I pulled an all nighter, but this turned out to be a really great day, with only one casulty (skipping Chinese class). My "pop" quiz (in quotes because I was tipped off, and that was the only reason I went to class this morning) in Monetary was a smashing success, and I spent the rest of the class time finishing my paper. Then I went home and revised my paper, and had enough time to nap for an hour (skipping aformentioned Chinese class). Then I went over to the Carnege Instutitute for Peace and listened to a lecture on China and WTO accension (sp?), then went over to my AsiaIR class and present my paper. Then, I went home, met up with Amy, and we got the apartment ready for our whine and cheez post-GRE pre-Thanksgiving party. On a big aside, Amy did well on her GRE. Congrats AMY!

The whine and cheez party was an unqualified success. Everyone showed up, the the buzz of the room was on high the whole time. I think it's the first time that I've gotten the majority of my friends in DC together in one room.

Things to be excited about. Traveling with Amy this winter, camping in upstate new york next year, going to NYC in december, going home to see my family...

sigh - now to catch up on 2 days of sleep...

Today I was talking to Steve and Amy how in my reading of Japanese ultranationalism leading to the militarism of WWII, I compared Japanese use of patriotism to steamroll over opposition to the current atmosphere in the US.

Well, coincidently, while doing research on the web for the paper that at 6am, I'm still working on, look what I found: another article comparing another aspect of Japanese facism during WWII to contemporary US. And this guy's got credentials too - he's a professor of history at Tufts.
Too busy trying to cram in lots of schoolwork before Thursday.

In the meantime, here are some links for you:
Switch - a parody on Apple's "Switch" campaign.

The US sucks at geography. or, why our nation is in trouble (when 3 in 10 people in the US cannot identify the Pacific ocean on a map. The Pacific ocean, people).

hmmmmm.... sooooo coooooollll

This weekend was one of the most pleasant weekends I've had in DC, I think. Amy and I didn't do anything extraordinary, but there was something very satisfying about it.

Friday night, we finally got to meet up with Arun, who's been here for the last 3 months, but is always either too busy, or back at home in NYC. We dared to venture out of Adams Morgan, and explored U street a bit, ending up with this quasi-neighborhood bar with an unusual mix of kitsch and trendiness. Then we headed back towards Adams Morgan, since Arun's friends had never been. We had originally wanted to show them the Reef bar, but because we didn't want to stand in line in the rain, we ended up a wine bar nearby that we had always wanted to check out. From the outside, it looked like a shi-shi trendy place, but it was actually nice and cozy with crayon drawings on the wall, and games to play.

Saturday was a work day for both Amy and I. She spent a bit of time making me a mix tape (read: procrastination) but finally her painful efforts to actually study for the GRE came to fruition. I think it was the threats to cut her off from the internet ;). That night, we met up with Dave Blagg and Dave Hollman, as well as Ann to eat some Indian food. I'm beginning to like Indian food more and more - especially Saag Paneer. Yum. Afterwards, Amy and I headed off to Britpop night at the Moustrap on 14th street, but not being in the dancing mood, Ann and the Daves hit up a bar. Britpop was really fun - I haven't danced in a long time, and the music was really dancable, although I wasn't familiar with many of the songs. It was also a good place to people watch, as I guess Britpop brings out the fringe factor you don't often get in this generally conservative city. Anyways, I think I expended more energy, and jumped around more than I have in a long time. It was good =).

Sunday was my favorite day. We stayed in all day doing work (but it was fun!!). Afterwards, we ate leftover Indian food and went out to the mall to window shop (we got there after all the shops were closed - doh!), and then we went to Target, twice. AFterwards, we saw another two episodes of Blue Planet while eating apple pye and ice cream. I'm not sure what made the day so plesant - maybe it had the perfect balance of getting useful stuff done, and shopping, and relaxing.

Today, however, was not quite as productive. I think whenever I've had a spurt of productivity, it always has to be followed by a spurt of slack. I quasi-slept-in this morning, even though the maintence guys were hacking up the floor outside my apartment with a sledgehammer. Then, I had to go get my window fixed at this sketchy Chinese-owned car-fixit place.

I'm going to meet Amy now - we're going to a lecture and then we're having salad tonight.
bye!