December 2024 in review

This is the twenty-sixth post in my Month in review series.

Washington DC

I took a week off to join my girlfriend on a trip to Washington DC, while she attended the AGU (American Geophysical Union) 2024 conference.

We visited museums, we did sightseeing, and tried a variety of restaurants.

There was a multi-site Félix González-Torres art exhibit downtown. He’s one of my favorite artists. It was like a scavenger hunt, I really enjoyed that.

González-Torres’ “Untitled” (America) series are strings of 42 light bulbs, with no instructions on how they should be installed; the exhibitor’s choice completes the work. Light bulbs must be sourced and replaced over time, an allegory to the contant work required to maintain a democracy.

Activities

Debarati and the Mosaic Dance Company did their annual Christmas bellydance show, which is always very sweet.

We saw a weird and funny Christmas theater play. It was in some kind of warehouse.

The Farolito Walk is an annual Christmas Eve tradition on Canyon Road. Art galleries are open late, thousands of people come, there is food, music, drinks, parties.

Debarati hosted a tea and pairings tasting lunch with friends.

We did a day trip to White Sands National Park, a 4 hour drive from Santa Fe. Sand is white, because it’s gypsum, it’s weird, because it looks like snow! People even rent plastic saucers and toboggans to slide down the dunes. The road looks like it snowed in Quebec, with snow banks on the sides of the road. To add to the mind contortion, it was December, but it was relatively warm, especially in the sunshine. I didn’t know if I should feel cold or warm!

On New Year’s Eve, we were at a party at As Above, So Below, a distillery in Santa Fe Railyard District.

Photography

Reading

• I finished reading US Constitution 101, a crash-course on the US Constitution, by Tom Richey. It was extremely well written and I learned a lot about the US’, but also Canada’s and other countries’ constitutions too. This spark of curiosity branched out towards many topics of World History, including the colonization of South, Central and North America, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the Cold War, the Bronze Age and Iron Age civilizations, the colonization of Africa and India. I also did reasearch on other countries constitutions and government systems.
• Why Nations Fail, by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. A book on economics and the factors that make countries wealthy or poor. Hint: extractive regimes do not generate long term wealth, even for the ruling class. I’m halfway through, it’s a fantastic book. The thesis is compelling, and I feel urged to go learn more about the historic events and nations that are used to support the book’s arguments.
  • See also: The 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics: Explained on YouTube, and this TED talk by James Robinson: Why nations fail | James Robinson | TEDxAcademy.
• The Silk Roads, by Peter Frankopan. Not started yet. Looks like a beautifully written history of the world when Persian and Chinese cultures dominated, and for the first time, ideas and goods (and diseases) traveled cross-continental distances.

Month favorites

• Christmas in Santa Fe.
  • The Plaza trees are decorated with bright multi-colored lights.
  • The Farolito Walk on Canyon Road on Christmas Eve.
    • Huge crowd, musicians and performers, galleries are open late, some food and drinks available.
    • We joined friends and partied in a few spots.
• Trip to Washington DC.
  • My partner was attending the 2024 American Geological Union conference.
  • I was on vacation for 1 week.
  • Multi-site Felix Gonzales-Torres art exhibit.
  • The Smithsonian American Art Museum and American Portrait Gallery.
  • Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument at night.
  • The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
  • The Renwick Gallery.
  • The National Museum of African American History and Culture.
  • The Smithsonian Botanical Gardens.
  • The National Art Gallery.
  • Food
    • Baan Siam – Thai.
    • Ching Ching Cha – Tea shop.
    • Chercher – Ethiopian.
    • G.O.A.T. Room – Indian.
    • Café Maman.
    • Reren – Ramen.
    • Hell’s Kitchen – Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant.
    • Supra – Georgian.
• Riya organized a tea tasting and pairings at home with friends.
• Two dinners at Joseph’s Culinary Pub in Santa Fe. It’s really good food.
• The Annual Winter Wonderland bellydance show by Pomegranate Studios.
  • There was live music to accompany the choreographies, which was very lovely.
• A Christmas party and silly theater play by local performers.
• We watched two movies at the cinema: Flow, and Nosferatu.
• Road trip to White Sands National Park.
• New Year’s Eve party at As Above So Below.

Bye Bye 2024!