Let the Games Begin

So, it's been a little while since I made a post. I was quite disappointed to have missed the anti-war demonstrations in DC this past weekend. I heard the numbers topped 100,000, according to the Washington Post, which in all likelihood, (mis)underestimated the total. At any rate, a formidable showing from people all over the country, who are just now starting to wake up a little bit. I just read as well that Cindy Sheehan had been arrested. I'm lagging back here on the west coast, so I'm sure everyone reading this is like, "Yeah, old news Aaron. Anything important that happens in this country, already happened before you woke up this morning. Oh, you're like, SO DC!

I've finally started classes, although I've been working as a graduate research assistant for over a week already. Today, I had statistics lab. We were learning to use a program called SAS for statistical analyses. I've never used it before in my life as was the case for all but one of my classmates. I don't know if it was because of the teaching style of the TA, or if my brain has experienced irreparable atrophy over the past 4 years, but I had no idea what was going on. He (the TA) was just reading some unintelligible script off the screen and verbally explaining what each term meant. Well, I guess I wasn't the only one having a hard time, because when we were asked to run something ourselves, this poor girl in front of me totally FREAKED out and had some sort of nervous break-down, tears and all. I thought to myself, "oh my, that's interesting." Meanwhile, there were some people around me typing away, and I looked back at my blank computer screen and pondered the inhumanity of it all.

I promptly opened internet explorer to check my email.

(Perhaps you'll see me back in DC in a matter of months)

Ozzie and I have been scoring big off of craigslist.com. So far, we've furnished our living room with two leather sofas (free!) and a beautiful, though "rustic," wooden table (also free) which Ozzie found on the side of the road. As vegetarians, I think it would be morally reprehensible to have purchased said leather sofas, but since we didn't pay, we'll consider them "freegan."

In other news, Judy Miller has testified before the grand jury and is now a free woman--if you read today's washingtonpost article, there is still so much stuff that doesn't add up in this case. But finally, this story is back in the news after a brief hiatus, a result of Hurricane Kat, and general lassitude from the media. Oh yeah, and there's Tommy Delay's indictment and a spattering of other quasi political disasters. Oh Bushie. Who's next?

May I just say how happy I was to see so many comments posted on the last entry I made? I hope that everyone will use this as a forum to update the network of friends on your goings-on. I doubt my pointless drivel will ever become a hotspot for widespread usage anyway, so might as well keep it in the friend-network.

One last comment about the bikes in Davis. It's really unbelievable. I was riding to school today, and there was literally a line of bike traffic stopped at a red light. It's nearly impossible to cross any of the streets on campus without waiting potentially minutes before there an opening (if on foot). Very reminiscent of Amsterdam, except most of the bikes are new and mountainy. Not nearly the same level of charm. It's still America, after all...wouldn't want to infuse too much culture into things, lest we forget where we are.

That's it! I hope to be better about keeping this updated in the future. It's been a busy time.