"I have been but little in," said Ninian hastily...

Ugh. Lots of things need to be done. All together it's way too much to contemplate, so I lie on the couch and watch Swedish TV mystery programs. So I've broken down everything into bite-sized tasks, doing a couple of which earns me a little extra something, like half an hour of Annika Bengstzon: Crime Reporter and a cup of tea. Still, about 30 task-items are going to take the rest of today and a couple of evenings this week.

Nicholas has gone to visit his aunties for a few weeks. At this point, I'm not entirely sure what we expect to accomplish from this, other than to give them a bit of cat company and allow everyone (feline here at #4 to have a bit of a timeout and reset. Maybe when he comes back, thigns will be a little less tense. I may take this opportunity to replace all the cat boxes, too. Several of the current ones are many years old, tatty, and *round* (Neta's idea). Who the heck makes a round cat box? Not someone who ever tried to scoop it with a square scoop, that's for sure.

Odd scrabbling noises from somewhere at the far end of the house. Under the floor? In the wall? In the attic? On the roof? Hard to tell. It's happened before. I think maybe a squirrel has a stash in the eaves somewhere.

Nice gaming yesterday (1866), saw Argo, and then had dinner with C&M and watched the opening match for DC United. Some good things, some not so good; Houston is a tough team, so I don't have a problem with us not winning there. Talked to C&M about grad school and got some unexpectedly negative reactions that I'm goign to have to ponder over.

Argo was awesome, BTW. I was remembering as much as I could of Guests of the Ayatollah as I was watching it. Despite it having some institutional flaws, I do admire our Foreign Service. I so wish I could have been part of it. Good work by Affleck (who is one of those people, Julia Roberts being another, whom I seem to be the only person to enjoy their work; ah, well). Marvelous acting, too from Alan Arkin and John Goodman. Nice cameos for Kyle Chandler, Bryan Cranston, and Victor Garber.

Had a very nice date this morning with someone I will call The SCAdian. Brunch in Arlington, lots of good conversation, very appealing person. Hope to see her again.

Right, on with the chores!

I like my friend Eric. We don't get to hang out very often because he has a very busy job (even more than most--he travels out of town a lot) and a family (who are very nice and invite me to share things with them often). So when his wife and kids are off for a weekend skiing and he's not flying somewhere to litigate something, it's great to get together. He came over, I made us dinner, we played a new wargame. It was all very fun. And we're doing some more gaming on Sunday with some other friends.

But right now I'm glad that I don't need to be up and out anywhere before noon tomorrow! :-) 4am? Losh, jings, and crivvens! And we didn't even finish the game! :-D

Yes, I should have done it some time ago, but at last my toilet seat has been replaced and no longer requires high-quality duct tape accents. :-)

Had a frustrating afternoon trying to get out of the house to meet friends, but eventually did it, only to spend three (3) hours in traffic getting to my normally 1.5 hour-away destination. Every once in a while I think, "Maybe I could manage to stay here for the long term," but thankfully it's usually followed by the experience of spending half a day in traffic to right my perspective again. Roll on, departure.

That said, I had a nice evening wargaming with friends and, more importantly, having a good natter with my friend Frank. My hobbies, I have to say, have brought me into contact with some terrifically nice people who have become good friends (and, admittedly, a few wankers, but you meet those everywhere). Another game of Lasalle under my belt, and a few more possible converts.

One more day of freedom, have to quickly do several things tomorrow, but I would like to get at least one bike ride in while most people who clog the trails on weekends are at work. Then Saturday with no special plans, Sunday sinking ships with The Admiralty Attorney, and off to my new job on Monday.

I slipped, walking out of the bathroom last night after going in to (IIRC) wash my face and hands after coming home. My left foot slid under the corner of the open door, skinning two toes and digging a (relatively speaking) big chunk out of a third. It hurt like bloody hell (lots of nerves in the foot, I guess). astrongteacher was nice enough to clean up the damaged digits and put band-aids on them; I could replace them this morning after my shower, but last night it just hurt too much. I kept a bag of frozen peas (with mint :-) on them, off and on, while we watched the season finale of Treme, and the piggies felt much better by the time we went to bed. They are (mostly) normal today. Doesn't feel like anything's broken, thank goodness.

Other than that, last night was very nice--I got to hang out with the Thursday Night Boys and introduce them to a new wargame, which was a success, with people asking me to bring it back again. Nicest of all, it's a set of rules that gr_c17 bought me a while back that I've only had a few chances to play, but which I quite like, and it allows me to use some figures I bought AGES ago and had never done much with before (6mm Heroics & Ros Seven Years War Austrians and Prussians). Also, I get to go hang out with some of the lads tomorrow and game, before coming home and having a nice cookout with E and some of our neighbours. SO, life is pretty good right now, injuries notwithstanding.

20/50: Descent into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia by Ahmed Rashid. Another tremendously good book by AR, showing what an able reporter he is, with a tremendous grasp of detail, amazing access, fearless in sticking to dangerous subjects (I really worry about him given recent events in Pakistan). He does have one problem with writing, in that he deals with narratives in such detail that sometimes he will pursue one thread and then backtrack and deal with another thread over the same period of time. It makes it seem a bit like hearing the same story over again, and I'd like it better if he integrated the threads better, but given the level at which he is writing, I realise that would sometimes be difficult.

I found reading (which is to say, listening to) this book very tough at times. We (the US) have done so much so badly in South Asia. It is a tricky place, and some of its problems are perhaps beyond any real solution. But we have made obviously bad choices--bad for the people who live there and also bad for us. Bad in the practical sense that the results of our choices have made us less effective there and made it harder for us to pursue our goals, but also bad in a more absolute sense, one of moral action. Supporting dictators, condoning bad and vicious rulers, bankrolling terrorists or turning a blind eye to their operations, using torture to extract information, using powerful, indiscriminate weapons of war against poorly discerned target, ignoring the rights and needs of civilians functionally under our protection...the list is very, very long. Most of it was done by an administration I opposed and hated, but it was done by the US nonetheless, and it makes me sick at heart. We allowed ourselves to be manipulated by some very, very bad people, and we did some things that were very, very bad ourselves, sometimes promising ourselves that the ends justified the means or other times not even considering or caring about the nature and consequences of the means.

But Descent is an excellent book, and if you are interested in what has happened in Afghanistan in the past decade (his narrative ends in about 2008) and want to get a really good grasp of who the players are and what the stakes may be in South and Central Asia, I strongly recommend it.

Books in progress

Red Branch by Morgan Llewellyn
The Sultan's Seal by Jenny White
The Williamite Wars in Ireland, 1688-1691 by John Childs
Islam by Karen Armstrong

First off, a link to some photos of recent events.

Not many, sadly, but a few from the birthday visit my nephews and their mums paid me in March, and then some photos from the trip The Teacher and I took to see a little of Philadelphia and to visit the aforementioned nephews and their mums on Easter weekend.

So, because there is too much to explain, let me sum up.

Things are going very well with The Teacher and me. I don't think it's giving anything away to say that we are both thoroughly in love with each other. We spend more time together, at this point, than apart, and we have yet to run into any "hitches or vexations" as they say in the Land of Green Ginger. Well, one or two small hitches, perhaps, but nothing serious. We've gone from marvelling at how much we have in common to noticing the important ways we are different and rejoicing that (at least so far) we are not finding any that pose problems. Mostly we do a lot of rejoicing, as both of us have found, to one extent or another, that we find the other to be, no someone who wants to change or "improve" us (a deadly danger), but someone who makes *us* want to change, or at least to be the best person we can be. I find myself less nervous, less prone to anger, more generous, more patient now that she is part of my life. More than the number of books we've both read or movies we've both loved or ideas we've both been moved by, we find places we want to go or experiences we want to share. And the simple but ineffable pleasure of being with someone who loves you as you are and cares deeply about you... it's such a very nice place to be.

We had a very nice trip to Philadelphia, where she had lived for several years. There's a great deal more to see than we saw, so I for one would love to go back. We spent a couple of days visiting my sister The Deacon and her family in New Jersey. They quite liked The Teacher, and the feeling was mutual. We got back just in time to race around cooking a Passover dinner for some friends, which went quite well, on the whole, even it it started a little late (only 8 pm this time, really!) We've been to a couple of DC United games, to the movies (to see Jane Eyre, which we both liked--I felt it did rather well at capturing the book), and we've started to plan all sorts of things to do together, including several trips and expeditions. I've introduced her to some of my favourite restaurants and to some telly (Slings and Arrows was a big hit! thank you again Christy!)

I should wrap up, as I need to get home and make dinner for my sweetie (who does the washing up, a very nice bargain for me, I think!)

I've finished several books and books on tape lately; no time to review them now, but hopefully I will later on.

The Zimmerman Telegram and The First Salute, by Barbara Tuchman (10/50 and 11/50)
Unnatural Death and The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers (12/50 and 13/50) re-reads
A Cluster of Separate Sparks by Joan Aiken (14/50) re-read
China Road by Rob Gifford (15/50)

Books "in progress":

The Grand Scuttle: The Sinking of the German Fleet at Scapa Flow in 1919 by Dan Van der Dat
Theoretical Criminology by George B. Vold et al.
Understanding China by John Bryan Starr
Red Branch by Morgan Llewellyn
Through a Howling Wilderness: Benedict Arnold's March to Quebec, 1775 by Thomas Desjardins
Descent into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia by Ahmed Rashid

How hard it is to get rid of stuff you don't want any more but aren't quite prepared to throw away.

I'm trying to clear out some of my wargaming figures &c. that I'm almost surely never going to use. But while it seems like a waste to simply bin them, it's a real bother trying to sell them.

I need a break. Then I should go jogging, get groceries, and go out to dinner with friends (yay!)

Quite to my surprise, I won a small local DBA tournament today! There were only six players, we had three rounds (instead of the four I had expected), but I somehow managed to pull out a victory in each stage and got a nice wee trophy in the end.

The beautifully painted Tamil Indian army (work of my friend Frank Popecki) has not had the greatest track record so far, but they did very well, crushing and trumpeting (the Elephants) and slicing (the Blades) and filling the enemy with deadly arrows (the Bow) in one battle after another. The last fight was definitely the hardest, but I managed to master my usual predisposition to charge forward in disarray and force my opponent to come to me, which eventually allowed me to break him down in a series of 1 on 2 or 1 on 3 combats.

Rather fun! Kudos to my friend Chris at Huzzah Hobbies for hosting it and to all the chaps who turned up.

I think this has qualified as a good weekend. I spent Friday night at my friend Eric's helping him set up a truly huge Napoleonic miniature game, then Saturday I and several other chaps spent most of the day playing it (and then packing everything up again). It was a good game--I think everyone got a chance to do as much (or more :-) than they had counted on, and despite it being very large (three Austrian corps against two French, a portion of the French Imperial Guard, and a division of Bavarians), we played it to a very thorough conclusion.

Today I had great plans for all I was going to accomplish, but sleeping very late (I was at Eric's both nights until past 11) and then lazing over breakfast cut them a bit short. I did go to REI for some things, which I've been meaning to do for months now. I have a new day pack, two new pairs of shoes that are comfortable and sturdy and that I can wear to work, and a few other odds and ends. Then I went for a hike, which I'll detail later. Came back, had a shower and a soak, got dinner for the cats, had some cheese and crackers, and I'm just finishing dinner. I may get some laundry done tonight, but I did not get to the pet store for more cat litter or tot he grocery for a few items (milk and berries for cereal). Up early for a meeting at work and home late, so the remaining errands will have to wait 'till Tuesday.

So, I was supposed to go off and wargame with some chaps. ( Read more... )

So, beautiful weather out, but lots to do inside.

• catch up on readings for current class (Intelligence in Low Intensity Operations)
  
• complete this week's assignment for class
  
• complete *next* week's assignment for class
  
• write personal statement for St Andrew's CSTPV application
  
• write personal statement for U of E criminology application
  
• write personal statement for U of E Islamic studies application
  
• clean apartment
  
• take Rupert for tune-up
  
• complete and file US and MD tax forms for 2009
  
• participate in Battle of Bosworth wargame on Sunday

Yes, a full schedule...

ETA: Slow progress, but progress. Six applications now submitted; one completed and ready to be mailed (e-submission not available); two others require me to have hardcopy of my references for them before I submit. I expect I won't actually get into any of them, but if I got into more than one it would, at this point, actually be hard to decide among them.

And I got the grade back for my last class assignment; 50/50 despite it being late and the prof having some niggles about the formatting (why, tell me why it matters which pitch and font an electronic submission is made?)