Wednesday, October 29, 2003

So apparently people now opine on whether or not the Messiah would approve of SUVs. It's times like these I take great comfort in the grocery store: ah, what a friend we have in cheeses.

Sunday, October 26, 2003


Stephen C. Schohn, fellow shaver, greets Joshie in his 8th floor State Department suite.

Enemies foreign and domestic: watch out. On 24 October 2003, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, fellow shaver, swore in the 115th A-100 class of junior Foreign Service Officers in the Benjamin Franklin room of the main State building. Take a look at some more pictures here.

Let's take a closer look at our principles...


Do you think this happens by accident?

Wednesday, October 22, 2003

Broccoli. Asparagus. White asparagus. These are vegetables. Ladies and gentlemen: we're talking about bridge. Sport of: kings, bluehairs, four prematurely arthritic 20-something men who renounce this world of social acceptance and do what we do. Poorly. Some play strong 2's, others apparently weak. Sometimes we open with pre-emptive 3's. More often than not, we hold our cards in our left hand. Because people who play bridge do that. Hold cards, that is. All night long.

Tuesday, October 21, 2003

So the good news is: we still have 195-ish days to talk Croatia. And I intend to do it.


Shamelessly borrowed from the good people at BBC.

Just shy of 5 million friends-in-waiting, a range of beers (recall: I know [Croatian] beer) -- Ozujsko, Karlevacko, Favorit, a deeply ingrained national propensity to sell tasty foods out of street-level windows. A strong contender for 2nd wave EU enlargement (along with Bulgaria and Romania?) -- not to mention a NATO applicant much favored by the US. And home to a system of cohabitation that makes the voices in Silvio Berlusconi's head seem like consensus. (For more, see the post report.)

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

Friends, far and wide: Hello. And by that, I lament the death of no small piece of Americana. A conspicuous failure to throw strikes. A reluctance to use a perfectly nice bullpen. Maybe we'll move on. Maybe as a species we'll find something to do other than watching 11 hours of baseball a day. Maybe, but sweet mother, I hope not.

I want to talk about baseball. I do. Apparently so do the bombastic people at Fox who insist on paying to invade our living rooms. But ladies and gentlemen, I have business here. As I hope I mentioned to you, I (an elusive correspondant, to be sure) joined the Foreign Service at the beginning of September and have been waiting (likewise against hope) for the past six weeks to receive my first assignment. Well, I (apparently) survived an aptly-named "Flag Day" (where we're each handed a flag of the country to which we've been assigned).

Well, friends, I'm delighted to announce: I'M GOING TO ZAGREB! Yep, choice #1 -- certainly one of my favorite cities in the world, so quintessentially Mitteleuropa, so filled with parks (and well-placed benches), ice cream and cevapcici on every corner! I'm unbelievably excited and of course ready to leave tomorrow. That said, I'll actually remain in training (mostly functional, but also 8 weeks of "top-off" Croatian language) until April before heading off to start my economics/consular rotation. So DC folks, that's another six unforgettable months on Nathan's EB. Then: Croatians, hello! Zdravo hrvatsko!

I hope all is well with you! When you get a chance, please do send me a correct address for you to make sure the postcards continue unabated.

The best of days!

Tuesday, October 14, 2003

The hour is nigh -- and I keep coming back to the curious absence of US representation in Timbuktu. Ergo, I am Djibouti-bound. Or somewhere else, really. We'll fine out. Tomorrow at 3pm. Hold me.

It's a testament to the soothing power of another beautiful Red Sox victory. Also, my international narcotics trafficking presentation at 8.30am tomorrow morning. Again, hold me.

Friday, October 10, 2003

I don't know what to blog first. Let me just say: the good people at Netgear have come through for me yet again. I am: wireless. It's taken over a month sure. On more than one occasion, Verizon has accused me of hallucinating. But at long last, I'm where we all always wanted to be. And the water's fine.

Danas je . Čitate stalno Joshievo izaslanstvo.