2010: Change and Continuity

It's been a year of change, but also continuity.

I started 2010 with a concrete and extensive dissertation plan about which I, my advisers, and others were excited. I ended 2010 with a concrete and extensive dissertation plan about which I, my advisers, and others were excited. They were not the same. There was some confusion in between, about six months of intellectual homelessness.

I started 2010 living in one of my favorite cities in the world, a bustling cosmopolitan capital. I ended 2010 living in one of my favorite cities in the world, a bustling cosmopolitan capital. They were not the same. There was some confusion in between, about six months of literal homelessness.

I started 2010 with a Very Special Person in my life. I ended 2010 with a Very Special Person in my life. They were the same. Some confusion, to be sure, but also 12 months of real happiness. The same goes for all the other Special People in my life. The continuity I value most.

2011 will bring more changes. I'm going to nearly finish this dissertation. This means that, having exhausted all reasonable educational opportunities, I will need to figure out what to do with my life, at least for the next little bit (suggestion box is now open). I'm also going to be thick into my other projects, of the climate-changing and chicken-frying varieties. And at the same time, a new Special Person is arriving on the scene, a little bundle of joy and terror, but mostly joy.

Big changes, then, bringing big rewards and big risks. How they're going to unfold, I really can't say. Confusion, there will be.

But I wouldn't have it any other way. Change tests and invigorates. The granite endures, the limestone erodes. I wouldn't want to end this or any year with a limestone life, now matter how smooth and familiar.

So, onwards and upwards. But I'm just damn glad I get to do it with you!

The Holidays in Hats

Warmth in the winter, shade in the summer--a hat is a useful and stylish accoutrement. There were plenty to be seen the last few months, and together they capture the Thanksgiving - New Year period quite well...

Flowery chic

Tang Dynasty Bronze Ding
Double trouble

Double inversion

Gnawing her way out of the trap

Pip pip!

Magical unicorn

Bad boy

Bad-er boy

Santa makes his own fun

Battle-ready

A ray of sunshine
Pimps 'n ho's, as imagined by Jules Verne

Giving thanks

So much to give thanks for this year.

Family.

The attack of the giant robots.

Roast baby with winter vegetables

Kitty fairies

So much gratitude for these blessings.

Catch up

I've been remiss. A series of (mostly pictorial) updates to follow, capped with a Year in Review. Stay tuned.

Birthdays are like a sack of olives...

Some years are black and some are green, but they all get mushed into oil in the end.

This one began with some flaming, liquor-filled Mexican wrestling heads

And some other lovelies

Then down to Tuscany for actual picking

To make lots of this:

With some energetic helpers

One of whom was also having a birthday

And so there was lots of cooking

Festive cooking

Also, tasteful cards from across the sea.

Not a bad way to age.

Eataly in NYC

Just had lunch at the new Eataly in NY, which is startling similar to the Torinese one--basically an enormous upscale Ikea for Italian food. Row after row of pasta, cheese, meat, vegetables, fish, salami, wine, beer, etc. This can be both a good and a bad thing. Everything looked really delicious, and I had some nice paccheri al sugo di mare. They have imported not just the food, but the wait staff, so everything is molto authentic. On the other hand: it's a giant food Ikea. Big, bulging, consumerist. And unlike Ikea, it's pretty expensive.Can you be a giant food court cum supermarket cum design emporium AND be an exemplar of the slow food way? Can you do this 6000 miles away from the source? I think not.

Governance Dance

Academic writing can be turgid. Academic presentations can destroy the soul. So I fully endorse this new approach to presenting academic knowledge.

Need to start working on my routine for presentation in Princeton on Tuesday! I'm thinking something like this: