28 October 2008

It's officially snowing in Oxford.
This does not bode well for the coming winter.

One of the coolest things ever!

I had the great pleasure to attend the wedding of Alex and Kim. No words can express.

Alex and I go back years (to a contentious email -but never mind) and to meet Kim sealed the deal. Wonderful + Amazing = Outrageous!!

Tomatoes (sp?)

As I mentioned earlier, I tried to cultivate a garden this summer. It was a mixed bag.

The herbs: basil (dead), cilantro (dead), dill (dead), Neidermeyer! (dead).

BUT, the tomatoes decided to make a late arrival and have all turned red despite the cold and rather wet weather. I believe that they are rewarding my hours of vocalized encouragement (you can see one hiding at the bottom in the picture). I did also get one red chili. It was hot.

Boston

As part of the ongoing responsibility of work, I had to travel to Boston (MA, USA) recently. It was the conference of conferences, the biggest gathering of political scientists of the year, APSA. While I was pleased with our paper (that we were to present), my computer died and I spent most of my time trying to rebuild out paper and presentation from email exchanges and scraps on my computer (thanks Best Buy!).

I signed up late so ended up staying a bit out of the city center at one of the lesser hotels. However, I learned more about Boston by having to travel through it.

I also promised the bartender at my local (the Kite) that I would bring him an authentic Sox cap. So, during a slow part of the day, I slipped out of the conference and went down to Fenway - during a Red Sox/White Sox game no less (!) - and got him one.

Bona Fide.

Magyarorszag

I recently went to Hungary to give a talk at the Institute for Social and European Studies. I was warmly welcomed by Dr. Ferenc Miszlivetz and spent a few days enjoying his and the institute's hospitality.

What made this trip more enjoyable was that I used to live and work in Hungary, specifically the same town, Kőszeg.

I got to enjoy the company of old friends. Imre, Tibor, Kati, Andras....

If you have the chance, go to Hungary.