I love England in the summer

England in the spring is so lovely. Right now it stays light until 8:30-9:00 at night. In June/July it will start staying late until almost 10:00. This extended day is so welcome after the winter when it's dark, grey, cold, and rainy all day long. I'm sitting with my living room window open and I'm drinking a glass of white wine. I'd take a picture of the green outside, but I just checked my camera and it is out of batteries.

In about a week I'm going to Lugano, Switzerland for an annual meeting for a Swiss/German private equity firm. I have mixed feelings about this. One, I'm really excited b/c I've never been to Southern Switzerland/Northern Italy and it's supposed to be a beautiful area of the world. However, when I go to these meetings I always feel like I'm playing the Seasame Street game "one of these things is not like the other". It's usually about 10% women and I'm using the youngest person there by about 15 years. I try not to let it bother me, but I usually have quite a time making small talk. This one will be particulary difficult b/c it's a longer event. We even get to tour one of their portfolio companies which is a salami factory. The only reason that I'm going to this event is b/c 5 people "ahead" of me couldn't attend.


OH! Jed and I have a date for the wedding. On December 29 2007 I'll be Claire Atkins. :) CBA. I'm kinda sad to see my middle name Larson leave.

Wayside (Back in Time)

Here is possibly my favourite musician in the world covering a Gillian Welch tune, Wayside Back in Time. A few days ago I listended to this song on my ipod at work and I realised that there's a line in this song that comes from Shady Grove. The line in Shady Grove is "Peaches in the summer time, apples in the fall if I can't have the one I love, I won't have none at all". The line in Wayside is "Peaches in the summer time, apples in the fall, if I can't have you all the time I won't have none at all". Cute.

I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to become hard of hearing b/c I listen to my ipod so much. I can't help but listen to it at work b/c I am very bored there. My job is fine and I'm trying to have a good attitude there, but I am tired of it. I went up to Oxford today for an Investment Committe meeting at one of the colleges. They took our recommendations.

so long

I haven't posted to this blog in a long time! Ah, Jed and I are engaged!! I'm so thrilled and can't wait to be married to him. We're planning on getting married in his college's chapel in late December. We'll know in a bit if that's an option. If not we'll have to look for other places around Cambridge. My other big news is that I might have a job at the University. It's still too early to know for sure, but I should know by this Friday.

If you want to read our "engagement story" click on Jed's blog on the right. He's a really good writer.

We have had wonderful weather in England! The marathon was yesterday and the whole race was slower b/c of the heat. Jed and I have spent a lot of time outside. We went hunting for cycles on Saturday. We just went to a few places and priced them. We'll probably end up getting them at the neat store near the rail station.

I have no idea when I'll next be back in the States. Jed might go in Jan. 08 to a conference, but I probably would not go with him. It's bizarre not to know when I'll be back home, but I'm trying to think of England as home for now.

Divided America

My dad and uncle's new book came out earlier this week. I'm really proud of them. It's the first time that they have published with an non-academic publisher. You can grab a copy of the book on Amazon--it's pretty cheap, only $17 for a hard cover book. Here's the cover and a review:



"For a generation, Earl Black and Merle Black have been enlightening Americans about the politics of the South. It is both a sign of the times and a blessing for all who love politics that they have turned their analytical genius and clarity of thought to regional politics in the whole country. This book would have been important even without the electoral earthquake of 2006. Now it is more important than ever in providing a road map for 2008 and beyond. You can't understand the future of American politics without understanding the importance of the new regionalism. To understand how it works and why it matters, you need to read Divided America."
-- E. J. Dionne, Jr., syndicated columnist and author of Why Americans Hate Politics

all the Queen's horses

Hi there.

I've haven't blogged in a long time. I don't have a computer at home, but hopefully I'll have one after Jed and I go to Atlanta on 22 March. It's 9:00 and I'm doing my taxes at work on a saturday night. :) I'm really looking forward to our trip back to my parent's home. The 22nd is Julia's 21st birthday and my whole family plus Jed is going to see Crooked Still play at Eddie's Attic. Ah, Crooked Still--they are the bluegrass band that I've blogged about previously. I wonder if Rushad will lead us in another meditation---fairies, angels.


These are the Queen's horses marching on my street. They are coming back from practise in Hyde Park.