// rohitsrealm.com / archive / 2007 / 01
Nearly one year after first diving into Fyodor Dostoevsky's last, longest, and perhaps greatest novel—The Brothers Karamazov—I finally finished it today. Though an unquestionably long read that takes quite a lot of motivation to get into (then again, what Russian novel does not?), I would venture that it is simultaneously one of the most prolific that I have had the opportunity to complete.
More than one year after making a resolution to return to the tennis courts, I finally picked up my racket and played a full set of tennis. Last year's rain and travel in the first part of the year prevented me from joining the Golden Gate Tennis club; the latter part of the year, I was too busy to do much but work. This year promises to be different: next stop, Wimbledon. And by Wimbledon, I really mean the concrete court in the Richmond district with weeds to add the semblance of a lawn court. (Golden Gate Park courts charge money, those fascist bastards!)
Over the holidays, I had the chance to read John Perkins Confessions of an Economic Hitman, a purported exposé of America's shady economic dealings with developing nations in the post-World War II era. In a narrative that reads like fiction—maybe it is—Perkins weaves a tale linking his own work as an economist at a strategy consulting firm into a conspiracy theory encompassing most major geopolitical events of the past sixty years; everything from the Iran hostage crisis of 1979–1981 to the 1989 Panama invasion makes the cut.
As a year in review, this entry might seem too little, too late, but considering this is only my second day of 2007 in the country, I thought something was nevertheless better than nothing. The past year for me was rather uneventful, in sharp contrast to 2005. (I suppose each year cannot be one of significant life changes.) I worked, I partied, and I traveled, but mostly I just worked. 2007 promises to be decidedly more eventful. I hope you all had a restful holiday season and best wishes in this new year. Check out my 2006 holiday card for a brief selection of memorable photographs from the past year.
Greetings from the Red Light District in Amsterdam, Netherlands, where I currently find myself. I only have 5 minutes left on my Internet Cafe ticket, so this one is going to be fast.
Three countries and five days have passed since I last wrote, but c'est la vie. In this entry, I will attempt to summarize the remainder of London, four days in Paris, and a day in Luxembourg faster than I blazed through all those countries.
Pardon my French, but I think that given the circumstance, it is justified. In other words, I'm now officially back in the good ol' U.S. of A., though only peripherally (San Francisco can hardly be considered America
, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi notwithstanding). And after two weeks of roughing it in hostels of varying disrepute (and cleanliness), I cannot necessarily say that I'm all that disappointed to be able to finally sleep in my own bed again.
Having spent the first two weeks of 2007 wandering through Western Europe, I have arrived upon one resounding, ground-breaking conclusion: your city ain't shit unless it's got a river running through it. That's right. It's the river that makes the city.
