About

I'm an expat Californian who is obsessed with traveling to strange and exotic destinations in the former Communist Bloc. I also like tacos, surfing, and the geopolitics of oil. I currently live in Arlington, Virginia and work in Washington, DC. Read more about me here, check out my photo album, or send me an e-mail.

    follow me on Twitter

    BTC Pipeline opens

    From the BBC:
    Oil is set to flow from the Caspian Sea direct to the Mediterranean for the first time after a $3.6bn (�2bn) pipeline opened on Wednesday.
    Starting in Azerbaijan, the 1,600km (1,000 mile) pipeline will pass through Georgia to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
    The project has taken more than 10 years to finish and will [...]

    Powerhouse of passion

    Taline and I were studying in the library today (Soviet/Russian foreign policy yaaaaaaay!) and decided to take a break by visiting random websites. Somehow we came to www.cainer.com, which does a “quick astrological character analysis” (whatever that is) when you put in your name and date of birth. So here I am, according [...]

    A little place called Kosovo, courtesy of KFOR

    Norwegian soldiers are awesome. This music video they made is hilarious…and much better than the original song by the Beach Boys.
    Crystal and I will be making our own music video based on our Balkans trip, but it will have to wait until finals are over.
    Also, The Onion asks “What do you think?” in regards [...]

    For my British readers : A short treatise on nachos

    In my previous post on the UK’s lack of nacho cheese, Christopher left the following comment:
    What is a “nacho”? What is “nacho cheese”? and what on Earth is “Tostito’s Salsa con Queso”???
    I shall now proceed to educate my British readers on the finer points of nachos, the irresistible Mexican snack that has a special place [...]

    Random observations

    1) This week I learned that Dr. Pepper, 7-up, and A&W Root Beer are owned by Cadbury Schweppes plc, a British candy company. That’s quite sad, really…I totally thought they were owned by Americans.
    2) I need new music.
    In an ‘On-Demand’ iPod World, Something’s Gotta Give
    I don’t have a trendy iPod (instead preferring to use [...]

    Lindsay goes to Egypt, Volume IV: Adventures in shopping, a strange demand from airport security, and a thwarted attempt to leave the country

    Well, here we go…my last post from Egypt…I know you’ll all be very saddened, but don’t worry, I’ll have many thrilling entries ahead regarding my dissertation topic and this annoying London weather!
    Day 8: Our last day in Egypt…well, not really
    So, last day in Egypt…what to do? Buy cheesy souvenirs, of course! To be [...]

    Lindsay goes to Egypt, Volume III: Heavily armed police escorts, snorkeling in the Red Sea, and some more ancient temples

    Another post about Egypt…enjoy.
    Day 6: The Red Sea
    After spending an entire day recovering from Cairo, we were looking forward to a trip to the Red Sea. Before coming to Egypt, I hadn’t really thought of going to the Red Sea, but after we looked through the tours available through Jolley’s we both decided that [...]

    Lindsay goes to Egypt, Volume II: Camels, the Nile, and Cairo

    Just turned in my dissertation proposal (which I’m sure will be another future post) and finally have some time to sit down and write a bit more about Egypt.
    Day 3: Riding camels and cruising down the Nile
    In an effort to make the most of our week in Egypt and participate in as many cliches as [...]

    Lindsay goes to Egypt, Volume I: Baksheesh, 5am wake up calls, and a marriage proposal

    Right. Egypt…pyramids…the Sphinx…camels…hieroglyphics…I’ll talk about all that, and more! I’m going to break this one into parts because I imagine it will become quite long, though.
    So, why Egypt? Didn’t really fit in with my previous European itineraries, I know, but that’s exactly why I picked Egypt. I wanted to go [...]

    Finally uploaded the Egypt photos

    Check them out here.

    Next up, actually detailing what I did in Egypt…
    If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!