Good Times in Chi-Town

Hey everyone,

Well now with APSA behind us and the new school year setting in, I hope we can keep up the blog. This is just selfish on my part I think since most of you are back at Yale for at least the Fall!

By way of update, things in Chicago are going well. The Bar Foundation is a relatively quiet place and most days I sit writing or reading in my office (not all that different from years in the Diner, except no adviser in the next room asking me to edit his papers).

Later this week, I am to make arrangements to be back at Yale arriving on Oct 27 (so that Rob and I can continue our tradition of co-birthday on Oct 28... him 28 (dude, 28 on the 28th! Rock on!) and me sadly 31. I'll be in New Haven through Nov 1.

Life in the gayborhood of "boystown"/east Lakeview is good times. Met lots of new folks--none of them are architects however. One is a structural engineer, but that's different. And they are all from states from which I've never met anyone before being the shielded northeasterner that I am: Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Wisconsin. Good stuff.

Okay back to actually working on my dissertation.

Hugs everyone! -S

buh bye bogotá

friens!
i'm wrapping up my time here in bogotá, of course rushing and realizing that i didn't get as much done this year as i had hoped. my brother's coming to visit tonight for a week, and i head back to the haven aug 15. steve, count me in for rudy's that night...

apsa: yes. let's please meet up somewhere, sometime. pirate convention.

i'll be in the haven most likely for the fall semester, and heading back here for the spring. looking forward to seeing everyone...maybe for those of us in the nyc/new haven corridor, we could plan semi-regular dissertation support groups or something.

more soon...

Updates galore!

Heeding Nicole's call to action, I too write to update you all on my happenenings! I think everyone knows that just as most of you are returning to New Haven I am sadly leaving (sad yes, but thank freaking God I am getting out of New Haven!) On Thursday, August 16 I pack up the UHaul and begin the 15 hour drive to Chicago. This means expect a Rudy's get together on August 14 and/or 15. New address:

516 Melrose
Apartment 303
Chicago, IL 60657

My email and cell will stay the same, and rumor is I will have an email at the American Bar Foundation, which is funding me through August 31, 2008, so when that comes through, I'll be sure to send that out.

In related news, I found out on July 6, that I received a grant from the National Science Foundation to cover costs of archival and interview research through June 30, 2008, so as much as a grad student can be, I am flush with cash, which means I can come visit y'all in New Haven and NYC a fair bit over the course of next year (and continue doing research of course!).

My condo (also known as the bed-and-breakfast or Steve's Home for Wayward Women) is being sublet over the course of the year by Turku, Shatema, and this sweet 1st year architect student JD. He is super nice, and sort of hot in that ridiculously Greenwich, CT WASPy way (oh on that note, everyone should download "Tea Partay" on YouTube--it's an advertisement for Smirnoff beverages, and in my darker moments, I imagine this is how my undergrads from the Presidency and Con Law view the world). But the point is, you should all meet JD.

Oh and APSA, yes lets all get together. Anna and Kaplan have called dibs on crashing in my studio (which is a cab or bus ride from the APSA hotel). It's small but we can make room if need be for others. It's in lakeview, which is a couple miles north of the downtown area where the conference is. It's sort of like Chicago's version of Chelsea, but a bit more neighborhoody.

Ooh must run, Mayhew is walking across the parking lot and I need to speak with him.

Hugs all,
Steve

APSA

Also, since we're officially at least somewhat scattered, I think we need to have a somewhat organized little reunion at APSA (i.e. we make a point to get dinner at drinks one of the nights we're there). I'll probably be there the whole time. Who's in?

I'm a mid-westerner again (thankfully)

Andy and I drove my modest little Corolla to Milwaukee at the beginning of the month, and the kind folks at ABF drove my stuff. My new apartment has been settled into, somewhat. I don't want to make the New York folks hate me, but I have ~900 square feet of pure high-rise goodness - a dining room, a huge living room and entry way, and a kitchen with such glories as a dishwasher and a garbage disposal. Which is a good thing, since I have been walking the 3 blocks to Whole Foods every few days to get fresh food. I also live a few blocks from a 24-hour gym, Lake Michigan, a whole host of coffee shops, and apparently a vintage clothing shop, as well as several pretty decent bars. What this comes down to, essentially, is everyone should come visit me in Milwaukee! Several at a time if you want- I've got enough space.

We saw Spoon at Summerfest before Andy flew back to New Haven. I too am back in the Have until the beginning of August. From then on, I'm in Milwaukee, teaching the courses I am now contractually obligated to teach. It can happen! You too can be sitting in the diner in July rushing to finish your dissertation so that you can go somewhere to teach Intro to American Government at 9:35 AM. Live the academic dream!

In case you can't tell, I've got some strongly mixed feelings about this move. I'm excited about the area and obviously about having a job, but also nervous about starting this new enterprise of teaching my own courses and adjusting to a new place.

Update

Hi Everyone, and thanks for the kick in the ass, Nicole. We needed that.

So Christine arrived in Moscow last week along with a couple friends from the shooting team. We've spent the last week being crazy tourists around Moscow & St. Petersburg and are now back in Moscow recovering.

The alignment of the planets, along with influence from the Russian Visa Agency, British Airways, and Orbitz, have all conspired to bring me back to The Have earlier than expected. Thus, I'll be back on the 26th of July. Then it's off for a quick trip to Vermont to meet my new nephew (he's not here yet, but will be soon). I'll spend a week at home in Denver in August but otherwise will be soaking up the love of New Haven & the Diner.

Longer term plans have me in New Haven for the fall & winter before heading to Belarus & Ukraine, probably around April.

Anyway, hope you're all doing well, and I can't wait to see you soon!

-R

Updates, please!

Ok, it's been far too long since any of you good people posted anything here, and it made me think, man, where is everybody? And then I realized, I don't know!! I have no idea!! Where are they?? When are they coming back from wherever they are?? And when are they coming to New York??

So it would be great if everyone could post an update on their whereabouts and future plans -- where you all are going to be spending the next academic year, especially.

I'll start: I'll be living in NYC for the foreseeable future, working full time on the diss through a fellowship from the Miller Center. I even managed to get office space in the city at a think tank called Demos, where I'll be a (unpaid) fellow. Yay for avoiding professional isolation, and for not having to work from my living room, where the floor isn't level and I have to hold onto the desk while I'm working or the desk chair will roll backward. Ahh, old New York buildings! (Seriously, though -- I totally love it here. I want you all to come hang out.)

Next?

do so!

more misinformation about our kind.

this is sort of funny. but really just frightening.

i mean, can condi be serious? i submit this quote indicates all that is wrong with the bush admin:

Rice says President Bush's "unshakable belief in freedom" has rubbed off on her: "It's not hopefulness," she says. "It's a sense of what is possible, and optimism about the strength of democratic institutions." (from the most recent Atlantic).

!!!!! it's not hopefulness? it must be just plain old idiocy. and look at the "possibilities" that those "democratic" "institutions" are bringing to iraq and afghanistan. i guess they certainly can't be described as hopeful situations. at least the article is called grand disillusions.

after these last seven years, i think i'm ready to declare burke my favorite political philosopher. sheesh.