chasing time in the big apple

Part of this glorious weekend was spent in the humanitarian forum...which I will not comment about.

On the bright side, I took Sunday off and headed to the Museum of Modern Arts. One of the main reasons for going to this place is seeing Van Gogh's Starry Night. I HAVE FOUND IT. MY LIFE IS COMPLETE.

I've been chasing this painting half way across the world and it was right here in the states at the MoMA. I've always been a fan of impressionist painters so spending a good amount of time in this section was totally worth it. Also, there's a sculpture garden in the MoMA. Total peace of mind there. The weather was perfect and it was the perfect place to be in the midst of all this craziness of the city. Having a day off is super nice. I definitely needed it.

total peace

OOF

In other news, we are just entering the discussion of the Arms Treaty Trade. Both Switzerland and Trinidad and Tobago have offered to host the ATT Secretariat.

We also had another large discussion on the Conference on Disarmament. Having worked extensively with this body that's been in stalemate for the past 17 years, you can see why it's so frustrating working with them. I may start twitching again if I hear "lack of political will" or the "revitalization" of the CD. It's all been overstated. It's also apparently "progress" in the CD when just recently in the third session of 2013, the CD negotiated an Informal Working Group with a mandate to negotiate a PROGRAMME OF WORK. That... isn't progress. That's just another way to stall negotiations even more.

Lots of side events during lunch and spending time with good company. I love the city. I love fall in the city. I also miss the New England autumn colors.

Still more things to do before the end of October! I must get on with it and get with the program...of life. The world is opened to me and I plan on taking full advantage of it.