As you might have gathered, I'm a PhD student in the Department of Political Science at the University of Washington, Seattle.

Born and raised in Southern California, I did my undergraduate degree in Politics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, back when grades were optional and the narrative evaluation system was still the principle measurement of student performance. Though it doesn't get much better than redwoods, mountains, coastal bluffs, a beach boardwalk, and a town full of eccentrics, I decided to spend a year abroad during this time; during 2001, I lived in Wellington, New Zealand, which rivals Santa Cruz in beauty.

After graduation, I moved to St. Petersburg to pursue an MA in Russian Studies at the European University, St. Petersburg. It's an amazing institution, a graduate school with a handful of departments, focusing on those disciplines heavily impacted by Marxist-Leninist approaches to academics. In addition to being a block from the Neva and the Summer Gardens, it also boasts one of the most amazing collections of specialists on Russian politics in the world. So of course, it was recently closed down by the Russian government. Thankfully, international and domestic academics rallied to its cause and it appears all is going to be ok.

I like school. I like to travel. Being able to combine those two is great. I just got back to Seattle this autumn after a summer spent in Syktyvkar, the Komi Republic, where I had previously been an IREX fellow working on HIV/AIDS education. This time I had a fellowship to study Russian, which I'll have again this (2008) summer. No more provinces this time, I'll be heading back to St. Petersburg.

My hobbies and interests trend towards the usual: putzing around the city on random meandering walks, going to shows, and the like. There's a great unused freeway bridge in the arboretum here in Seattle that is great for jumping off of. I'm constantly searching for better vegetarian restaurants and onion rings. I'm an avid homebrewer, and lucky for me Seattle is a great place for homebrewing, and beer in general, since the Pacific Northwest is the heart of the American craftbeer movement. We also do really good coffee.

I'll add more to this later. For serious.