i just got back from washington dc. went to two meetings and walked around with my dad, talking about programming, problem solving, and lots of other stuff.

the first meeting was fun. i got to look at an intranet (essentially a web database/content management system) built by some folks at the futures group. (secret goal for the month of july: build the measure evaluation proto-intranet)

the second meeting was at USAID where catherine and I presented the PIMS database we’ve developed and deployed in kazakhstan, cambodia, and tanzania. the usaid folk all seemed really stoked about our solution to one of their prevelant information management problems. does this mean i’ll be heading to bolivia or nepal any time soon? who knows.

on the way back dad and I stopped at ikea which was very cool. sort of post-dorm chic, but that didn’t stop me from buying a kitchen table and some other odds and ends. once the new apartment settles down a bit, i can’t wait to go back. (can we put ikea on the LoC trip?)

lastly, nicole mentioned that davy rothbart of found magazine will be on tour in durham and chapel hill july 9th and 10th. i know next to nothing about found magazine, except what can be quickly intuited from the title, but on several occasions recently it has come up (i must say that i feel i owe a debt of gratitude to npr’s this american life for enriching the lives of my friends and thus mine by association) so i’m definitely interested in checking this out.

and this weekend: the eno river festival, july 4,5,6: “100 of N.C.’s finest Craft Artists over 100 performers on 5 stages, all on the banks of the fabulous Eno River.”