arrange for a pick up from there?

Ongoing DC Adventures

Just to update you about the car...Irene and I just took it to a nearby mechanic. When we started it, it shut off, which probably isn't a good sign. Still, we dutifully took it over to the mechanic, who seemed nice enough, and promised to call us back later today with an estimate.

We need to up to New York for Irene's grandmother's funeral this weekend, so hopefully things won't be too expensive.

The View from DC

Well, Irene and I have spent a couple of days in DC now, and, I've got to say, things are going pretty well. Yesterday I went for a run and went by both the Watergate Hotel and the Lincoln Memorial. Sure I was sucking up exhaust the whole way, but at least I had some sights!

We've also been slowly learning about our neighborhood and where the best places are to go. Although things are generally pretty expensive, there are some great low cost items like the Amsterdam Falafel Shop and Julia's Emapanadas in Adams Morgan. Both delicious and reasonable priced.

And I'm about to leave for a local farmer's market for some fresh vegetables.

But, before I go, I wanted to check in and let you know that I'm excited about coming home for Father's Day tomorrow. Being in DC certainly has its advantages.

20009

I'm happy to say that Irene and I have moved into our new place on 16th & U in NW Washington, DC. It's nice. A bit small, especially around the kitchen, but nice.

We had a relatively uneventful 8.5 hour drive down from Somerville, found the place fairly easily, and moved everything in. After unpacking we headed out for dinner at the Amsterdam Falafel Shop, which was just spectacular, and then we picked up some groceries for tomorrow. Oh, and we got a temporary permit for the car.

I'll definitely be ready to relax tomorrow.

Olympia, Washington

Irene and I are currently on the first leg of our Northwest/Pacific journey, visiting her brother Quinn and his girlfriend in Olympia, Washington. We flew into Sea-Tac (Seattle-Tacoma) Airport on Wednesday after a *long* flight from Philadelphia. We're going to be hanging out until this afternoon, when we'll head down South to Eugene, Oregon to see her older brother Eliot and his girlfriend Kate.

Olympia is a nice little town, but for a capital, it's pretty little (not unlike Concord). We went to a nice brewery (Fish Brewing) for dinner Wednesday night and yesterday we BBQ-ed at Quinn's house. They've been gracious hosts.

I am looking forward to Eugene, though, and doing some running. Of course, Eugene was the home base of running icon Steve Prefontaine. What's so great about Prefontaine? Well, for one thing, he held the American record for all seven distance track events between the 2000 meters to the 10,000 meters. Youch.

Esme Sinclair

I think I mentioned earlier that Andy and Karen Sinclair's first child, Esme Sinclair, is out and exploring the world. I finally had a chance to go over and visit the other day, and the family seems to be doing well. In any event, the parents were happy to have an extra pair of hands around to hold the child while they ate dinner.

Esme was a bit ornery when I first started holding her, but she settled down after I applied my patented "bounce around while you're holding'em" move.

After she'd calmed down, the parents and I were discussing what kind of young lady she'd become. For no knowable reason I decided on a hippy--but I didn't share with Andy and Karen. Take a look and decide for yourself.

Esme - First Month from Andrew Sinclair on Vimeo.

Papers, papers.

Since various people have requested that I put up some of the papers I worked on this year, I've uploaded a few to google.docs. One issue I've grappled with repeatedly is the surge of violence overtaking Mexico. In a paper in Law & Development last semester I discussed the effect of drug cartel violence on economic development.

I tried to answer the question of what could be done about that violence in a paper this semester in my Foreign Relations and National Security Law class.

And here, unrelatedly, is an op-ed I wrote for my class in European Union Foreign Policy about Transatlantic Relations.

Enjoy!

Place in DC

So it looks like things may be coming together. And, of course, all my work trying to secure a place for us on Craigslist was for naught. The place we ended up with came from an email that went around on Fletcher's social list. An '08 grad is going to Africa and had to sublet her place quickly for the summer. It's on 16th & U, NW, Washington DC and we got it. Check it out:







And, of equal if not greater importance, I have a promising subletter for my place in Somerville--a young South Korean girl named Hye Young Kim. The dates are almost perfect and I doubt she's going to wreck the place.

So that's step one.

A Classic...

First 5K of the Summer

Irene and I ran our first 5K last night, and it was a hot one. Regardless, we ran the "Merrimack County Savings Bank Rock 'N' Race" together and finished in 21 minutes 52 seconds, with an average pace of 7 minutes and 3 seconds a mile.

And, best of all, that was good enough for Irene to finish third in her age group! She even got a prize! Unfortunately, to do the same thing I would have had to run almost 2 minutes faster ... which isn't happening.

But a good time was had by all.

Pics from Graduation and Birthday

It's an avalanche of photos this week.

Traveling Abroad

So, where to start. Talloires, the town where the LL.M. Capstone conference took place, is a very, very sleepy place. I'm sure it must pick up in the summer months, but while we were there it was *slow.* The whole town is only 1500 souls. It has a very quaint feel. Tufts lucked into some property there through an alumni bequest.

After Talloires, everyone split up. Some people headed back to the States, some people to Belgium job hunting, and a few of us went to Paris. TGV, the French train service, is the model of efficiency but is a bit expensive. I managed to book a ticket online, as well as a hostel near the Bastille in Paris. The hostel was actually a bit away from the action ... but had the benefit of being close to the train station (Gare de Lyon).

From my hostel, my first trip was down the Seine. Apparently it's quite the place to hang out because it was crammed with people. I walked past Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower, which wasn't a bad way to start the day. The next morning I took the (very easy and efficient) subway system to the Arc de Triomphe and then the Louvre. And those were pretty much the big sights. The rest of the time I walked around and tried to get a feel for the city as it exists separate from tourists, which is no easy task.

Not speaking French was a bit of a hindrance, but most Parisians speak enough English to make transactions possible. If all else fails, there's always pointing.

Following Paris I took the train to Geneva and spent about a day there. Geneva, compared to Paris, is very, very small, but also has a more international feel. Hearing English on the street was common. It's also a very rich city--I don't think I've ever seen such a high ratio of suits and expensive cars.

More thoughts forthcoming.

Here you go...

I'll have some commentary on the trip to Paris soon. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures I took of Talloires, Paris, and Geneva.

Post-Thesis

Alright. We're making progress. I finished the marathon, one term paper, one regular paper, my thesis, two class presentations, and my oral foreign language requirement. All I have left is two exams (one in class and one take home) and a presentation during the LL.M. trip to Talloires.

It's a strange thing to feel as though you're almost finished when you have two exams yet to go.

More Photos

Though they weren't taken by me. I've discovered that after the marathon every runner gets an email trying to get them to buy professionally taken photos.

Check'em out. Can't say I'm overly impressed by any of them.

There is also a slew of Tufts pictures.

Sheesh. You'd think it was a wedding with all these pictures.

Boston Marathon Photos

Here you go.

Feeling pretty sore today, I've got to say. I felt better right afterwards.

Traditions

One of the traditions at Tufts is for different campus groups and organizations to paint a cannon that's on campus. I have no idea why it's done, or even why there's a cannon on campus. But, last night the Tuft's Marathon team took their turn. Check out the picture below!



Everybody's excited.

May

So, I'm a bit crushed right now with papers and finals, but I wanted to get the word out about my tentative plans for May.

First, after my last final on May 5th, the LL.M. program has a five day trip to Talloires, France for a conference of sorts. I'll be in France from the 5th at least until the 10th. My actual graduation from Fletcher isn't until the 17th, however, so I may try to extend my trip and explore a bit of France and Spain. We'll have to see. Irene will still be in school, however, so she won't be able to join. Of course it would be better to have her along but, I have to say, I am still quite a lucky duck.

Graduation is the 17th. This is my fifth graduation or whatever, so it's all kind of passé. But, St. Paul's has classes until early June (the 10th?) so I was thinking of coming down to visit Westminster and S. Maryland or a while (10 days? Two weeks) at the end of May. Is everyone going to be around for this period? No trips to Asheville or anything?

There's another post coming about my plans after May, but let's start with this. Wanna see me?

Happy Easter!

I was just telling my roommate Steve about how we used to have Easter Egg Hunts when I was little. And how there'd always be that one egg that no one could find, and would remain hidden until the summer, when the smell would give it away...

Love.

Naval War College

Today I took a field trip with my class on Transpacific Relations to the Naval War College. It's a beautiful place, right on the water in Newport, Rhode Island. Our Professor is full time faculty there (he's only adjunct at Fletcher).

Our Professor arranged for the whole trip, which was really quite thoughtful. We toured the Museum of the Naval War College and got two briefings from the faculty there--the first dealt generally with US/East Asian relations, but the second was a fairly detailed analysis of Taiwan's preparedness vis-a-vis a Chinese attack.

Pretty sobering stuff, especially when at least one of the students in the class is Taiwanese...

Esme

You probably remember my friend (and former roommate) Andy Sinclair. He was the tall one. He and his wife just had their first child: Esme Sinclair.

They've already got a website for her as well as pictures up on flickr.

She's going to be a web-savvy kid.

Friday & Saturday Afternoons

Last semester, I had more free time. This Spring, with the marathon and being an RA I just don't have as much time to joke around as I used to. For example, Saturday afternoon was definitely off-limits last semester. This semester, I have to do work, but I've come up with a compromise. I'll do work in the afternoon, but it has to be light enough for me to be able to do it while watching T.V.

As a result, and thanks to the fact that we have a DVR, I've become pretty familiar with Saturday afternoon offerings. Not everything has been to my liking, but I've developed a real attachment to the low quality horror movies that the Sci-Fi channel pumps out. There have been some real classics: "Abominable," "Grendel," and "Baal the Storm God."

Somehow I ended up having a real ability to consume low quality entertainment. It drives my roommate to distraction but, hey, it's a drag to be to serious all the time.

Spring Break Trip to New York

Irene and I went to New York to visit Nic and Heather (Nic's girlfriend) for a few days over Spring Break. Check out the pics!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisboundy/sets/72157615723383889/

It was a fun, and varied, trip. We went out in Manhattan, of course, but we also stayed in one night, went to a birthday party (Heather's) and also went star gazing and explored an old mansion.

Wild times.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This time last year I was in Southie at Murphy's Law with some friends of mine. This year I'm in New Hampshire, trying to do work, but mainly procrastinating. I'm not sure if that qualifies as progress or not...

Irene and I are in Concord because yesterday I had an interview with a firm in Manchester (the next largest city) at a firm called Bernstein Shur. Needless to say, it's not the kind of work I went to the Fletcher School to do ... but it's much, much closer to Irene.

After the interview, Irene and I went to a little brewpub in Manchester called Strange Brew. I wouldn't recommend it. Maybe we should have guessed from the name...

Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Break In

But not at my place. You may remember my friend Andy, who I lived with in law school. He actually still lives near me now with his very pregnant wife, Karen. And, unfortunately, they both come home Friday night to find their first floor apartment had been broken into. They had a lot of electronics stolen, but not much else.

As if that wasn't sad enough, a Good Samaritan noticed a group of kids acting suspiciously not far away and recovered a bag of Karen's with her ID. The GS called it into the police, who are investigating. Seems they know the kids, who are constantly in and out of trouble, and don't seem to be mending their ways.

Losses all around, and not a little bit frightening. But don't worry--I've retrieved my Louisville slugger from the closet to ward off potential invasions.

South Korea

One of my four classes this semester has the lengthy title of "Transpacific Ties: US-Asian Alliances in the 21st Century." It examines the future of US alliances with Japan, South Korea, and Australia, primarily, and also subsidiary issues like the role of the rise of China.

It's an interesting area, and one that I wasn't particularly familiar with prior to the course. It's got more of a military angle than a lot of classes at Fletcher, which has been eye opening.

Which got me to thinking--didn't Dad spend his time during the War in South Korea? From what I've heard the barracks there were subpar, but recently they've moved most of them outside Seoul. Interestingly, Irene was thinking about taking a summer job there. It's a longshot, but if she does, it sure would be a nice trip.

The Supreme Court and John Lennon

Though it didn't make a big splash in the media generally, legal circles were buzzing about the fact that Associate Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito quoted a John Lennon song in a recent Supreme Court opinion. The song, predictably enough, was "Imagine."

Leaving aside for the moment the specific point that Justice Alito is demonstrably conservative and the song is about the wonders of national socialism, I've always been surprised about how popular "Imagine" has been given its lyrical content. Would most Americans, after all, want a world without religion? Without possessions? Without borders? I don't have any polling information in front of me, but I'm guessing the answer is no.

Maybe it doesn't matter--most Americans wouldn't want "Strawberry Fields Forever," either, or live on a "Yellow Submarine." Still, it's peculiar that the particular intent of a song can be so entirely forgotten...

WPR

I just had to give a presentation on the War Powers Resolution for my class in Foreign Relations and National Security Law. It was the first of three presentations.

Which is a good thing, because by my lights the whole thing didn't go that well. It occurs to me that I have a recurring problem in situations like this--primarily, instead of asking investigative questions I make assumptions that seem reasonable to me about some part of the issue. And those assumptions, family of mine, are, in fact, not always correct.

Honestly, I find presentations so stressful my relief at having it done is eclipsing the acute sense of disappointment I should be feeling. But its bizarre to be able to identify a character flaw and still be unable prevent it from emerging. I suppose the world is full of new and never before imagined scenarios.

We'll see if I can do better next time around. Character is how you deal with defeat as well as success, right?

Our Town

For Valentine's Day I took Irene to see a production of "Our Town" (which she's never seen) they put on at Tufts. The twist was that it was produced as an opera by Ned Rorem. It's an interesting idea, but the implementation is tricky.

Still, haven't we all, even those not usually theatrically inclined, thought about playing the role of the Stage Manager?

Job Fair

As we speak, I'm in D.C. with Ryan and Nicole (Surber). We've had one day of the career fair, and we've got one more to go. Today I spoke with two people: one from CRS and one from the Office of the Legal Advisor. It's only networking, not job offers, but it's a step in the right direction.

Sorry for not keeping you updated about where I was going to stay--Ryan and Nicole's place is a lot closer to DC. They live at the Vienna stop on the Orange Line.

But I love you and I got the oranges you sent.

Baking

As you probably saw when you read my 25 Random Things About Me List in Facebook, I've really come to enjoy baking. I avoided it for a long time, but now I've seen the error of my ways. It's amazing how many different things you can make with a few basic materials. Focaccia bread, pizza crust, corn muffins, blueberry pancakes, biscuits. The list goes on and on. I may go have a corn muffin right now.

What do you two like to bake? Any good recipes? I have to admit, my corn muffins are ... subpar.

Lucy Jenkins

Allow me to introduce you to Lucy, our new kitten!













We got her from a rescue, and she was a little skittish at first. And thin. And covered in scabs from an infestation of fleas. And suffering from an upper respiratory illness.

But she's really taken to Irene's place and clearly feels at home now. She's eating more, and she's more active. It's great. Except for my sneezing. But other than that it's great.

Milk

Irene and I saw Sean Penn's new movie, Milk, last night. I was quite impressed. Regardless of what you think of the man personally, he's a skilled actor. I can barely remember the last time I was so convinced.

Even more interesting to me the character of Harvey Milk, though, was the social backdrop. The film did a good job placing Milk's run in the context of the struggling gay rights movement with Anita Bryant cast as the primary antagonist. I had also heard of the "Twinkie Defense" in law school, but was unaware of the history behind it.

How can you get away with five years after shooting two elected officials, one of whom is the Mayor?

Anyway, if you feel like venturing out to the movies and you're not going to see Slumdog Millionnaire, I'd highly recommend it.

Research Assistant Position

Good news! I was offered a Research Assistant position by one of my Professors from last semester. I could use a little extra money. The Professor is Jeswald Salacuse.

New Blog

Check it out: http://www.tuftsmarathonchallenge.com/runners/chrisboundy

I have two blogs! I'm some kind of internet superwizard.

MLK JR

It is a tremendous thing to have the day celebrating the life of America's foremost civil rights advocate the day before the inauguration of its first African-American President. It seems like a topic so rich for discussion: is the Obama Presidency the culmination of the civil rights effort? Is it realization of Dr. King's dream? Is it the end of all dreams deferred?

But who is to address these questions? They receive only the most superficial discussion in the press. And President Obama has responsibilities as its Chief Executive that will probably counsel against an extended analysis of the arc of the struggle for equal rights.

How do we define changes in race relations as they are occurring?

Shopping Day

Tomorrow is shopping day--a full day of class teasers. I'm pretty sure I know what I want to take. But, then again, that's what I thought last semester before being sent into a tailspin. I'll let you know the results tomorrow night.

And thanks very much for the package of Christmas goodies. I'm drinking the coffee right now...

You won't believe who I ran into...

Gene Robinson. That's right, the gay bishop who has caused such consternation at the Ascension Church (and elsewhere) came to St. Paul's last night to present a film he's a part of called "For the Bible Tells Me So."

The film was interesting. It followed four or five stories of children coming out to their parents in religious families. It certainly wasn't impartial, but it was interesting. Much was made of Dick Gephardt and his daughter (see the movie poster below).

Part of the Q&A afterwards talked about coming out as a political act, and how coming out created a snowball effect--forty years ago few people knew someone who was homosexual (in making this statement Robinson allowed for the caveat of "the two strange old women living alone together down the street") but of course the same thing can't be said today.

Still, although I know many, many gay and lesbians, it surprises me that no one in the old crew has turned out to be gay or lesbian. But maybe I'm speaking prematurely. Robinson didn't come out until he was nearly 40...

Photos

Photos from Florida:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisboundy/sets/72157612149193103/

Photos from Christmas:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisboundy/sets/72157612200989040/

Enjoy!

IPOD!!!

Will someone find my ipod please? $250. The last time I remember seeing it was when Chris, Amy and I were making Christmas CDs. Then I remember Chris flipping through it, and that's it. Ugh. It has to be in the house somewhere. It has to be.