Why I bike to work when it's snowing

1. It's faster than the metro
2. It's cheaper than the metro
3. I get to look at snow, feel snowpetals fall on me, and experience that (yes it is sappy but I'll say it) exquisite silence of snowfall, when the world's noises are muted and life's soundtrack receives a humming bassline (white noise... heh) of flakes falling around.
And I suppose: 4. I like the cross-eyed look people give while I ride in near-chador style through rush-hour traffic. Smile :)

Inaug week

It's been an obscenely long time since I've posted.  Apologies to myself mostly since I'm the primary reader of this little blog.

I've moved back to DC, started working on ICT outreach in Sub-Saharan Africa.  I've developed a problem with the name "Sub-Saharan"- it has intrinsic implications of lesser value.  This may seem far fetched, but in a culture where above average height is consistently linked to a higher paycheck and great rate of promotions - including to elected office, I can only rely on our human tendencies to be swayed by trivial, subliminal factors.

The Obama inauguration passed this Tuesday - the scaffolding and barriers for the parade are still stacked in front of the White House- which I pass by every morning on my bike to work.  I personally spent the inauguration standing on 395 in a tunnel, dutifully waiting in line with my other honest purple ticket holders, rather than following my natural tendencies of using whatever skills necessary to push/hop/swindle my way close to the podium on the mall.  Instead my absurd honesty caused me and my four friends to be among the throng that were shut out of the inauguration due to overcrowding and safety concerns.  We glumly retreated into the Russell Senate building to watch the speeches from the warmth of Senator Webb's conference room.  Quite fortunately one of our company is a staffer for the senator, so I was able to view the ceremony in full, munching on salted Virginia peanuts as my compatriots rehashed ad nauseum the events of the morning, and how they might have avoided their present situation.

Obama's speech was fine.  Sober.  Not as inspiring as his acceptance speech,  nor was it a baring of our nation's soul as was his race speech in March 2008, but it was a fair call to sacrifice and hard work.  

I'm interested to see what his first 100 days will bring, and what Hillary will do for the State Department.  She began her role as Secretary of State today by speaking to a cheering crowd of a thousand foreign, civil, intern, and contract employees- myself included.  She's intelligent, and I'm glad she's there- I don't have an understanding of State to give an intricate assessment of her impact on it, nor was I around for any significant portion of the previous Secretary's stint - but for what my perspective is worth, I'll try to have some vigilance on her policies.