Ramble On

Do you guys listen to This American Life on NPR? More often than not I come away from my weekly listen deep in thought.  It raises excellent questions, has very good reporting, and explores some captivating cultural corners of this country.  I learned early on that its host is a staunch atheist.  It doesn't keep me from having a super-geek crush on this married man with a nasal voice and insightful storytelling powers. He was raised by Jewish parents, but he doesn't support religion in his own life.  However, on his show, from time to time, I hear him say things and I think, friend, who are you kidding right now? I was listening to their 500th episode in which a bunch of the producers got together and compiled some of their favorite stories from over the last 18 years (the show began in 1995).  In this retrospective, the idea of unconditional love came up twice.  And I drew in one story from a past episode because it's an incredible exchange.  I'l...

The Search for authenticity as related by one of the greatest bands you've maybe never heard of and by one of my favorite writers.  The song starts at 8 minutes in and is one of my favorite covers.... ever. I was leaving a show last week and they were playing this song as I walked out the door of the club.  It stuck in my head.  I listened to it at work the next day and for the first time really heard the lyrics.  This is probably because when I heard Marah play it, my ears were close to bleeding.  They spend the entire first half of every set I've ever seen them play trying to get the sound guy to make everything louder. If you don't have 11 minutes to listen to the entire essay and the song that follows, I will include some of the best points from Nick Hornby's essay below: "I would have paid good money out of my grant for a little authenticity and credibility but now I was selling and I didn't know how to buy it anyway... " "I didn't ...

A something in a summer’s Day As slow her flambeaux burn away Which solemnizes me. A something in a summer’s noon — A depth — an Azure — a perfume — Transcending ecstasy. And still within a summer’s night A something so transporting bright I clap my hands to see — Then veil my too inspecting face Lets such a subtle — shimmering grace Flutter too far for me — The wizard fingers never rest — The purple brook within the breast Still chafes it narrow bed — Still rears the East her amber Flag — Guides still the sun along the Crag His Caravan of Red — So looking on — the night — the morn Conclude the wonder gay — And I meet, coming thro’ the dews Another summer’s Day! ---Emily Dickinson Happy Summer everyone.  May your days be long, languorous and lovely.

Friday Friday, gotta get down on Friday!  It was a lovely last day at the conference. After dancing until the wee hours the night before, we took it easy in the morning and then got to the expo hall to break down the booth.  It didn't take too long, but the weather was starting to swell.  They had been calling for big storms all week and after eating a delicious sushi lunch, we knew it was coming.  I decided that I couldn't let the opportunity to see the world-famous St. Louis zoo slip through my grasp because of a little rain, though.  So I headed to Forest Park to see what I could see, still not caving in and buying an umbrella.  It rained while I was on the train to the park but as soon as I stepped off it was sunny and warm, albeit very humid and still building.  Forest Park is gorgeous!  Expansive manicured green lawns, boathouses, running and biking trails, some sort of pavilion where they were setting up for what I'm sure was a BALLER w...

I didn't have any sessions Thursday morning and had left time to catch up on e-mails.  I went to a session in the afternoon about liberal arts colleges and why they are important for international students.  Basically just some marketing points that would be good for representatives to highlight on their recruitment trips. I had some time to kill before an alumni reception downtown after my session so I walked to go get Cardinals tickets for the evening, then walked back downtown and still had a bit of time so I stopped to get some frozen yogurt. I will note here that I will stop any time, anywhere to get frozen yogurt.  It is the perfect snack.  I have tried over 11 different places in the DC metro area alone.  This frozen yogurt, at Bella's on Washington Ave was the best frozen yogurt I have ever had.  My strategy for the self-serve yogurt shop:  no toppings, just straight yogurt, small dollops of as many flavors that interest me or as will fit in ...

This conference thing has been a pretty good gig so far.  I went to a session on Wednesday morning, put in some time at the booth, and then met up for lunch with a person I worked with in South Africa.  We went and had St. Louis style pizza.  They have deep dish here too. Here is the difference: cornmeal in the crust.  Instead of just using the cornmeal to keep the dough from sticking to the pizza stone in the oven, the cornmeal goes into the crust and gives it this extra sweetness and crunch.  Also, in their deep dish they put the sauce on top and they use Provel cheese, which I can't really explain except to say that it's not provolone and it's not mozzarella.  My pizza though, was delicious, and I plan on eating it again.   I had such a good time with my former colleague that I got locked out of my afternoon session because I got there too late and there were too many people already.  Since I didn't have anything else scheduled for the af...

I realize that my field is pretty specialized.  But internationalization in education actually is a priority on most college and university campuses.   Since the world is getting smaller, cross cultural communication more critical, and wanderlust is intensifying, it's a good time to be in the business of increasing student mobility and knowledge exchange. NAFSA national conference is the big dance.  I've been to a regional conference before but never to this;  at 8000+ attendees, it's a gargantuan event.  I've enjoyed being with my delegation and meeting the people they know from going to this conference so many times.  Many of them know presenters, partners, and purveyors alike, no matter if they are involved with our students or not. I was a bit overwhelmed when I first walked into the palatial expo hall filled with colorful booths of people vying for each other's students, services and solutions.  Also, the "SWAG" as Michael Scott would say (Stu...

I am learning that not having a car in St. Louis doesn't limit your options so much as it makes everything take a lot longer. Today Joanna and I started off with a workout, then ate the hotel's AMAZING breakfast buffet.  Included in the room rate are made-to-order omelets and waffles, hot buffet with biscuits and gravy, I could go on.  I'm still in disbelief at how much further money goes here though. So we left and headed to agenda item #1 for both of us - The Budweiser Brewery tour in Soulard, south of downtown.  Joanna's husband loves beer and she took so many pictures and called him at several points on the tour to help him feel like he was there.  He was jealous.  We bought him some beer-themed merch at the ridiculous gift shop so hopefully he'll be appeased. The Budweiser brewery tour, as you can imagine, is a masterful mix of information and marketing.  Every word you've ever heard associated with Budweiser, or its affiliates is woven se...

Somehow I got selected by my office to go to a conference in St. Louis this year.  How it happened, I couldn't say but I'm excited to be here.  We are here for almost a whole week, which is sort of unheard of for a conference but I'm not complaining. I've never been to St. Louis and have spent the better part of May pumping all my friends on Facebook and even directly e-mailing a few people for the best things to do in the city.  I think my colleague and I have come up with a pretty good list.  My colleague will also be my roommate and partner in crime this week so let's call her Joanna.  We arrived today, Sunday, and got settled in our hotel.  The conference is huge and our employer, in it's usual fashion, approved us about a week ago to go.  Fortunately, our boss had told us she was recommending us about three weeks ago so we had been working on hotels since early May.  But most people who go to the conference start planning, oh, 6-8 months in a...

I believe that words have a beautiful power behind them that can convey things in a way that nothing else can.  But when it comes time to use words to convey true art, anyone would struggle. If words are not the art themselves, simply a means to share that art, or contextualize it, then something is almost always lost in the translation.  I fear that tonight's concert-going experience cannot be adequately described in words yet here I am, unable to go anywhere else than my laptop. Concerts are a special thing for me.  They are communal and revealing about me, about the music I hear, about the people who are hearing it with me, and the people who are playing it.  I've come away from shows genuinely heartbroken, exuberant, exhausted and sweaty, bored, sour, sore, mind-boggled, and ecstatic.  I don't think I've ever come away speechless.  After the show my friend kept talking about how these guys are going to be huge in two years, or how it's crazy that t...

I'm sitting at my cubicle processing some expense reports and my cube mate, who is, admittedly, a little crazy, is REALLY selling it today. Cubemate sleeps at her desk, regularly plays games on her iPad, keeps a personal journal of my internet activity and that of my colleagues, and comes in at least 20 minutes late every day.  She knows people, and teaches the Qur'an to the diplomats' kids, so she's got impunity.  In this culture, it's all about who you know, or "wasta" in Arabic.  I have heard it jokingly referred to as "Vitamin W" in interactions with authorities all too familiar with the power of this vitamin and how rules disintegrate in its presence. But today, Cubemate has decided that she needs people to know that she is sick.  I mean really suffering -   infested , even.  Generally I have found her sickness to be most pronounced on the eve of a holiday weekend, or perhaps around a vacation she is taking.  The severity of her illnes...

I can't remember the last time I was so looking forward to the open road.  Generally a 700 mile road trip alone would be discomforting, but as this trip started taking shape, I yearned for it. A few months back my older brother suggested that we go to Merlefest, an annual bluegrass festival held in Wilkesboro, NC in the far western part of the state.  My brother and father are both avid Doc Watson fans, and this festival was started by Doc to honor his son, Merle, who died in a tractor accident about 25 years ago.  Doc himself just died last year.  A beautiful blues/bluegrass singer, he is remembered for his generosity, encouragement of other musicians, and dry humor. This isn't something I would normally do, but the location of the festival made it more attractive because it would lead me past Charlottesville and Blacksburg, where two of my favorite people from my life in Williamsburg are now in school.  I decided it would be fun to bond with my brother and...