Summer Update #3

As July comes to a close, the blog is set to celebrate its first birthday. It seems only appropriate then to update its loving followers (are there any left?) on the summer's progression.

Danie and I have both been working quite a bit, but, as you might suspect, we're managing to have more than our fair share of fun as well. Here's an eclectic collection of pictures that have been taken at some point during the last month or so while we were out gallivanting around the city. Notable activities so documented include: the world cup semi-finals and finals, and a Dave Mathews Band concert.

Meanwhile, the topics of research for my associateship/internship have remained relatively consistent since the last update. I've moved from small and medium sized enterprise development to issues involving microfinance and programmatic approaches to serving communities impacted by HIV/AIDS via migratory labor, all still under the umbrella of Corporate Social Responsibility. My seniors are still in rural Mozambique, which makes their near daily emails that much more impressive.

Danie's had a relapse. That's right, she's back on Craigslist. She just found five levels of Rosetta Stone Spanish for only $50, or about 8% of the market price. When she hits the list she does it right. Living in New York, speaking only one language is just short of being an openly embarrassing deficiency. As such, Danie and I are both working on picking up a second in the short-term before hopefully moving on to a third before too long. The restaurant has been immensely helpful for me in this regard, as it provides a regular opportunity for practice.

Otherwise, Danie and I are looking forward to her family's visit next week. We'll be in the city for a couple days, after which we'll spend a week together upstate. As their impending arrival approaches, the days can't pass quickly enough; Danie and I are so eager to share our lives out here with the whole crew at once. Expect pictures and blogs to follow.

points of interest

1. Medical study finds that following the US bombardment of Fallujah in 2004, infant mortality, cancer and leukaemia in the Iraqi city exceed those reported by survivors of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

2. Paul Krugman on the incipient efforts to revise the last Bush presidency's historical record.

3. While some are celebrating Israel's concessions to 'ease' its blockade of Gaza, I can't help but think it long overdue when looking at the (partial) list of items prohibited from entering the territory.

4. A study here in New York finds that calorie posting has not had an impact on people's eating habits.

5. Puzzled? A compelling explanation from two behavioral economists.

the problem with blogging late at night...

...is that you might forget to put in links you've set aside specifically for that post...

thus, as an addendum to my previous post, here are two thoughtful discussions of the inveterate sexism displayed by Nike's marketing campaigns:

1. On the Write the Future ad.

2. On the Thank you to the US Men's Nat'l Team ad.

points of interest: World Cup edition

1. the World Cup's carbon footprint

2. Glenn Beck on the World Cup

3. Beck not validated by the actual American viewership.

Eduardo Galeano wrote in Soccer in Sun and Shadow: "Years have gone by and I've finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good soccer. I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: 'A pretty move, for the love of God.' And when good soccer happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don't give a damn which team or country performs it."

Personally, I find this brand of cosmopolitan appreciation very compelling. In that vein, fans of the beautiful game have to be happy with Spain's success.

summer update #2

My apologies for the two-week hiatus, things have been a little hectic around here. Last week I started training at my restaurant while still working on research assignments for my internship. Actually, the research demands have been scaled up as the center's senior staff's impending trip to Mozambique approaches. Though the amplification coincided a bit inconveniently with the server-training, I made it through the week with my head above water, and I'm expecting things to mellow a bit now as I find a rhythm.

I also met with the US contingent of Third World Network last week for an interview/meeting. It went really well, and I'm scheduled to meet with the organization's Beijing-based Director this week while she's in New York. I'm going to be working with TWN on a paper on international economic governance and the G20 that will be published just before the heads of state summit in Seoul this November.

In spite of the busyness, Danie and I are enjoying the summertime. Last week we saw McCoy Tyner, Ravi Coltrane, Esperanza Spalding, and Francisco Mela play together in a star-studded quartet at SummerStage. We've also become regulars at the most well-endowed (high-definition-TV speaking) Irish pub in our neighborhood, as it tends to attract the most enthusiastic World Cup fans in our neighborhood. However, this Tuesday and Wednesday we'll be watching the semi-final games at more nationally-invested and culinarily-suitable venues.

That is in fact what we were doing the day the picture above was taken. On a mutually-shared day off, Danie and I went down to the South Street Seaport and caught the England-US match at an English pub. As you may deduce from our attire and/or general merriment, this was before the weather turned, for lack of a better word, disgusting.

Danie and I have since been compelled to hook up our air conditioner. We held out for a long time but when we became aware of each others' consciousness (and sweatiness) last Sunday night around 2am, we decided enough was enough. The next evening (last Monday) we barricaded ourselves in our room, which, by our estimates, was roughly 10 to 15 degrees cooler than the rest of the apartment. Thankfully the heat wave broke after Monday, and the rest of the week was beautiful. Unfortunately the heat and humidity one-two punch is back in full force this week, and accordingly, so is our AC-based hermitry. I'm not excited about our imminent energy bill.

points of interest

1. A new interactive calculator from the Center for Economic and Policy Research illustrates the effects of several different policy options on the debt burden that the United States will face in 2020. (notice that even in the baseline case (President Obama's proposed budget), the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio in 2020 will be less than the current debt-to GDP ratio for many countries)

2. An insightful follow up on questions of the much-discussed federal deficit

3. What the BP oil spill would look like where you live

4. oil-spills/disasters that get less attention: Nigerian edition

5. affordable retirement locations

6. watch an 8-month year old baby react to cochlear implant activation. This blew me away