Last year I bemoaned the lack of romance bought by spending Valentine’s Day evening with the otherwise charming British Government’s Chief Scientist, Sir John Beddington. (Of course in reality I secretly enjoyed it. Though that’s not something I admit to Layla.) But this year, Layla and I agreed we would determinedly avoid any event connected with either of our jobs, and would go for the great prize of seats at … Read more »Valentine’s Night with the Obamas
An Inauguration to Remember
Inauguration Day is a four-yearly highlight of the Washington calendar – and indeed, the calendar of most US citizens. It is the day when the newly elected president is sworn in for the next four years. Full of pomp and circumstance, bugles, marching bands, songs, prayers, and lots of US flags, “What are you doing for inauguration?” has been the question on everyone’s lips since New Year – and for … Read more »An Inauguration to Remember
Election Withdrawal Syndrome
For me, election campaigning has been a constant element of life in the US. The entire year I have been lived here has involved the most prolonged, sustained, energetic excitement about choosing a country’s leader that I could have imagined. From the first day we arrived, the question of who was to be the next President of the United States has been on everyone’s lips. We’ve seen our friends giving … Read more »Election Withdrawal Syndrome
Washington, New York, and the Blustery Day
Last weekend while sitting in the TEDx MidAtlantic conference, I found myself feeling edgy. I kept compulsively checking my e-mails and Twitter feed for mentions of “Sandy”. After almost a year in Washington DC, hurricane Sandy was my first experience of extreme weather in the US. Which is why, as photographs of empty DC grocery shop aisles popped up, I marched Layla out of the auditorium at lunchtime, and straight … Read more »Washington, New York, and the Blustery Day
Debate fever sweeps the country
At the last UK election, we borrowed from a US campaign staple and televised debates between the candidates for Prime Minister for the first time. And they generated a good amount of interest and engagement. But the excitement absolutely pales in comparison to what I experienced across the US following the first Obama/Romney Presidential debate in Denver last week. At home in Washington DC, where everyone I ever encounter seems … Read more »Debate fever sweeps the country
Life’s a breeze at the Olympics and in Florida
As a Londoner, I have to admit that sometimes Londoners can be cynical. As we left for the US last November, we left our friends muttering about anticipated congestion and transport angst and plans to let out their houses to Olympic-crazed tourists and spend the month in Florida. However, from the moment the fabulous opening ceremony kicked off (which I watched with several hundred close US friends at the Embassy … Read more »Life’s a breeze at the Olympics and in Florida
Dreams of the final frontier, realized
Many children dream of being an astronaut – but it wasn’t til I had qualified as a lawyer and worked for some years as a civil servant that the realisation hit me. It happened during my honeymoon, at New York’s Natural History Museum monthly SciCafe. Astrophysicist and Hayden Planetarium Director Neil deGrasse Tyson delivered an exceptionally inspirational talk and suddenly I knew what the space fuss was all about. And … Read more »Dreams of the final frontier, realized
Might as well face it, I’m addicted to Apps
Sometimes you don’t know you have an addiction until the thing you’re addicted to is suddenly snatched from you. This is what happened to me on moving to the US seven months ago, and finding myself embroiled in a lengthy procedure to get an American smartphone contract. My realisation happened insidiously. Getting ridiculously lost somewhere in Capitol Hill because I couldn’t consult my smartphone map. Going to a disappointing restaurant … Read more »Might as well face it, I’m addicted to Apps
An Enigma, an apology, and a hardcore commuter
In my last job, colleagues – even my lovely former boss, the now famous Lord Justice Leveson would occasionally raise an eyebrow as I arrived with hair askew and rosy cheeks from cycling between meetings. Alas in DC, working at the top of a really fairly significant hill, I’ve reluctantly relinquished my addiction to the bike – at least as a means of getting me from one meeting to another. … Read more »An Enigma, an apology, and a hardcore commuter
LA Environmental
If someone had asked me to picture a stereotype of Los Angeles prior to my trip there at the end of last week, I might have imagined sun bouncing off the Hollywood sign, towering above huge highways where massive cars roared by, conveying wannabe starlets through the smog to their latest audition or waitress interview. If there is one thing I didn’t imagine, it was a city of people making … Read more »LA Environmental