As is pretty evident, I got a little bit behind in blogging. But I didn't fall off the planet, I kept having fun, albeit in DC. Here's a few random things from spring in DC.
I saw the cherry blossoms for the first time.
They were pretty, but I was a little disappointed because right before I went somebody told me that these were cherry blossoms.
So that's what I was expecting. But that's okay. Cherry blossoms make up for their individual relative lack of drama with sheer mass.
As long as you are looking at the cherry blossoms, you might as well look at the other pretty stuff, too.
I went running very early one morning around the tidal basin, hoping to miss the crowds. Ha! Not only were the tourists there with their tripods to catch the sunrise, every couple getting married in the greater Baltimore-Washington area in the next 5 years was there getting engagement photos.
I went to the Lego skyscrapers exhibit at the Building Museum. The best part was when they let you play with thousands and thousands of Legos at the end, but the skyscrapers were cool too I guess.
Enjoyed the roof deck with friends on many multiple occasions, including Jess's going away party (she's off to Colorado to start a PhD in social psychology). It's nice that prime farmer's market season coincides with prime roof deck season, and that you know people like my friend Alexis to come over make delicious things from the farmer's market for you in return for a spot on the deck.
Went to the United States Botanical Gardens with Jess in her quest to do everything in DC she'd meant to do in the 5 years she lived here in her last month.
Discovered there's a food truck that roams DC bringing mac and cheese to the people. Yep, those are crumbled up Cheezits on my mac and cheese. If you know me, you understand why the CapMac truck has revolutionized my lunching experience. However, tracking down whether it is going to be in my vicinity at lunch time has really cut into my morning-time productivity at work. Fortunately Kevin proved himself worthy by also loving it.
My neighbors grew some dinosaurs. This definitely counts as neighborhood beautification in my neighborhood.
I finally had a cupcake from the (to TLC viewers at least) famous Georgetown Cupcake. I had heard that, despite the bakery's claim that they were "DC's destination for designer cupcakes", the "designer" cupcakes were not worth the line. But I was out for dinner in Georgetown with friends one evening (at the excellent Kafe Leopolds, thanks Anthony!) and as we were headed home the line was manageable. And you know what? It's all lies. Those salted caramel cupcakes were out of control delicious (and Kristina was just as excited as me apparently). It's possible I had two.
The best part about Georgetown Cupcake, however, was definitely when the police showed up to cut the line off and guard the door. Apparently there's some people out there who take their cupcakes really seriously. These weren't even rent-a-cops. These were legit DC police officers with guns. I mean, it's DC. You can't tell me there wasn't something better they could have been doing, probably on my block, actually.
Went to Boston for a conference on world humanitarian studies at Tufts and found a new dog walker for Eskimo in Boston's (heavily Italian) North End.
The conference was so-so. Too many academics without enough field experience and not very many answers for some big problems, problems everybody who does any work in the field already know exist. Yes, capacity building is a problem (um, see basically any prior blog post when I'm overseas...). I want your research to tell me what to do about it, not to keep telling me it's a problem. I KNOW. But there were some interesting discussions going on if you looked in the right places. And it gave me a chance to hang out with Caitlin and Pete in Cambridge some more (thanks for letting me stay with you!)
I mean, some other stuff happened too, like Mary coming to visit, but I didn't take any pictures, so we'll leave it at that.
I saw the cherry blossoms for the first time.
They were pretty, but I was a little disappointed because right before I went somebody told me that these were cherry blossoms.
So that's what I was expecting. But that's okay. Cherry blossoms make up for their individual relative lack of drama with sheer mass.
As long as you are looking at the cherry blossoms, you might as well look at the other pretty stuff, too.
I went running very early one morning around the tidal basin, hoping to miss the crowds. Ha! Not only were the tourists there with their tripods to catch the sunrise, every couple getting married in the greater Baltimore-Washington area in the next 5 years was there getting engagement photos.
I went to the Lego skyscrapers exhibit at the Building Museum. The best part was when they let you play with thousands and thousands of Legos at the end, but the skyscrapers were cool too I guess.
Enjoyed the roof deck with friends on many multiple occasions, including Jess's going away party (she's off to Colorado to start a PhD in social psychology). It's nice that prime farmer's market season coincides with prime roof deck season, and that you know people like my friend Alexis to come over make delicious things from the farmer's market for you in return for a spot on the deck.
Went to the United States Botanical Gardens with Jess in her quest to do everything in DC she'd meant to do in the 5 years she lived here in her last month.
Discovered there's a food truck that roams DC bringing mac and cheese to the people. Yep, those are crumbled up Cheezits on my mac and cheese. If you know me, you understand why the CapMac truck has revolutionized my lunching experience. However, tracking down whether it is going to be in my vicinity at lunch time has really cut into my morning-time productivity at work. Fortunately Kevin proved himself worthy by also loving it.
My neighbors grew some dinosaurs. This definitely counts as neighborhood beautification in my neighborhood.
I finally had a cupcake from the (to TLC viewers at least) famous Georgetown Cupcake. I had heard that, despite the bakery's claim that they were "DC's destination for designer cupcakes", the "designer" cupcakes were not worth the line. But I was out for dinner in Georgetown with friends one evening (at the excellent Kafe Leopolds, thanks Anthony!) and as we were headed home the line was manageable. And you know what? It's all lies. Those salted caramel cupcakes were out of control delicious (and Kristina was just as excited as me apparently). It's possible I had two.
The best part about Georgetown Cupcake, however, was definitely when the police showed up to cut the line off and guard the door. Apparently there's some people out there who take their cupcakes really seriously. These weren't even rent-a-cops. These were legit DC police officers with guns. I mean, it's DC. You can't tell me there wasn't something better they could have been doing, probably on my block, actually.
Went to Boston for a conference on world humanitarian studies at Tufts and found a new dog walker for Eskimo in Boston's (heavily Italian) North End.
The conference was so-so. Too many academics without enough field experience and not very many answers for some big problems, problems everybody who does any work in the field already know exist. Yes, capacity building is a problem (um, see basically any prior blog post when I'm overseas...). I want your research to tell me what to do about it, not to keep telling me it's a problem. I KNOW. But there were some interesting discussions going on if you looked in the right places. And it gave me a chance to hang out with Caitlin and Pete in Cambridge some more (thanks for letting me stay with you!)
I mean, some other stuff happened too, like Mary coming to visit, but I didn't take any pictures, so we'll leave it at that.
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