Christmas Eve eve

December 23 marks Christmas Eve eve (for those well versed in the Seinfeld universe, Festivus is celebrated today too). This means that Christmas, which is one of my favorite holidays, is almost here. The festivities kick off with a Christmas Eve service put on by our church tomorrow evening; Ellen will again be providing musical accompaniment on the harp. After that is Christmas Day itself, which needs no elaboration, and on Boxing Day and the day after we're planning to make a quick trip to visit friends and relatives in New York and New England. All in all it should be a terrific weekend.

I was pleased to read about the passage of the "New START" treaty this week. As I've written before, nuclear nonproliferation was an issue championed by my uncle Norman (who founded the Dartmouth Conferences on Peace Process and was once summoned to Princeton by Albert Einstein to discuss nuclear disarmament). It's gratifying to see that his work is being carried on. And while politics is an unpredictable business, I'm glad that the ratification of the treaty was not derailed by smaller concerns.

Speaking of Dartmouth, The Waterman Institute is about to launch its second slate of courses next month. In addition to addressing topics like "The Free Society" and "History of Doctrine," Waterman is also debuting its student internship program. Hannah Thomas '12 and Fulbright Scholar Hans-Peter Ritzer are the inaugural interns. It's not looking like Waterman's course schedule and my work schedule will reconcile themselves this time around, but I wish them the best for a successful, God-centered term. I will definitely try to attend one of their offerings as soon as I am able! For more information about Waterman or any of their programs, please visit their official website (linked above).

In other news, Knicks backup forward Shawne Williams was credited with the following quotation following last night's 112-98 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder: "I feel like when I play hard, lucky things happen. I believe the basketball gods, they reward hustle plays." Sounds an awful lot like Samuel Goldwyn's famous saying, "The harder I work, the luckier I get." I wonder if Williams is a movie fan? Goldwyn, after all, is the "G" of MGM movie studio fame.