existentialist?

I have no idea if this is correct or not, but it's sort of oddly interesting. Although I took the Myers-Briggs yesterday and found myself an INFJ, which according to Kiersey's Temperament Sorter is in the "idealist" category. Oddly enough, I score only 13% for "idealist" on this one, but who knows if they're even referring to something remotely comparable. Not that any of this means anything -- don't worry...

You scored as Existentialist. Existentialism emphasizes human capability. There is no greater power interfering with life and thus it is up to us to make things happen. Sometimes considered a negative and depressing world view, your optimism towards human accomplishment is immense. Mankind is condemned to be free and must accept the responsibility. Existentialist 75% Cultural Creative 69% Postmodernist 69% Modernist 38% Materialist 38% Romanticist 38% Idealist 13% Fundamentalist 0% What is Your World View? (updated) created with QuizFarm.com

French Family Values - New York Times

Krugman: "But the study also suggests that in this case, government regulations actually allow people to make a desirable tradeoff - to modestly lower income in return for more time with friends and family - the kind of deal an individual would find hard to negotiate."

Yay for good public policy! This blurb is an interesting point, that those who have a preference to work less may have difficulty asking for it in a culture where it may reflect poorly on their committment to work, or their friends and family might not be able to get thie time off to join oneself.

The only downside is that when I head off to France this Sunday, they're all going to be on vacation too. Embouteillage, here I come.

calm

Helen and I went to Vernier to see Sarah's swim meet at the Swiss Open. Between the morning events which we missed and the afternoon ones, we found calm - comme a la maison. It was one of the exciting finds in Carouge. It is a delicious brunch place where you walk through the kitchen to get to the tables and garden in the back.

Helen, amaretto cappucino, quiche.

Goodbye party last Friday night in France

Cheers to Elena and Michelle -- both were at UNHCR for about 6 months already!

bbq we borrowed from the neighbors after we couldn't get the gas grill to work

The house that where the UNHCR staffperson was generous enough to let Elena and Michelle housesit.

me, Joanna, Arsenie

the view from France

in the kitchen

Moonlight Picnic

Last Wednesday the UNHCR interns had a very pleasant moonlight picnic at the Bains de Paquis. I can't stop talking about how much I love Geneva's public space. We had tons of good food too. Thanks Joanna and Maria for organizing it all...

With the jet d'eau in the background

Chris!

Maria!

mystery guacamole-like product

NPR : Vienna Teng, Live at NPR

NPR : Vienna Teng, Live at NPR

This live version of "Mission Street" is gorgeous. You should listen to it, especially if you've never listened to Vienna.

Download the Eels

hey man (now you're really living)

Whew!

Look, a new post that isn't just photos or a "blog-it-now" autopost!

I am feeling great relief. I just met with my boss's boss regarding this summary document on sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) that I've spent weeks learning about and writing for the Asia Bureau, and she seemed really pleased with the results.

It's amazing how sometimes one's feeling of self-worth can become wrapped up in a piece of work product. Thank goodness for external validation.

My piece isn't for posting, but if you're interested in learning more about SGBV, UNHCR has an excellent manual from May 2003. Obviously not fun reading, but it is a very informative piece of work. I'll create a link here in case you're interested, but be warned that it is a large PDF. Sexual and Gender Based Violence against Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons: Guidelines for Prevention and Response

Watch Me Do This and That Online - New York Times

NYT: "Right now it seems that video bloggers can't agree what vlogs are exactly, and some of them want to keep it that way. 'What's the rush to define it now?' Mr. Verdi asks in his video manifesto. 'It would be like trying to pick a career and a mate for a newborn.' "

It takes way too much energy to be an early adopter. I swear, who has time? It's summer, and I don't even have time to peek at their vlogs.

Toyota, Moving Northward - New York Times

Krugman: "Pundits tell us that the welfare state is doomed by globalization, that programs like national health insurance have become unsustainable. But Canada's universal health insurance system is handling international competition just fine. It's our own system, which penalizes companies that treat their workers well, that's in trouble."

This is interesting. It would be interesting if we could get the actual methods that auto manufacturers use in determining where to site their facilities. I wonder if it's some kind of mathematical model (we learned a very basic tool in my planning methods class involving transportation and the weight of inputs and outputs -- hopefully this is not what Toyota is doing) or in the end based on which place had representatives who were better at shmoozing.

Regardless, the article is a useful argument for having a government that bothers to provide a basic social net.

Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | "9 Songs"

Salon.com Movie Review: "But while '9 Songs' is sexually explicit in the basic sense, its directness is what's most fascinating, and ultimately most moving, about it."

The review gives a bit more plot away than I think a review ought to, but I'm compelled to see it after reading this. Anyone up for this back in the states?

It's funny being in Geneva, because while we are exposed to Hollywood clearly, the outdoor movie theater is doing a sneak of Mr. and Mrs. Smith on Saturday night which I believe was out in the U.S. quite some time ago. We did get Chocolate Factory and Star Wars pretty much upon release I think. But I guess it feels like there must be an art circuit of movies that I'm missing right now. Not that I go to the movies that much at home anyway... But still.

How Costco Became the Anti-Wal-Mart - New York Times

How Costco Became the Anti-Wal-Mart - New York Times: "Costco's average pay, for example, is $17 an hour, 42 percent higher than its fiercest rival, Sam's Club."

This is interesting. It's never seemed worthwhile to pay for the membership, but maybe I'll revisit Costco. The differences in labor standards is quite striking. They could do more to play it up. I do remember that their wages for entry level jobs in SF was $10/hr in SF a few years ago which was fairly high for cashier/ customer service/ warehouse work, although I had thought that the good standards were because they had to negotiate approval from the Redevelopment Agency to put their big box site in SOMA.

Some Snippets of Prague

This photo is of brunch in Prague on Saturday -- thanks Kristin for all the quality digital photos...

Prague was a blast. Some extensive driving there and back, but a very attractive city with a great mix of architecture, history, entertainment, and more greeted us warmly. We managed to squeeze in all the major sites, enjoy the nightlife, and even wander around town semi-leisurely. It was a nice weekend, though I'm still catching up on sleep.

Jonathan, Kristin, myself, Tanya above Prague by the monastery

cathedral on the hill

interior of the cathedral

having our first absinthe...

This is me in front of Kafka's house

tile collage of prague

another collage of my palm shots

The Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers (Nationale-Nederlanden) Building

Poplicks.com: SNOW YELLOW

Poplicks.com: SNOW YELLOW: "Hence it is now with great sadness that I announce that Disney is making a new film version of Snow White where her seven dwarves will be Shaolin monks. This is bad news for Chinese, Asians in general, and monks. Good news for dwarves."

This seems to be an unfortunate bit of news...

Salon.com | "Sterling" judge or "extreme rightist"?

Kim Grady from NOW: "I think he was spoiling for a fight with a nominee who would move Karl Rove off the front page. I think George Bush is looking for a fight and I think he's going to get one."

This kind of comment is what makes the right yell about how the left is filled with conspiracy theorists. On the other hand, I couldn't find "Karl" or "Rove" anywhere on the NYT main webpage today...

As for Roberts? I'm convinced from what I've read that he's going to be nominated, and it's going to be a disaster. If the most dramatic, negative image that the press has managed to find about him so far is his support for police who handcuffed a 12-year old girl and dragged her down to the station for eating a French Fry on the DC metro, we're dead. It's not enough to galvanize opposition from the public. Police brutality? Unnecessary search and seizure? Happens all the time...

Tattooed Fruit Is on Way

NYTimes: "Four-digit numbers denote conventionally grown produce; five digits beginning with a 9, organic; five digits beginning with 8, genetically modified. A conventionally grown ear of corn, for example, may be marked 4078; an organic one, 94078; and a genetically modified one, 84078. The numbers can also vary with the size of the fruit: 3069 indicates a small Gravenstein apple, and 3070 a large one."

Who knew?

This Afternoon In Drama: Good Friends Sometimes Means Good Pain

This Afternoon In Drama: Good Friends Sometimes Means Good Pain

Oh no, this one is so much worse... Only read if you can afford to be snickering at your desk.

This Afternoon In Drama: You Can Never Have Enough Good Friends

This Afternoon In Drama: You Can Never Have Enough Good Friends

So insane, so peculiarly compelling and funny. Thanks Blogzil.

HararNet Audio & Video Collection:

HararNet Audio & Video Collection:

No time to blog, but wanted to mark this even if just as a placeholder. I had lunch with Muna who does admin work in my department. It was very pleasant and fascinating to learn about her. She's a Swiss citizen but originally from the Harar part of Ethiopia, near the Djibouti/Yemen border. She recommended the site I'm posting here amongst others as a good source of music, though I can't seem to use the files here at work.

We had fascinating conversations about multiple topics. One in particular that strikes me is just a reminder of how much more internationally-oriented people from other countries are and how many more languages they speak. She speaks Harar (which she says is very close to Arabic), Amharic, Italian, English, French, and Spanish. She can get by in Farsii. And she claims that she doesn't feel fluent in English, but I know her English is good enough to write essays about the pluses and minuses of globalization, and she speaks English extremely well in my opinion.

I'm so impressed.

dodgy

I just overheard my boss on the phone say "I think Iraq is always a bit dodgy." I love working at an IO.

I slept 12 hours last night and feel back on track. Resolving sleep debt: Priceless.

hail and rain

It's currently hailing and raining incredibly hard outside right now. The roads are filled with water, the bits of hail hit the metal shutters, and you just see whiteness when peering out the window. Plus thunder and lightning which adds additional rumbly drama.

I had a nice weekend in Prague and am thankful that this weather did not hit on our drive home. More later... Hopefully I can get some pictures up.

Santorum resolute on Boston rebuke

Santorum resolute on Boston rebuke - The Boston Globe - Boston.com - Mass. - News: "Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, the third-ranking Republican in the Senate, refused yesterday to back off on his earlier statements connecting Boston's ''liberalism' with the Roman Catholic Church pedophile scandal, saying that the city's ''sexual license' and ''sexual freedom' nurtured an environment where sexual abuse would occur."

Unbelievable. He must be on crack. Or he is seriously, literally crazy. I mean, you knew there was something extreme going on inside with the dead fetus cuddling incident. And you'd think he's have learned something about saying stupid things on the record from the his man-on-dog interview scandal. Ugh, I can't even think about Rick Santorum anymore without getting way too worked up...

Circumcision may offer Africa AIDS hope / Procedure linked to much lower rate of new HIV infections

The SF Chronicle published this article which has interesting implications regarding AIDS prevention. Could circumcision be a tool for achieving our Millenium Development goals (Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases)?

By the way, I found this article after noticing the quick reference in the Weekly Review done by Harper's. Sent to one's email on Tuesdays, it's a snarky summary of the past week. I do find that it helps me to catch an occasional article of interest that sneaks under the radar. You can always google the articles with the keywords.

In New Jersey, Blog Carnival Is WWWeird - New York Times

The New York Times covers blog coordination in New Jersey. Pretty fascinating subculture. Perfect for those moments when one misses New Jersey... There seem to be an awful lot of bloggers in the Garden State.

Sunday at the Montreux Jazz Festival

A beautiful day for lazing around, reading, picnic, listening to jazz...

Enjoying a jazz quintet from the Czech Republic.

A poster from the year I was born. They had an exhibition going back to when the festival began in 1966.

At the Chateau de Chillon, just a few bus stops from Montreux

Here's one wall where you can get a sense of the castle's sturdiness. You can sort of make out one of the far towers through the opening.

The castle of Chillon from the second courtyard. I am always impressed by arches.

The latrine drops straight into the lake. It's no longer in use (thank goodness).

chapel in castle

Lola in one of the window areas in the castle. You can't tell from the digital photo, but there is a spectacular view out the windows of mountains and lake. Hopefully the 35mm did better...

Lake Parade Saturday

Lake Parade - 20 moving trucks with electronic music ending with them parking on the far side of the lake playing music well past 3am. I watched floats go by for much of the afternoon, then danced with my group well into the evening. The salsa stage was quite fun. They even played J.Lo - "Let's Get Loud!"

Here's where Lord Byron signed the 3rd pillar. The prisoner made famous in his poem was chained for 4 years to the 5th pillar (or so says the little brochure).

The alcohol trucks were interspersed between the music trucks. Everything (water, beer, soda) was the same price. Very Swiss.

Ferney Saturday Morning

Saturday, I went with much of the Friday group to Ferney, France. There's blocks of beautiful farmers' markets. I got great figs, peppers, tomatoes, cheese, etc. from the stands. Oh and fresh bread too. A quick bus ride away.

Champion (also in Ferney) has cheap wine, milk and meat! Yay!

Friday Night at Dave and Phuoc's (last party...)

Dave our host and chef extraordinaire. How do you make that Korean pizza again?

Phuoc was our other host - I helped to connect him and Dave up as roommates.

sunset behind us

Duke Program people + great view

Loud but Quite Orderly

There was a demonstration in front of our office on Friday by an Ethiopian group wanting greater recognition of asylum seekers from Ethiopia.

Knitting Hyperbolic Space

Professor Lets Her Fingers Do the Talking - New York Times: "A year after she created the models, she and her husband gave a talk about them to mathematicians at a workshop at Cornell. 'The second day, everyone had gone to Jo-Ann fabrics, and had yarn and crochet hooks,' said Dr. Taimina. 'And these are math professors.'"

I love it when worlds collide like this. Although the article totally fails to even bother trying to explain what hyperbolic space is beyond being something that ruffled lettuce leaves, sea slugs and cancer cells have in common, it's intriguing. Maybe I'll have to restart my knitting habit this winter.

Thursday dinner at Jo's

Kevin and Arsenie

Me and Anna

Liz, Veronique, Maria, and hot curry.

Our hostess finally sitting down.

Surprise Party at Pablo's

Celebrating Xavier getting the JPO position at UNICEF NY.

Enjoying good food and wine.

Our HOST!

Maria!

The view from Pablo's