"Who"!?!

I am, for the [insert shameful number here] time, restarting "Doctor Who". A few of my besties from the LLM haven't seen any of it and have expressed interest...a dangerous thing to do near me. We finally got ourselves organised and now having Tuesday telly nights lined up for the rest of the year. 2-3 episodes a week is going to take a while...but it will be nice to get a regular dose of The Doctor and watch folks who have never seen it engage.

Yesterday was our first round, to high review - even though we only watched the first two episodes of Chris, hardly the greatest few hours in BBC history. I am excited for next week's "Aliens of London"...though we have to make it through "Unquiet Dead" first and then see if the girls decide to push through a two-parter or leave themselves in suspense!

DRD Article on "Beyond the Bombs"

Bringing together various sectors of my life, I wrote an article about Dorm Room Diplomacy for my AMENDS mate Ashley Lohmann, who runs a journalism website highlighting stuff in the Middle East other than the ugly military-political trends so dominant in Western mainstream media. Check out: http://www.btbombs.com/2014/01/imagining-a-better-world-through-virtual-connection/#blog.

Birthday and Bowling

Not my birthday.
Julia's birthday!
One of my best mates from the LLM programme turned 24 on Saturday. Since Saturday was Burns Night and there were many, many activities going on in the grand ol' Scottish city, we all met up on Friday at Julia and Sean's flat for birthday festivities.
Saturday afternoon, Sean came over and made cake. This included a fudgy chocolate cake that took FOREVER (seriously, forever. It was in the blasted oven three times longer than the recipe said it would need) to bake - but Sean decorated it adorably and it was super cute. It also included my first go at a flourless chocolate cake, which turned out brilliantly! (Though it *also* took way longer to bake. I think my oven may not actually get up to the claimed heat. Note for future.)
This evening, weekend festivities continue via tenpin bowling. America is being called on once again to trump England (i.e., I am hoping to once again kick Will's butt). Here we go!!

"Ramblings" is properly back!

In case you missed it, I'm putting real content on "Ramblings" for the first time in a while. This week's series is on the basics of international law as a whole. The week kicks off here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMnNyekjwgM&list=PLSFK9Eic29gp-4dn9CihKPp0WRpAT-LxQ.
Happy Rambling!

Crowd funding for Afghani Girls' Education

One of my very beloved friends from AMENDS has just launched a campaign to support the education dreams of two young Afghan girls. Crafted, a project of Sabera's that empowers Afghan women through handicraft skills and financial independence, is donating gifts to offer as thank yous for support. This is a really wonderful chance to make a serious difference in two strong young girls' lives. Please take a moment to hear from them and give as generously as you are able: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/daughters-to-be-sons/x/3909168?show_todos=true. 

First week of classes

I've completed the first week of classes for 2014 back at the University of Edinburgh.
Instead of "syllabus week" for my (only) new course on International Climate Change Law, we were asked to attend a special launch event for Climate Policy's special issue on The Changing Geopolitics of Climate Change. Guest and local lecturers spoke on the issue's themes and summarised the papers, which were exploring questions of how global regimes around climate change have and have not made progress since the Kyoto Protocol and why. Lots of talk about "China vs. the West", as climate discussions often are. These themes tend to bug me a bit given their often nationalist and racist undertones, but there were some other interesting additional points and observations, and it was nice to have a more politically than legally oriented session for the first time in a while!
My other two courses are year-long and thus continuing from last term. No syllabus week for us - just diving straight into things! Today, a seminar on the dichotomy (or lack thereof!) between civil-political and socioeconomic-cultural rights for International and European Human Rights Law and a fun (no, seriously, it was fun. Yes, I know I have a problem) look into regulations for ship pollution.

And, finally: Some people have been asking me what an "LLM" is. Just in case you'd like a ramble on it and some other things, today's "Ramblings" episode is here.

The NIFS Process

I was asked by Michigan State University's Office of National and International Fellowships and Scholarships to make a five-minute video about the application process. My attempt to persuade students about the benefits of writing up lengthy essays in the midst of busy college life is here.

Looking back, I truly can say that the application was entirely worthwhile, completely independent of winning the Marshall. I wrote many, many other applications that were unsuccessful, but with each, I learned a bit more about myself and how to articulate where I wanted to go. I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who helped me with draft after draft after draft...those personal statements shaped me as much as any of the activities I was writing about. :)