A Weekend in Boston

[The following is a short personal entry in the blog. I'm still trying to decide whether this is going to be an academic blog, and if so, what kind. Until I figure it out, I might experiment with the occasional personal entry.]

I'm afraid the nicest thing about New Haven is this: it's a short ride to both Boston and New York.

We went to a baby shower in Cambridge yesterday. It was one of those amazing huge apartments that really makes you wonder why your own apartment seems so small and boring by comparison. And the (coed/everyone invited) shower was fun, though it generally felt more like a genteel academic brunch than anything else. Most of the guests were, like my friends, Harvard profs: they get much more excited about Niall Ferguson's latest book than diapers or Baby Bjorns. I've been spending a lot of time with non-academics with families lately -- where the sole topic of conversation is usually kids, kids, kids (and occasionally, real estate). So the in-depth of discussions of Sri Lankan politics and recent trends in "para-ethnography" felt a little strange, but also a bit refreshing.

And then Chinatown, where we found nice sesame balls. And then beers and dinner with friends from college -- actually very nice.

And today: a glorious climb to the top of East Rock, where the wind was so strong it nearly knocked us over.
Actually, perhaps that is really the best thing about New Haven!