We had a warm winter day- almost like a cool summer evening. Then a tornado watch. The weather has been weird lately. Thanks to the DC young professionals group, I met many like-minded people with whom I could connect on a professional and personal level. While I have been somewhat passive in socializing the last couple of months, I am slowly deciding to increase my social energy level. I have seen an interesting book at B&N, about Social IQ. I had heard of emotional IQ, but not of a social one. Have not had a chance to read it yet.

Thanks giving a la Turca

My debut Thanksgiving party/lunch was a day to remember - not to poeticize the whole event, but our hostess was glamorous. The house was shining with decorations for a fastly approaching New Years party, and it was a strange yet unforgettable suburban experience for someone like me - an urban dweller with a quaint idea of how relaxed life is in suburbia. I lived in a suburban ranch house in Kansas City, MO for a year, before I escaped to Washington DC. Yet, I know in my heart this was a trade off- I gave up the seclusion, comfort, privacy of a suburban life to a more urbane instant-coffee all-in-one life style. I guess I missed being a Taksim girl again- strolling down crowded streets, buying posters of Derrida, and spending time in popular coffee shops like Leyla in Cihangir, Taksim. Urban Washington has all this, and so this is why I came here. But yesterday's thanksgiving party reminded me of the good part of having your own well-furnished, -decorated, -kept space, and lots of it! and feeling grateful to have friends who make you feel at home in all this urban wilderness. Yet, in my heart, I know I am an urban animal. Right now, I am savoring the grande mocha I just bought from the Starbucks across the street, and I am contemplating of grabbing my laptop and going to Misha's cafe for a journal/memoir writing spree. Catching the moment, this is what a city is all about.

Yesterday I attended a fundraising at the George Washington University. The event was organized to compensate for the donation fatigue for the devastating earthquake in Pakistan in the aftermath of Katrina. The repertoire of shows was simply majestic starting with solo bas guitar performances by two young MA students at the GWU whose names I unfortunately forgot. It only got better, featuring a professional Middle Eastern dance group with breathtakingly graceful Oriental dancers, and an exquisite tango performance by two virtuoso tango dancers- the man and the woman mesmerized their audience with the anger, love, passion, drama of their larger-than-life performance. They reminded me of how much I would have loved visiting Buenos Aires. The fundraising also featured Kardelen, a popular Turkish folklore troupe whose mission is to promote the folklore tradition and culture of the Anatolian region in Turkey - laud applause broke as soon as the host invited Kardelen on the scene and they stole the show with the elegance, rythm, and beauty of their choreography. As it turns out, the Kardelen Dance Ensemble is something of a celebrity in the DC area.
Folklore was the forte of the fundraiser: the outfits were timeless and regal. I was taken back into ancient time, when culture was still pristine and authentic. So many of these ornate details are lost now that it makes performances like this one an invaluable contribution to the cultural mosaic of our rapidly shrinking global village.

Review of "Alexander Hamilton" by Ron Chernov

My latest source of inspiration and admiration is Alexander Hamilton - I was surprized to learn how little I knew about the Revolution, and especially about Hamilton, who might well turn out to be my favorite founding character - the biography is portraying him as a charismatic evil genius (I have not come to the evil part yet, I am still in the 'genius' chapters, and I am curious to see how he made so many enemies). Chernov's style is eloquent, his chapter titles are nostalgic, ex; The Collegian, The Little Lion, etc - reminding me of the last period of the Ottoman Empire for some reason. Of course, some of my interest results from my currently being located in Alexandria VA. As it turnes out, Hamilton had personal aides in Alexandria (so maybe Alexandria is named after Alexander, after all), not to mention that General George Washington's plantation, is located only a few miles from here, in Mount Vernon. The book is not simply about politics. It is about intrigue, love, affairs, mistresses, and character clashes. It is like the American War and Peace- a major political drama unfolding in the backdrop of great love stories, betrayals, and duels. I am still very much in the beginning to be able to say the last word, but I was a little astonished to learn that Alexander was born in the West Indian tropical island of Nevis, and came to New York as an orphan and an illegitimate child. His determination, character, and intelligence made him the persona we know today (yesterday I drove by the grandiose The Hamilton hotel in Washington DC). Also, George Washington too, never finished college, and worked hard to ecucate himself and be part of the "high society". In this sense, he is a self-made man, just like Alexander - and I used to think they were aristocrats in the classic tradition. Even though they became aristocrats, they were not born as such.

Lem: Bir Broadway sovu icin bilet aldim, hem de on siralardan!
Lev: Manyaksin, gidiyor muyuz bu haftasonu?
Lem: Evet, simdi otellere bakiyorum, uygun bir yer bulmak lazim.
Lev: Bana birak otel isini.
Lem:Iyi.Ama onceki gibi fuhus yuvasi olmasin. Kolumdan tutup beni zorla surukleyen, benim eve gidelim, kac para diyen Meksikali tiplerle ayni yerde kalmam ona gore! (1. Ben, Latin amerikali herkesi hala Neksikali saniyorum, 2. Ispanyolca'da evin 'casa' oldugunu bu sekilde ogrenmek istemezdim!)
Lev: Merak etme. Bu defa en iyi yerde kalacagiz. Son kaldigimiz hotelde. Orayi sevmistin. Bu arada, sovun adi ne?
Lem: Hayat bir Kabare.


Her New York seyahatimizin bir oykusu var- bazen degisiklik, bazen sonbaharin altin sarisi renklerini New York'ta yakalamak, bazen de hayal gucumuze hayal katmak. Her New York'a gittigimizde, neden bunu daha sik yapmadigimizi dusunuyoruz. Geri dondugumuzde, hayatin rutinine kapiliyoruz, araya insanlar, olaylar, kavgalar sokuyoruz, New York'u unutuyoruz. Sonra, hic mi hic yeri degilken- mesela firtina ve yagmur ve sel ortasinda, ikimizden biri- daha dogrusu ben - New Yorku sayiklamaya basliyor. Kac zaman oldu gitmeyeli, kokustuk bu Washington Dc'de. Baydim Tryste'ten. Bir plan yapsak da gitsek. Ne iyi olur?
Bu haftasonu, New York'a gidiyoruz. Bircok rasyonel Amerikali once havadurumuna bakardi belki, ama biz havadurumuna bakmak yerine, duygusal davrandik (bunun agir sonuclarini ilerleyen dakikalarda anlatacagim). Iliskimiz henuz rasyonel cagina giremedi ne yazik ki, hala cocuk gibi duygusal, heyecanli, kaprisli. New York'a onceki gidislerimiz, paldir kuldur, plansiz programsizdi. Sehrin nabzini bilmeyen, dogusuyla batisini karistiran, Manhattan'a ayak bastim diye dunyayi fethettigine inanan, utanmadan sabahin kor ucunde ciglik atan iki insan. Iste o bizdik. Tabi o zaman Kansas City'de, yerlilerin tabiriyle freaking bir suburbia'da, bu da yetmiyormus gibi bir ranch house'da yasiyorduk. Her dunya gormemis Kansaslinin saf heyecani vardi icimizde (ki yerli Kansaslilarin da baskent, New york gibi yerleri gorunce bizim kadar heyecanlandigi bir gercek). Simdiyse, heyecan pragmatik bir duyguya donustu - yilda iki kere New York'a gidiyorsak, bu enerjiyi sarf ediyorsak, bari saglam bir plan yapalim, harita acalim, yonleri bilelim. Zaman kazanalim ki 48 saatte yapabileceklerimizi maksimuma cikaralim. Amerikalilasiyormuyuz ne? (to be romantically continued)

Washington D.C. is a peculiar place (I keep saying that bu well, it is true!). It is an intellectual hub for knowledge seekers, a truly unique place that brings you in silver plate most extraordinary - and Sherlock Holmes-esque encounters. Yesterday I was in our local Starbucks, devouring a book on the open source movement, scribbling down notes and underlying sections with an appetite. As I was about to leave, someone next to me asked "What are you reading?" in a tone that indicated he already knew. Typical of me, I had forgotten the title of the book, so I had to take the book out and show it to him. He said, "Tell me about it." in a tone that promised I was going to be grilled on the subject. I was no Richard Stallman, the purist open-source guru, but I managed to explain in my own words what the open source (or, as it was first called, free software) revolution was all about. He then made comments that were startlingly relevant, and suggested I look at the First Indistrual Era for analogies. We than chatted for more than an hour on the U.N., the U.S. perspective of the world (not being subtle was the key concept there), Europe (Europeans, they have a tribal mentality, discarding all the layers of civilization beneath them). He later told me he used to be a lobbyist for the House and the Senate at DC. The conversation went on and on, until I said I had to leave to work! But I have a feeling this is not the last time I saw this extraordinarily knowledgeable persona (he recited peculiar details like the full names of all major Greek players in the Cyprus conflicts, including Bulent Ecevit, whome he called a poet. He remembered the full names of the first three UN Secretary Generals - who happen to be from Sweden Norway, and Burma-if I recall correctly!).
Today, I had lunch with someone else - a prima donna, If I can use this description for her. I understand she is famous in her area, in the classic sense - a celebrity, actress- and I was fascinated by her. She is not only beautiful in an artistic sense, she is magnetic. This is strange. You know when you meet your other half and you know this person will be in your life for a long time, this is how I felt when I met with her. We first met at a networking party, it was so crowded, and she was so busy, I only had the chance to say a brief hi and bye. This is when someone told she was famous. Somehow, she remembered me after the event, called me, and we came together at la Madleine's in Old Town. Instantly, we both realized that we were meant to be there, that this was just meant to happen, and that we had so much in common (despite age difference). I wish I could tell what we talked about, so much to learn from it alone, but alas, this is meant to be a blog, not what we call in Turkey a "destan".