Traveling to New York?

What better thing to do than take in a comedy show or two? My brother Jonathan has been performing in NY for over a year and just put up a website. If you find yourself in the Big Apple, you should definitely make time for one of his shows - he's a riot. I went this summer with my parents and was so nervous for him (bad comedy is just really bad...) but he was one of the funniest guys up there -- although you do go through some sort of cognitive dissonance watching your baby brother on stage joke about buying gay porn with your parents sitting next to you.

Visit his website at www.funnyjonathan.com

Travelers Tales Call for Submissions

Got a great story about North Africa or the Middle East? Travelers Tales is looking for you. For more information, click here. The editors are seeking first person narratives that focus on interaction with locals. Be sure to read some of TT's books, and visit their website at www.travelerstales.com/guidelines as well.

Red Rocks

Christmas in Arizona

Liam and I returned home tonight from our week long holiday vacation in Arizona. This was our second Christmas spent in a warm climate and I'm starting to get used to the feeling -- there is something oddly refreshing about Christmas brunch by the pool.

After three days in Sedona and visiting the Grand Canyon (which was truly grand), we met Lauren and Dad in Phoenix. Lauren's bike was having some problems and they made it to the "Bike Barn" right before it was about to close on Friday night. A very generous owner stayed late to fix her bike and when we showed up Dad and Lauren were locked in the store. She walked up to the door and with pleading eyes she looked at us and laughing urged, "Take me home with you!" She was exhausted after a week and both of the bikers were sick.

I think the two days of holiday relaxation were just what the doctor ordered. We went shopping for Christmas clothes for the bikers, followed by the Eagles/Cardinals game (which Liam, a Steelers fan kept referring to as an "almost" professional game). While both teams were pretty awful, it was a lovely day and fun to watch a pro football game, even one that doesn't matter (next week, at Pittsburgh, it will be a much colder affair - and with playoff implications a bit more intense).

It was so wonderful to spend a week mainly outdoors. We did quite a few hikes -- I couldn't get over the beauty of the Red Rocks in Sedona -- and every chance we had we ate outside. Made us both miss Kazakhstan a bit and our opportunities to hike. To be honest, alot of Arizona reminded me of Kazakhstan with the addition of a few more bushes and cactus. The desert scape heading up to the Grand Canyon was flat, sand-colored and well, alot like the steppe!

A weeklong journal in Kazakhstan

Slate is running a weeklong journal written by NPR correspondant Eric Weiner who is in Almaty with his wife adopting a baby.

Just a year ago, we met our friends Rich and Kasey who came to adopt a child at this same time of year and two months later left with twins. We visited them this summer in New Hampshire and it was amazing two see how much the children had grown and how they were prospering in the States.

Should be an interesting series and I'm looking forward to Mr. Weiner's impressions of Almaty and the adoption process.

The intrepid bike begins

Lauren and Dad started their bike today on the beach of San Diego.

When my father turned 50, he packed up his bike and headed to Seattle and for the next six weeks made his way back to the east coast. Now that Lauren is done with field hockey at Maryland, she and Dad have decided to do another trip, this time raising money for US Field Hockey. (You can follow their trip on the US Field Hockey Web page, which has one of the funniest graphics I've ever seen...)

You can donate a penny-a-mile to help support the US team!

I'll be updating my blog occassionally with details from their trip. We're meeting them in Arizona shortly -- what an adventure!

Free, free, free at last!

After a four hour corporations exam, I am a free woman. Spent yesterday lunching with a girlfriend and then doing some shopping. I did end up rewarding myself with a fun holiday outfit.

We leave for Arizona next week. I feel totally unprepared for this trip, but I am really looking forward to seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time.

And the great trek x-country for my Dad and sister begins this Saturday. I'm dropping them off at the airport and then the bike from San Diego to Jacksonville begins! Plan on keeping updates on their trip on this webpage. I'll live vicariously through their adventures.

But for now, CSI is on and I'm really enjoying guilt free TV watching.

Beans Love Cilantro

I should be studying, but after two weeks of exam prep, I'm beat. I will be officially half way through law school as of noon tomorrow. And I plan on celebrating with a nice lunch followed by hectic Christmas shopping. And a reward for myself, of course (I'm thinking of a new watch, but we'll see...)

It's been an interesting study period. While the State Department dropped off our stuff in November, we still have boxes laying around the house. Liam has been crushed at work and I've been devoted to exams. My "office" has so many piles of papers and boxes that it was untenable to even think about working there. So I cleared a spot on the dining room table and have spent most of my days there, taking breaks every once in awhile to unpack a box here or there. It's actually been a nice way to both take a break from the books and relive some memories. On Saturday night I did a few boxes and came across all of my framed photographs: the trip to Uzbekistan, my picture of the Soviet-style soldier in Panfliov park and my favorite photo of all time, which is a shot I took outside of Almaty at sunset as a man was hearding his flock. I hung them up and somehow it has made this home here feel more home (strange how bringing my memories of KZ here makes my own country feel more home).

I have an article coming out in the Foreign Service Journal this December, but it won't be posted online until January. But I was happy to see that Donna has another amazing article in November's issue called Beans Love Cilantro about growing to love her housekeeper's soup in Armenia - and her housekeeper.

I'm looking forward to my 3 week break from law school in terms of writing. I hope to spent at least a few days at the computer doing work that is completely unrelated to mergers, hostile takeovers or shareholder duties. But until tomorrow, that is what must remain on my mind :)

Student Lawyer Mag Article

My profile on Slate's senior editor and jurisprudence columnist, Dahlia Lithwick, was published this month in Student Lawyer.

This is my first cover article - what fun! And it was a really fun article to write, since Ms. Lithwick is one of my favorite writers.

And fitting, since all I am doing right now is immersing myself in legal textbooks. I have my Constitutional Law exam next Wednesday and the Corporations the following week. And then the blessed winter break. In which I plan to unpack the many boxes still sitting in our living room. The move from Kazakhstan isn't over yet...