hope you had a great Christmas !

I meant to post about a church I visited recently but couldn't find the time. (Or, if I did post about it, I've forgotten.) Well, I was really excited to visit this church, CofR, because a friend of mine had visited it before and she was excited about the diversity of this church! LA is a big city with a lot of minority groups and when I was moving out here, my profs were really excited for me because well, I work on race and minority issues. But since getting here, a lot of the churches I've visited have been homogenous, i.e. mostly white or mostly black or mostly latino or mostly chinese, etc.

The Alt_er, which I've been going to does have people of color but it was still surprisingly homogenous. This doesn't make it a bad church, in fact, I quite like it and I've gotten really fond of my small group too. People are friendly and nice, and every now and then, because of its location, people from the street--clearly homeless--have come in for services. It is a church that opens its doors to people from all walks of life, even those who don't dress or smell right.

But the pastor at Alt_er still doesn't know my name even though he has walked by me or sat by me a few times. I think that's pretty shocking for a church that's about 100. I don't need the pastor to be my new best friend, but not to even say hello, how are you? Well, others in the church are friendly enough so you could say that the community as a church takes responsibility for welcoming strangers and newcomers, and that's a great philosophy to have.

Contrast that, however, with CofR. The one and only time I've been there, the pastor made it a point to talk to me TWICE, and he invited me to join his family for Christmas brunch when he heard I was going to be in town for the holidays. CofR is smaller (60 or so members) but they also have fewer resources available to them. Anyway, I did want to get that off my chest.

But really, I was posting because I just got back from brunch with Pastor K and family, plus a few other guests. It was delicious, simple, fun, and I got to hear more about how CofR is committed to being a church in a neighborhood that isn't at all what you would call wealthy, and where more often than not, there are very real racial tensions. The church doesn't have a website (how my friend found it is a long story) because they've been focused on being there for, and trying to meet the needs of, their local neighborhood.

So, even though I really want to commit to attending a "local" church, i.e. within a 10 min drive from my apt, I'm really thinking seriously of attending the CofR, which requires me to get on the freeway. I think I could learn a lot from this church.

This isn't to say that CofR is a perfect or even exemplary church, although obviously, I think it tries hard to model certain principles. And this isn't to say that Alt_er isn't worth going to or anything like that. There is much I respect about that church, and I will certain keep attending the small group until the end of the year, i.e. the summer. But I think it would be exciting to be at CofR.

I will say that all the churches I've visited in LA are committed to giving back to the community and providing services, resources, or friendships to people in need. This is especially true of the larger churches that have more resources at their disposal, and it has really heartened me. I'm not claiming that any of these churches are without weakness, but it does seem to me that they are doing their best to give.

Well, I had a good Christmas. It helped me pause from the madness of writing for awhile. I'll have to go back to work tomorrow. But it was really good to stop, and listen to the other kinds of stories that are floating around.

broke my heart

mixed-up

When I can actually focus my mind on work, I really do love it. But it's hard not to think of everything else that's so horrible about the field, especially now. Many schools have hiring freezes, which means people who are looking for jobs this year have far fewer positions to apply to in fields that have already been incredibly competitive. As friend N remarked the other day, higher education needs a bailout too. :)

The next two weeks of my life will be horribly stressful again if I am to make my deadlines. I will take the 25th off, and after that, I'll be going up to SF for a few days to meet up with old friends from graduate school who will be at the big annual conference for our field. I do want to see old friends but I can barely think of the trip as a true "vacation." Honestly, I can't wait for June, when the academic year ends--even though my work clock won't stop ticking then, I hope I'll be better able to leave the anxiety behind.

I still love my postdoc, but that doesn't stop me from recognizing that this is a brutal profession. I really don't know that I can recommend it to people who might consider starting a PhD program with the hopes of becoming a professor, at least not in the humanities.

happiness

I understand the difference between joy and happiness, and as much as I value joy and hope that I will always be filled with joy, I also appreciate a little happiness now and then. I really wish that other people could be infused with the same sense of well-being and peace. I have to start working in earnest after this post, so I know I won't feel quite the same way in a few minutes, but for now, I just want to rest in this moment when all worries and anxieties are held at bay, and when I'm happy to be where I am because I'm learning to be who God wants me to be.

My postdoc group had our second seminar (formal conversations about work) and after-seminar dinner (very informal hanging out!) yesterday, and I'm just so happy to be here. This group of people has been good for me so far and I'm a little sad we only get together about once a month, although I do see friends M1 and M2 from the group quite often. C_rn_ll friends J and K predicted that I would be happy here this year, and at that point, I didn't dare hope that I would be happy and I couldn't imagine that this is what "happy" feels like. But they were right and I am so glad they were right.

teasing and being teased

I read a NYT article today on the social practice of "teasing" and I realized that I only start to feel comfortable around new friends when they begin teasing me. I think it reminds me of my relatives and friends who teased me as I was growing up. Of course, teasing is different from humiliation--a form of social interaction that is unfortunately quite familiar to me as well. Even though I am for the most part well-socialized, cross-cultural forms of "teasing" can be difficult to negotiate or learn, and that must be partly why it has been difficult for me to build friendships with some Americans.

holiday

The week isn't over yet but I think I will be a little presumptuous and call this a very good week. I woke up this morning and I was so happy to be alive, and I felt nearly as good the past few days too. Amazing.

After work yesterday, I thought to myself "It's really nice to be done with the dissertation!" and I do believe that life after filing is much more enjoyable, except that for the past two months it didn't often feel that way. Nothing has really changed in my life: I still struggle to focus on my work, I'm still single, I still have the same number of friends here in LA, and I still mostly feel inadequate and shy in public situations.

But I feel like I'm on an emotional and spiritual "holiday." I hope it stays this way for awhile especially since I also woke up to the fact that I have a ton of work to do between now and June 2009.

Happy Thanksgiving

I spent this Thanksgiving volunteering at a celebration for the homeless and others who need a place to go, organized by a few churches in the area. Besides food, people could also come for haircuts or to see a doctor. It was a little chaotic, so for a very short while, I helped out at the podiatric medical station. I helped wash people's feet. That wasn't at all easy for me! Some of these feet looked like they hadn't been washed in ages. And I'm a bit OCD, so . . .

Thankfully, that didn't last long and I was shifted to the dining room where I was a "runner," i.e. someone who runs from the table to ask for more food (how many plates, etc.) or to get more juice/water/napkins, etc. That was a lot easier although some of our visitors were equally unwashed. I was very impressed when I saw families there volunteering together. Some of these parents/grandparents brought young kids there to help out in any little way, and I thought that was amazing and wonderful.

As I was leaving the auditorium after a few hours there, I bumped into an elderly couple and offered to drive them to the bus stop which turned out to be very far away. I don't know how they would've made it as the lady had a lot of trouble with her hips. It turns out that they just moved down from SF and are staying with friends until they find an apt. Well, I didn't ask too much more because I didn't want to pry. But these are hard times.

By the time I got home, I was too tired to go back out to a Thanksgiving dinner hosted by a couple from Alt_er. I didn't really feel like going anyway because I don't really know this couple (was invited by another friend from the same church). A bit too shy, although it would've been good for me to meet more ppl from the church.

thinking good thoughts:

This made my day.

life is fun

Today, I found out that I will have to learn to do very quickly what I already knew I would have to learn to do but I hadn't yet started learning to do what I need to do now. A fire has been lit under my butt and even though I know this is good for me, I just wish the stakes weren't quite so high. This is what happens when you think, "Oh, well, I have time . . . ."

Yes, this is work related. I knew that this year would be an exciting year but somehow, nevertheless, I always seem to be taken by surprise. Maybe I need to learn to work as if I don't have time and never will have the time . . . . then again, that sounds like a recipe for heart disease.

hahaha

"Dissertation titles are the butt of many jokes, but they aren't funny to the author. Some dissertations give the impression they were named by clinicians in white coats, determined to provide as technical a description of the contents as language will permit. Other dissertation titles soar into abstraction as if the goal were to conceal the manuscript's subject, and maybe even the discipline in which it was written" (84).

Yeap. I can relate.

courage that I need

"I warned earlier that revision is really at transformation out of one form of writing into another. That transformation might be thought of this way: the dissertation is the historical record of others' ideas, supplemented by your own important insights; the book is the narrative of thinking on the subject, but primarily it's your own thinking, even though it is supplemented by the historical record of others' ideas. If this generalization is valid, it means that a young author can't write a book without risking intellectual self-exposure. That risk, by the way, is one of the most important parts of being a writer, even a scholarly writer. And it isn't the risk of being found wrong, for scholars are always moving an idea along by fits and starts. It's the risk of finding you have nothing to say. Learning to take that risk, even to want to take that risk, is part of a scholar's development" (pg 67, William Germano, From Dissertation to Book).

"Writing is a risk, and a risk is exciting, and excitement is something you will fight to sustain in your professional life as you age and your students don't" (125).

I am one of the most risk-averse people I know.

withdrawal symptoms

Should've paid $5 extra for 2-day shipping so that my new baby would be delivered by Friday. Now I have to wait until Monday for it to come!!

This Friday, I also have a professional engagement that requires me to be voluble about my work. Don't want to go into that here. I'm so nervous, but I recognize that this is a good opportunity for me to learn to speak without having my brain shut down on me. The part where my brain shuts down isn't really within my control though.

Maybe I should find a job that doesn't require me to open my mouth.

need to post more often

When I was trying to fall asleep last night, I composed a blog post in my head. But forgot everything this morning. I need to post more often because my mind is like a sieve.

Anyway, my laptop crashed and refuses to start so yesterday I ordered a new laptop, one that I've been salivating over for the past few months, thanks to friends who have also been looking out for new laptops. Deciding to purchase the Asus eee was a lot less painful because of their painstaking research!

I really like this model because it is light, has a solid state drive, and still manages to retain an almost normal-sized keyboard (95%). And oh yeah, the price isn't bad either. I think there are other models out there for about the same price or cheaper but they use regular hard drives instead of the SSD.

This also means that I will have to make the shift over to Linux--I'm nervous--but since there are fewer viruses out there that are targeted at Linux, it should mean fewer crashes!! I'm tired of losing my files and settings.

The next time the humanities center here holds a "home computer clinic," I'll bring my old laptop in and have them reinstall Windows because it's a free service anyway. The computer they've set up for me in my office (the one I'm using to type this post!) is also Windows so if I really need Windows, I'll have access to it. I could get the clinic to install Windows on my new laptop as well but I think I'm ready to give Linux a try.

a little more activity

I took a "sick day" yesterday and just stayed home. Later this afternoon, I will be helping a couple from the small group pack as they need to move out of their house next week. Apparently, gang members have been hanging out in their backyard and the police told them not to approach the gang.

0_0

church-hunting

So, I guess I got stuck in the last church I tried out, i.e. I've been going to Alta_r (V_neyard affiliated) for the past few weeks now. I tried out one of their small groups (twice) and will be going to a small-group potluck tomorrow. I think I'll just stir-fry some asparagus in garlic and bring that. Don't feel up to anything that requires thought and preparation.

(Although, if someone wants to share their recipes with me, they'd be welcomed!)

That reminds me--I need to go grocery shopping tonight.

I don't know if I should stay with this church or keep looking. Finally, thankfully, heard their regular pastor preach this past Sunday. Prior to that, the youth pastor was speaking for a few weeks, and frankly, that drove me nuts. I think pastors employ a certain kind of rhetoric to reach out to "youth" and that's great but I don't really want to listen to it anymore. The regular pastor isn't bad.

But I must confess that it would be wonderful to find a congregation aimed at academics. I know, I know, you're rolling your eyes. But I hear so many different kinds of questions and positions in academia that I sometimes long for a pastor who would help provide some kind of perspective within that context. But I'm not saying that the pastor at Alta_r was irrelevant to me. In fact, he preached a pretty good sermon on discontent.

So I guess I'll stay on. The people in the small group are nice, especially J_n and his wife L_z, who host the group in their home. I suspect though, that I'm staying on because Alta_r's service begins at 6pm on Sundays (good for sleeping in and being lazy) and because I'm too lazy to find other churches and visit them.

life is going well (most of the time)

Briefly, life as a postdoc is going well besides the fact that I'm finding it hard to work. There are days when I am just over the moon about what being here this year will mean--attending interesting lectures, working with a really friendly and supportive postdoc group, having access to a great library (even if I do prefer Cornell's), and the possibility that I will be able to learn more as I read, write, and teach. And I will be doing all this in warm and sunny Southern California!! (Never mind the high rent and the fact that everything is always at least a 30 minute drive away.)

And then there are days when I am inexplicably depressed and can't seem to figure out why I'm so down. Some people think it's just the post-big-project funk, and one person told me yesterday that it usually takes most people about a year to recover from dissertation writing.

I need to get my act together quicker than that, but mostly, I just want to enjoy my time here!!!! Theoretically, I know that I'm in a very good place but I want to feel good about it too every day!!! Every single day. Every single day.

Oh, and I absolutely adore my new faculty mentor. I think I have a girl crush on her. (For a definition of what a girl crush is, read this New York Times article.)

risking repetition (excerpt from Nouwen's "The Prodigal Son")

At issue here is the question: "To whom do I belong? To God or to the world?" Many of my daily preoccupations suggest that I belong more to the world than to God. A little criticism makes me angry, and a little rejection makes me depressed. A little praise raises my spirits, and a little success excites me. It takes very little to raise me up or thrust me down. Often I am like a small boat on the ocean, completely at the mercy of its waves. All the time and energy I spend in keeping some kind of balance and preventing myself from being tipped over and drowning shows that my life is mostly a struggle for survival: not a holy struggle, but an anxious struggle resulting from the mistaken idea that it is the world that defines me.

As long as I keep running about asking: "Do you love me? Do you really love me?" I give all power to the voices of the world and put myself in bondage because the world is filled with "ifs." The world says: "Yes, i love you if you are good-looking, intelligent, and wealthy. I love you if you have a good education, a good job, and good connections. I love you if you produce much, sell much, and buy much. There are endless "ifs" hidden in the world's love. These "ifs" enslave me, since it is impossible to respond adequately to all of them. The world's love is and always will be conditional. As long as I keep looking for my true self in the world of conditional love, I will remain "hooked" to the world--trying, failing, and trying again. It is a world that fosters addictions because what it offers cannot satisfy the deepest craving of my heart.

(pg 42)

Finished the dissertation about two weeks ago. Other deadlines to meet this week--not as stressful but still feeling burned out so work is going slow.

More thoughts another time.

last stretch

Will need to file the dissertation either at the end of this week or the beginning of next week. I'm so exhausted I can hardly think anymore. Will just do what I can and that's that. Hopefully, my committee will sign the forms, the formatting will be approved and everything will go well.

aaahhhhh . . . .

I need to focus . . . . focus . . . . focus . . . .

Only two more weeks left!!! I need to focus for two more weeks.

nothing new

Still trying to finish the dissertation. Writing sucks. I've decided that I will be happy if I write two pages a day.

This past Sunday, I went to a Vin_yard church and an English service at a Chinese church close to my apartment. The Vineyard is a bigger church with more ministries, of course, and they were quite hospitable too. Their pastor made it a point to invite new people to a brief get-to-know-you session after the service.

I've always felt awkward at Chinese churches here in the US but it is closer to my apartment. The English-speaking congregation is very small and I got the feeling that they weren't used to having visitors. :)

But I suppose I should give both a chance. The Chinese church has a small group that meets on Friday nights so I'll check it out this week. I prefer to attend a church that is close to my apartment and I think Vineyard is about as far as I'll drive (about four miles from my apartment). I've also emailed a couple of fellowship groups at UCL_ but haven't gotten a single reply. Can't help making comparisons with CICF at C_rnell. Not replying to an email inquiry would be unheard of at CICF.

up and down

I think I have to be very careful in the next month or so. While I did take a break from work when my mom and sis were here, I realized today that I am still stressed out by the fact that the dissertation isn't completed yet. Getting back to work has been quite difficult and I am more anxious than I would like to be.

FedEx has also been giving me a lot of trouble and a customer advocacy representative finally assured me today that I will be able to pick up my package with the paperwork I need to submit to UCLA. They "misplaced" the package, can you believe it.

But I do know that if I weren't already so stressed out and anxious, I wouldn't let this incident affect me the way it has. I look forward to walking to this FedEx store to pick up my package. They won't even deliver it to my apt. Ridiculous.

Okay, time to let go. Sigh.

in LA

I got here safely as scheduled on Aug 26. Since my arrival, I've been busy buying and setting up furniture, replenishing my toiletries and kitchen stuff and getting my car serviced. Spent some time driving around with my mom and sis but since my mom was here longer, she got really tired of LA traffic. It really is horrendous. Everything is always a thirty-minute drive away because of the traffic. I hope I won't have to do much driving.

Don't have time right now to blog about the trip but I will say that we were all safe despite a couple of scares with the car. My itinerary was truly crazy and I hope I won't ever have to drive cross country again. If I do, it'll have to be a much shorter route with more breaks in between destinations. But really, I don't want to drive cross-country again.

As we all know, being with family can sometimes be difficult but I do miss my family now especially because I still have to find new friends and orient myself to the place.

And it really doesn't help when I have to start writing again tomorrow. It was impossible to work during the cross-country trip and now I have to get back into gear. I think I'm about half to two-thirds done with unpacking. I hope. But I do have my home office set up now.

I miss Ith_ca.

couldn't resist

I keep saying I won't be blogging for awhile and then I go ahead and blog anyway. I'm in Yonkers right now, at a friend's apt. Friend K is away at a conference and has kindly agreed to let my mom and I stay at her apt for two nights. After I picked up my mom from the Newark airport (at the end of a VERY long day full of misadventures and mishaps), we drove up here and Friend K has internet!

We leave tomorrow morning for NYC where we'll stay at a hostel until Friday afternoon when my sister flies in. Oh yeah, I leave my car here too so that I don't have to worry about parking on the street in the city.

Anyway, I found this post from Uncle Paul's site and thought I'd re-post it because I like it so much. I've been struggling really hard with saying goodbye to a phase of my life and this reminds me of how much I still have.

If I get internet wherever I am for the next two weeks, I'll try to post. I just hope my cross-country trip will be quiet, calm, and beautiful. I don't want "exciting," "adventurous," or even "rich."

When I was talking with an old friend on Monday about how the last few years have been, we used the adjectives "rich" and "full." In my mind, those two words are now euphemisms for certain types of experiences that I would prefer not to have. Well, at least not too frequently.

God Lives Under his bed

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

My brother Kevin thinks God lives under his bed.

At least that's what I overheard him say one night. He was praying in his darkened bedroom and I stopped outside his door to listen.

"Are you there, God?" he said. "Where are You?"

A pause-and then, in a relieved voice, "Oh, I see. Under the bed."

I giggled softly and tiptoed off to my own room.

Kevin's unique perspectives are always a source of amusement. But that night something else lingered long after the humor. I realized for the first time the very different world Kevin lives in.

He was born 30 years ago, mentally disabled as a result of labor difficulties during birth. Apart from his size (he's 6'2"), there are few ways that he is an adult. He reasons and communicates with the capabilities of a seven-year old.

He probably will always believe that God lives under his bed, that Santa Claus fills the space under our tree every Christmas, and that airplanes stay in the sky because angels carry them.

I remember wondering if Kevin was ever dissatisfied with his monotonous life. Up before dawn each day, off to work at a workshop for the disabled, home to eat his favorite macaroni and cheese for dinner, and later to bed. The only change in this routine is laundry day, when he hovers excitedly over the washing machine like a mother with a newborn child.

But he does not seem dissatisfied. He lopes out to the school bus every morning at 7.05am, eager for a day of work; he wrings his hands excitedly while the water boils on the stove before dinner; and he stays up late twice a week to gather our dirty laundry for his next day's chores.

And Saturdays-oh, the bliss of Saturdays! My dad takes Kevin to the airport to have a soft drink, watch the planes land, and speculate loudly on the destination of each passenger. "That one's going to Chi-cargo!" he'll shout and clap his hands. He can hardly sleep on
Friday nights in anticipation.

I do not think Kevin knows what it means to be discontent. He will never know the entanglements of wealth or power, and he does not care what brand of clothing he wears or what kind of food he eats. He recognizes no difference in people, treating all as equals and as friends.

His needs have always been met, and he never worries that one-day, they may not be. His hands are diligent. Kevin is never so happy as when he is working. When he unloads the dishwasher or vacuums the carpet, his heart is completely in it. He does not shrink from a
job, and he does not quit a job until it is finished.

But when his tasks are done, Kevin knows how to relax. He is not obsessed with his work or the work of others. His heart is pure too. He believes everyone tells the truth, that promises must be kept, and that when you are wrong, you apologize. Free from pride and unconcerned with appearances, Kevin is not afraid to cry. He is always sincere.

And he trusts God. Not confined by intellectual reasoning, when he comes to Christ, he always comes as a child. In my moments of doubt and frustration, I envy the security of his simple faith. Yet, it is then I realize and am humbled that perhaps he is not the one
with the handicap.

My obligations, my fears, my pride, my circumstances all become disabilities when I do not give them away to Jesus. Maybe Kevin can comprehend things I may never learn. He has spent his whole life in innocence, after all, talking to God, who lives under his bed, and
soaking up the goodness and love of the Lord.

One day, when the mysteries of Heaven are opened, we will all be amazed at how close God really is to our hearts. But Kevin won't be surprised at all...

- Author Unknown

tired and then some

Most of my books and clothes have been packed and mailed. Need to pack everything else tomorrow and then ship off the last few boxes of books and papers and STUFF. I am absolutely exhausted. But I need to spend today working on Ch 3.

Need to sort out some financial matters on Monday too before I drive down to Newark to pick up my mom. It looks like I'll have to continue revising Ch's 2-3 while I'm on the road. When I get to LA I'll have to rewrite the Intro and revise, as much as I can, Ch's 1 and 4.

May not be blogging or checking out people's blogs for the next two weeks.

no-o-o-o-o-o . . . .

I think I'm going to miss Ithaca when I leave. I'm getting that sinking feeling in my stomach already. Crap.

Those of who haven't seen The Dark Knight really SHOULD. I loved it!!!! Ranks higher than Spider-man II!!! And yes, better than Pirates of the Caribbean. No kidding. Go see it. In the cinema. Don't wait for the DVD.

Finished revisions for Ch 4, PRAISE GOD. Besides the introduction which I hope to begin writing after I get to LA, the revisions for Ch 4 were the most overwhelming. I don't know if I tied all the threads together but I've done all I can for the time being.

The process of securing the apt is 98% completed. I can start packing and shipping my books and winter clothes.

My car has been checked up and it is all ready to go.

I'm trying not to worry about things I can't control. :) Like my mom's and sis' flights. I have an awful feeling that I've forgotten something important but I can't think what it is.

wrapping up

I've begun the process of securing an apartment. Friend C has viewed a number of apts for me and this last one sounds like it will make for a safe haven within my budget during my first year in LA. Once the landlord goes through the credit process, I can start packing and mailing my books, papers, and winter clothes to LA. I'm not looking forward to the process! I hate moving.

I also hate saying goodbye and I'm surprised by how I hate the thought of leaving now.

All this, and still more work to do. Couldn't really work much this weekend. I think my body is really starting to say no.

huh???

after cicf tonight, i got home and found the letter from the gov. the thing is, i'm not sure i know what they want!!

BUT, at the same time, it seems to be as small as "we need an ORIGINAL signature" as in, not a photocopy of the signatures. but does that mean i have to submit the ORIGINAL form that i got from UCLA?? what if it gets lost in the mail??

anyway, i don't have to do anything until monday when the administrative offices open.

i'm just so relieved to know that it really could be a very minor thing.

what a nightmare

Got an email late last night saying that they've mailed out a letter requesting more "evidence" for my visa application. I won't know what they need until I get the letter. Trying not to worry but it's been really tough.

Won't be able to get health insurance through UCLA until the visa comes so it looks like I'll have to pay for private health insurance until I get the visa (or get rejected). Need to figure out how to find affordable health insurance.

Need to treat this as a "call to prayer." Every time I start worrying, it's time to pray!

Sigh. Never-ending.

Friend M looked at a nice small studio for me in S_nt_ Monica but she says for the price I'd be paying, I should keep looking around. The landlord to one other studio in roughly the same neighborhood sounded like a very not-nice-guy so I told Friend M she shouldn't even bother to look. We're still waiting to hear back from another landlord for a studio in W_stw__d which would be much closer to my new office/school. Most studios are going for about $1200 a month!

Also still waiting to hear back from Friend C about the apts she's looking at for me this weekend. She's looking at places in W_st L_ for me.

No word on the new visa, although when I was on the phone with peeps at U_LA, they thought I'd probably get it in time. I think they were trying to make me feel better after they stressed me out by telling me that I really need the visa or I won't be paid.

Work goes at a snail's pace. Fighting despair, fatigue, and anger all in turn.

Had a nice dinner at Sticky Rice with a couple of M'sian friends. Probably won't see them for awhile now as one of them works for X_rox in R_chester and the other will be starting a consulting position at M_cKenz__'s in P_ttsburg.

Then had a nice long walk and talk with Friend J_n after dinner.

It was really good to be with friends who aren't demanding and who don't stress me out.