Ahh Summer

I'm currently reading Haruki Murakami's Dance Dance Dance, which I'm really enjoying. I've finally given and read something that might be useful for quizbowl (there is ALWAYS a Murakami question somewhere). It's funny because I associate it a bit with magical realism, but it's a bit more sci-fi (syfy? haha) than that. Still, it's fun. So that was originally written in Japanese. I've read some English books and some Spanish books. Now I have a book translated into Spanish from Portuguese that should be interesting to read. If I finish Crime and Punishment I'll have Russian down too. Self teaching world lit? Sort of!

Alas, all good things come to an end. This is my last weekend here. In many ways, it was peaceful and uneventful. I cleaned, I worked on my presentation, I contemplated packing, I read a lot of web comics. I also had a very nice lunch. Stasha and I were able to get ice cream last night from Ashley's without running into a single high-schooler (damn explo kids are gone forever! huzzah!).

Dear friend, Madeline, left on Friday so Stasha and I went over to watch the rest of mad Men and get as much time as possible. Unfortunately there was a small mishap with a computer, I got a small cut above my lip, and I ate too much cheese popcorn. Am jealous that Stasha and Mad get to see each other on Whim retreat soon.

I'm glad to go home for a while and see my peeps there. I have big plans...to sleep and go to the beach (maybe? or maybe i'll be too lazy for even that). It's been a good summer and I'm left here now with a sort of giddy, nostalgic, peaceful feeling. Who knows if I'll ever spend another summer in New Haven? This just reminds me of James who said that he wouldn't go back to Chile because he'd already been there and he would go somewhere new if he was to travel. I felt like it would be nice to explore the rest of the country, since we got to see so little of it.

Eh, I should just forget about it and keep living.

Firefly

One of the good things about this summer is how I'm getting a lot of work done, but I'm not dealing with the stress of the school year. Sure, classes and applications are looming...I have one month until classes start (Happy August!). So with this relatively stress free environment, I can chill out more after lab and on weekends, and watch movies and play video games guilt-free. I haven't played as much Animal Crossing. I do like to give in to the consumerism of the game, but recently the shop (the main source of money) that buys back items from you in the game is only open during certain hours of the day. That means that I have less time to make money. SO if I decide to start playing at 8 or 9, I really can't sell all that much. Instead I've played more Super Mario Galaxy 2. The game is just so fun. When I started playing it again I couldn't believe that I had put it aside for most of summer. The graphics are pretty and bright (who remembers that Sharapova commercial?) and the playing style of the game makes it interesting. I like how there are varying degrees of challenges and how I never feel stuck in a game. It's very relaxing.

I've also seen quite a few movies this summer. I think I mentioned watching Toy Story 3 and Eclipse. Before that I had seen Prince of Persia, Iron Man 2, and some other ones at home. In addition, I watched Inception last night. That's as far as it goes theater-wise. In DVD and internet form I've watched Everything About My Mother, History Boys, White Oleander, and a few others that I can't remember right now. I've partially watched Henry Poole and Notting Hill. The movies I finished watching I enjoyed (except Eclipse, for obvious reasons). The last two that I mentioned were a bit painful to watch. Too much of a drag. Too boring.

For a while I was watching Season 1 of Lost on DVD from Bass Library. It was much better than watching it on Hulu...but I didn't have time to finish it. Eventually I returned the season discs and when I came back for them, someone else had checked them out. Instead, I checked out Firefly. I actually really enjoyed Firefly. It sort of is an "odd-ball" genre, but in essence it's a Western. The opening theme ends with horses and in one episode the crew is transporting illegal cattle. That doesn't take anything away from it...The original Star Wars also fit the Western genre. Regardless it was enjoyable, and the fighting was entertaining as opposed to overwhelming. I'm in the middle of watching the movie, Serenity.

I'm also in the middle of concentrating my last batch of protein this summer. It's my final week here in New Haven. I have one week to finish any experiments and to come up with an impressive (haha) group meeting presentation.