In Praise of the BBC: Thanks for Saving My Summer

Summer is a great time of year, and there is no shortage of pastimes of which you can take advantage.  You can go to the pool, get caught up on your reading, go to baseball games, or fire up the grill.  Sarah and I have been trying to make the most of it, but let’s be honest, summer is also hot.  And if you live in DC, it’s also really, really humid.  Seriously, sometimes when you walk outside it feels like you just stepped into a gigantic mouth.  On those days, you just want to sit on your couch in the A/C and watch TV.

 

That’s a problem during the summer, because everything is in reruns.  I recognize that a lot of people reading this probably already have Netflix, but Sarah and I are apparently too cheap to jump into the 2010s (How do you even shorten that? 10s?).  Which is why I’m grateful for the close proximity of the library and for the BBC.

 

The BBC puts out some great programming, most of which doesn’t get much notice this side of the pond. When you hear about a BBC show you want to watch, it’s like discovering a rare British gem.  Plus, the seasons are usually relatively brief (3-8 episodes a season) and self-contained, thus making them perfect for summer viewing.  So thanks to the BBC for creating the following two programs and giving me a reason to shout, “Don’t go in there!” at my television screen during the summer months.

 

SHERLOCK

 

 For fans of: CSI, Law & Order, scarves, fancy accents

 

Sherlock is the same literary character we know and love, brought into the 21^st century.  He’s mean, brilliant, and wears a scarf like nobody’s business.  Watson, on the other hand, is an Iraq War veteran with slight PTSD, but is longsuffering and loyal to a fault.  The writing is great, the characters are well-cast, and they do a great job of bringing the iconic Sherlock Holmes stories (such as “The Hound of the Baskervilles”) into the modern age.  Each episode plays out like its own 90-minute film, but with a lot of elements spilling over into a season-long story arc.  I highly recommend this one.

 

LUTHER

 

For fans of: The Shield, Justified, 24, doom, gloom

 

Luther stars Idris Elba, who owns the role as the biggest, smartest, angriest cop in London.  The entire premise of the show is that he always tries to do what he thinks is the right thing, even if that means breaking the law to do it.  As a result, each season follows Luther as he attempts to solve crimes while also covering up all of the illegal things he’s done to help others out.  It’s a bit over-the-top, since every episode seems to feature a different serial killer on the loose, but it’s worth it just to watch Luther skulk around angrily and bash some heads.  This one is a bit dark, and downright gruesome at times, but it’s also a lot of fun.

Career Change

Behold, the Ameri-cake, which Sarah and I made for a Fourth of July BBQ last weekend.  I suppose it's kind of ironic that it's actually a Mexican Tres Leches cake, but it was delicious nonetheless.  It even has its own theme song, "Proud to Eat an Ameri-Cake," sung to the tune of Lee Greenwood's "Proud to Be an American."  I won't repeat all the lyrics here, however, as Sarah says it wasn't my strongest effort.  Regardless, the cake was delicious.

I suppose it's appropriate that the cake is American with an international flair given the exciting news that Sarah and I received earlier this week.  As you may recall, we have been contemplating the idea of me joining the U.S. Foreign Service over the last year.  I wrote about it once before here.  The process is incredibly competitive, and only a few hundred join every year out of the thousands that apply.  I made it through all the various tests and interviews, but still wasn't sure if my collective score on all the tests was enough to warrant an invitation.

Amazingly, we got an offer to join the next Foreign Service class starting September 10th!  Sarah and I have been pondering this decision for some time, but this week in particular involved a lot of fasting and prayer.  We decided that this was the right path for us and our future family, and are incredibly excited.

So what's next for the Petersons?  I'll be starting an orientation course for all new diplomats on September 10th.  This class, known colloquially as "A-100" based on the room it used to be held in, last six weeks.  At some point during that period, we will be given a list of job openings at embassies around the world.  We rank these possibilities into three categories: high, medium, and low.  My understanding is that most people receive a posting that was on their high list.

The last day of the A-100 course is "Flag Day," wherein you all meet together with family and friends to find out where you will be posted for your first two-year assignment.  You can read more about all the possible locations here.  Obviously, Flag Day will determine how much longer we will remain in the States.  If our first assignment is Washington, DC, or New York City, we'll be here for a few more years.  If our first assignment is Romania, we'll be shipping out in early 2013 since I already speak the language.  If our first assignment is China, we'll be in DC for at least another year while I attempt to learn Mandarin.

So that's the big new for the Petersons!  We appreciate all those who have fasted and prayed on our behalf as we made this decision.  We are so excited to be starting out on this new career path.  And, I hope this goes without saying, you all have a place to stay if you ever want to come visit us.

Mitt & Me

Following is a letter I intend to send to Mitt Romney relating a dream I had last night.  Let me know if you think I should send it.

Dear Mr. Romney:

Hope the campaign's going well.  I had an interesting dream last night, that I figured I should share with you.  In the dream, you were coming to Arlington, VA, for a campaign event, and asked that the Arlington 2nd Ward help put together a BBQ for you.  Since I'm in the Elders' Quorum Presidency, that meant that I had to go out and help you round up supplies.  So we hopped in my car and drove out to some local farms to pick up everything.

We managed to gather all the meat and vegetables we needed, and had a rather amazing experience at the last farm.  I noticed that a chicken egg was about to hatch, so we gathered together to watch it happen.  There we were, on all fours, me in my jeans, and you in your suit, as we peered into the nest to watch the miracle of life.  The baby chicken burst out, turned into a tiny rabbit, and then we helped him find his mother.  What a great experience.

After that, we made it back to Arlington in time for the potluck dinner at the church.  For some reason you and I decided to buy about three tons of neapolitan ice cream, so we had trouble convincing people they needed to keep eating it so it wouldn't all melt.  Good times.  Anyway, you seemed pretty cool in my dream last night, so I wish you the best on the campaign.

Sincerely,

Ryan Peterson 

Summer in DC

Over the last couple weeks, we have been trying to take advantage of all the events going on around DC in the summer.  We kicked it off by going to the Annual DC BBQ Festival, with our friends the Nielsens.

I had the rib tips, which were pretty tasty, and Sarah got an amazing pulled pork sandwich.

I was a bit distraught I had already eaten before I came across this guy's setup, however.

We also went to the Congressional Baseball Game, where members of the Democrats and Republicans slug it out on the baseball diamond.  As you can see, it's not the most well-attended event, but we had a good time.

We had a great time, great seats, and I got a chili dog from Ben's Chili Bowl, so I had fun even though the Republicans got completely trounced.  That's Nancy Pelosi gloating down in the bottom right corner.

We had to sit in the Democrat section, which made me a little nervous, but fortunately, I had Sarah with me.

The shirts we were wearing seemed to help as well.