Happy New Year, y'all. Just want to check in and say hey.
On Friday the 29th I attended the Molinari Institute symposium at the APA Conference in DC. It was relatively painless to take the train from Richmond, and it gave me a chance to play with my new iPod. It's amazing how easily you can get around if you're close to an Amtrak station. Reminds me of my time in Germany, where I could literally take my bike anywhere in Europe via the train.
Anyway, Roderick Long has a nice, succinct retrospective on the event. I must say I enjoyed the presentations very much - the first by Matt MacKenzie on a libertarian understanding of exploitation; the second by Geoffrey Plauche on the statist cult's reliance on the myth of "founders." Also, I got to meet Long, MacKenzie, and Plauche as well as Charles Johnson, Laura, and Nick Manley in the flesh. That's, like, half the left libertarian blogosphere right there.
After hopping the MARC from Union Station to Penn Station in Baltimore, my friend Whitney picked me up and fixed me some awesome Mexican food (with bacon AND fresh jalapenos!). We also went to see a kickass band called the Open Mic Knights. Holy shit this duo is awesome: a guitarist and a guy who plays a kit made from trashcans, pans, and buckets, singing songs about... well, just check out their songs here.
Anyway, Tasha and I were in B'more for the weekend to help our friends Samantha and Andrew (who married us) move to their absolutely fucking gorgeous new home. It was a hell of a move on Saturday - I've never gone up and down so many stairs - but we finally finished that night and were able to rest up for the big blowout party at the new place Sunday. The new house is three stories, plus you can go on top of the roof and get the most breathtaking view of the river, the skyline, and the fireworks. Hopefully pictures will be forthcoming.
Next morning we had breakfast at 3:00 PM and went home. And... back to work. Right now I'm still reading the Gatto book but taking a short break to read Watchmen (a graphic novel by Alan Moore who did the original V for Vendetta). Hopefully 2007 will give me more to say; I have some posts waiting that I just need to fine tune and publish.
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