2009 January to July

2009 is going by fast. Back on MLK Jr. Day, I traveled with a group of friends to New Smyrna to participate in a beach clean-up as part of President Obama's call for a National Day of Service. It was a fine excuse to visit the beach and grab a bite to eat at Breakers. Also in January, I took a road trip to Miami for the fourth annual South Beach Comedy Festival. We went to see the irreverent Daniel Tosh as well as Joel McHale, the Soup guy. On the beach, we enjoyed exotic cocktails at ISHQ, a funky Indian restaurant.

February got off to a good start when the Steelers won the Superbowl. And, after years of anticipation, I made my first trip to New York City for an academic conference. I saw my old housemate, Ben, and walked around Manhattan with him and his wife Anne. For dinner, we went to the delicious Bombay Talkie Indian restaurant. At the conference, I got together with some old grad school friends, and went on a culinary tour that included stops at Azuri Cafe (best falafel I've had in years if not my whole life), Enya (cool tapas bar), and a funky Mexican place called Hell's Kitchen.

Also in February I celebrated receiving tenure at Rollins just as I hung another year on the line. Unfortunately, the jubilation was cut short when I had a bad fall and ended up breaking my ankle. So the rest of February and most of March was spent either on crutches or in "the boot." My broken ankle didn't prevent me from enjoying Spring Break as I went to the beach with Ashley and enjoyed a nice afternoon of relaxation.

In the spring, I went to see comedians Louis CK and Bill Maher at Hard Rock Live and laughed my ass off. I also checked out the Florida Film Festival and learned the horrifying history of the Up With People movement. Ashley and I also went to see the Orlando Magic en route to the NBA eastern conference finals (here we are at Game 6 against the Boston Celtics). Before Ashley left for her summer travels (beginning with China, then Guatemala), we also spent a wonderful weekend at the beach.

After dispensing with the Celtics, the Orlando Magic went on to defeat Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals (I was there for Game 4, a critical overtime victory that put the Magic up 3-1 in the series). We later paid a hefty price to see Game 4 of the NBA finals against the L.A. Lakers which the Magic lost - after a series of tragic missteps - in overtime. Also, in June, I traveled to Columbus, OH, to see my sister and family, and to attend an informal high school reunion. In July, I went on a wonderful trip to Guatemala and Belize with my girlfriend Ashley. Our trip included visits to the ruins of Tikal, the Belizean keys, and Antigua.

2008 Year in Review

Hurricanes to Holidays. As always, the fall term was extremely busy. School got off to a shaky start thanks to Tropical Storm Fay. In September, I took a short trip to Guadalajara, Mexico where I was invited to give a talk (which I read in Spanish) on contemporary U.S.-Latin America relations at the Universidad de Guadalajara.


October was an exciting month. I had a hot date to see State Radio perform at The Social and got to see Paul Simon do a short performance and interview with poet Billy Collins on the Rollins campus. I rode with my motorcycle gang to Daytona Beach for Biketoberfest. I traveled to Cambridge, Mass. with a Rollins colleague to deliver a couple of talks at Harvard University. And I did my best David Beckham imitation for Halloween.

In November, I was excited to learn that I was named a Research Fellow at the Center for Inter-American Studies as the ITAM (Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico) in Mexico City. I will be moving to Mexico in September for a nine-month residency to coincide with my sabbatical (paid leave) next year.

In December, a long and busy semester mercifully came to an end. To celebrate the end of classes, I joined my friends and colleagues for the fourth annual Festivus Party at Jenny's place. After turning in my grades, I boarded a plane for Cancun (there seems to be a Mexico theme to my life these days) where my friends Martha and Sean were married at a splendid ceremony on the Caribbean Sea. Finally, I spent Christmas with my family in Myrtle Beach before returning to Orlando for a New Year's Eve party featuring the Legendary JCs at the Backbooth.

Spring to Summer

April means Fox Day at Rollins. To mark the occasion we traveled to historic Sanford for German beer and schnitzel at the Willow Tree Cafe and enjoyed the waterfront. Later in the month, my Mom and Aunt Sally visited to attend a special celebration for Rollins faculty authors. We also went to see the improv comedy show "Murder We Wrote" at the Annie Russell Theater.

May has been a blast. To celebrate the end of classes, I went to the Enzian Theater to see Airplane! as part of their cult classic film series. For the first time ever, I managed to successfully ride a wakeboard on Rich's boat. And our soccer team triumphed 2-0 in the President's Cup, a regal sounding title for the CFSL consolation tournament. Only the victors got to drink from the dismantled trophy cup.

Following graduation, I attended a number of local festivals, starting with the Great Orlando Beer Festival as well as the Orlando FRINGE Festival, where my friend Spencer performed his heartfelt and very funny one-man show "Red, White, and Ignorant." I also went to the Florida Film Festival, back in April.

For the memorial day weekend, I joined a large group of friends in St. Petersburg, FL. We spent most of the weekend out on the boat, where we saw a few dolphins. A good time was had by all.

In June, I took two short trips. First, I went camping in the mountains of North Carolina. Our trip included stops in Gainesville and Atlanta before we reached our main destination, the Nantahala national forest. We camped at Cheoah Point right on the Santeetlah Lake and hiked around the Joyce Kilmer memorial forest. Next we headed east across the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway en route to Spartanburg, SC, where I met up with an old friend, Lizabeth, before heading home from Greenville. Second, I traveled to Chicago for a Boniface family reunion.

Back in Orlando, I saw Modest Mouse perform at Hard Rock Live. Then, for the fourth of July weekend, I returned to St. Petersburg to watch the fireworks from Rich's boat. In late July, I met up with friends in Las Vegas for a short vacation at the MGM Grand. During our stay we took a short trip to Lake Mead and rented jet skis; after getting lost, we finally found the Hoover Dam. Returning to Orlando once more, I saw Jerry Seinfeld perform downtown.

February/March Re-Cap

Well, it's February again, which means I hung yet another year on the line. To celebrate, I continued a three-year tradition by hosting a party at my place featuring various drinking games. This year's turnout was record-setting, but friends were missed who couldn't make it back this year - Andrew, Rebecca, and Erica (now in Cali), as well as Shannon, Kim, and Dana.

Around midnight, we moved the party downtown to the Independent Bar, an indy music place. Although this is somewhat disappointing, nobody got kicked out this year.

If you look really closely at this picture on the left (me with my oldest Orlando friend, Debbie, with Mario and a portrait of Aldous Huxley in the background), you might be able to see a tiny scar on the left side of my chin. Or not. A few weeks ago, my chin was split open by an illegal high kick to my face during a soccer match. I received seven stitches. Luckily, the scar is mostly under my chin and largely unnoticeable.

In March, I took part (with an old high school friend, S. Zedeker, AKA the weatherman) in another annual tradition - Daytona Bike Week. This picture (right) was taken on Main Street, home to such proud establishments as Froggy's, Full Moon Saloon, and Dirty Harry's. AC/DC and Aerosmith live on, thanks to some really bad cover bands. Note: What happens at bike week stays at bike week.

What did I do with my Spring Break? Well, for starters, I went to see an energetic performance by Chk Chk Chk (!!!) at my favorite local live music venue, The Social. I also played a lot of soccer. On Sunday we suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat, but held on to our middling position in the standings. We're doing better on Thursday nights, where we actually have a winning record. To round out my break, I headed back to the Wallaby Ranch and went off-roading with Russ and Jethro, while also celebrating Jason's birthday.

2008 Year in the Making

2008 got off to a fun start with a return to Miami for the third annual South Beach Comedy Festival with friends Dana and Jenny. This year we saw comedian Dave Attell (best known as the host of Comedy Central's "Insomniac"). He was as sick and twisted as ever.

Of course, comedy was not the only form of entertainment. We enjoyed a nice wine sampler and delicious food at the celebrated Timo's in North Miami Beach and also dined at the trendy Yuca in South Beach where we were disappointed by the painfully slow service.

We also made time for cruising South Beach, grabbing lunch by the ocean and then heading to the Wolfsonian, a design museum with a nice collection of art deco miscellany (and peculiar movies playing in a cafe where you can get a coke for just $4).

Before heading home to O-town, we also toured Coral Gables and Coconut Grove, where we enjoyed a wonderful, belly-busting brunch.

2007 Year in Review

2007 was an exciting year of work, travel (Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Canada), and leisure.

In January, I traveled to Morocco (my first trip to Africa) with a group of professors from Rollins. We visited Casablanca, Rabat, Marrakesh, the Sahara desert, and Fez, among other places (for more information on the trip, see the professor's blog). Later in January, I went on a road trip (with Rollins friends Jenny, Martha, and Dana) to Miami for the South Beach Comedy Festival to see Jon Stewart. A few of us are going back to see Dave Attell in a few weeks.

In February, I turned 30-something and had a birthday party which featured the ever-dangerous game of Shots and Ladders. In March, I made the most of Spring Break with a trip to Daytona Beach for Bike Week and hang-gliding at the Wallaby Ranch. In April, I went to see two great bands: Ted Leo at the Social and the Flaming Lips at the House of Blues. It wasn't long before graduation rolled around.


My summer got off to a wonderful start. I joined a new Monday night soccer league (that's most of the team on the right, engaged in a rigorous conditioning program). At the end of May, I went on a road trip to St. Petersburg (near Tampa). We had a great time on Rich's boat and hanging out at the pool.
In June, I went to the coast to watch the Space Shuttle launch from Cape Canaveral. Luckily there was no major delay in the launch.
After graduation, we all got to meet Steve (x-Rollins) and Brooke's newborn, Oscar, when Jenny hosted an early summer party at her new condo.
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During the summer, I also went on three international trips, which severely interrupted my soccer playing.
First, in June, I spent one week in the Monte Verde Cloud Forest Reserve in Costa Rica with a small group of faculty studying rain forest ecology. We got to observe the rain forest canopy from giant suspended bridges. This was the second year in a row that I traveled to Central America, having visited El Salvador and (briefly) Honduras last summer.

Second, in July, I traveled to Brazil for a few weeks. I spent most of my time far from the beaches, in places I had never visited before - the rugged Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, the colonial city of Goias Velho, and the futuristic capital of Brasilia (all in central Brazil). One of my more memorable (and terrifying) experiences was rappelling down a steep waterfall (look closely and you can see me in the picture above). In Brasilia, I snapped a nice picture of the Congress building (on the right).
Finally, in August, I traveled for one week to Taipei, Taiwan, my first trip to Asia. I was part of a small delegation of young political science professors invited by the Taiwanese government to take a first-hand look at Taiwan's (precarious) political situation. I even wore a suit. The food was fantastic. One of the highlights was visiting the Taipei 101, an architectural wonder, and supposedly the world's tallest completed skyscraper. The building on the right, the Chiang Kai Shek memorial, is also impressive.

The fall was very busy work-wise. In late August, I rejoiced over the publication of my co-edited book, Promoting Democracy in the Americas, and traveled to academic conferences in Chicago, Montreal, and Mexico to promote its release. So far the book has received positive reviews, including in Foreign Affairs magazine.
Luckily, the fall was not all work. My friend, Vidhu, hosted an excellent Halloween party and, for once, I had a costume: I went as House M.D. In November, I saw Spoon perform at the Anti-Pop Music Festival. In December, my Sunday soccer team advanced to the consolation final (a major accomplishment for us), only to lose in penalties. I also went to check out our city's new indoor soccer team, the Orlando Sharks (they lost badly). I attended my first "beer skool" (beer tasting) at Underground Bluz. And to celebrate the end of the semester, Jenny hosted yet another memorable Festivus party. I aired numerous grievances against the Mormons.

As we neared Christmas, I headed up to Myrtle Beach, SC, to see my mom and family. I stayed at a nice beach-side resort with my sister, brother-in-law, and niece, Winter, who just turned four last month. We had a very relaxing time.
My mom couldn't resist buying me the iZ toy, which is designed for children aged 5-12. Not to be outdone, I gifted my mom the Nunzilla wind up toy.