Long Time Gone

Yes, loyal readers; I'm still here, although preoccupied with other things. I can't believe the excitement going on as my graduation day approaches. I feel like I'm getting married! There's so much to say and so little time; I'm overwhelmed w/how much work I have yet to do. I know that I'm here due in large part to the indomitable spirit backing me in the form of friends and family. Things could not possibly have gone worse, but they were beside me all the way. A cruel illness and situation to be sure, but the survivors are coming out in full force. I have a lot to be grateful for.

Street Evangelist Saves 300 Souls From Enjoying Park SAN FRANSISCO—"All of you will burn in hellfire, so sayeth the Lord," said open-air preacher "Brother Sam" Hinson to a stroller-bound toddler and her picknicking parents. Deficit-Wracked Maryland Calls It Quits ANNAPOLIS, MD—Citing mounting debt and a decline in tourism dollars, the state of Maryland will shut down for good on August 31, Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. told reporters Monday.

I hope the pro-gun contingent is pleased that this South Korean guy was able to so easily procure weapons to commit mass murder on the Virginia Tech campus. I'm sure that's exactly what our Founding Fathers had in mind when they wrote that Amendment to the Constitution.

U.S. Ambassador to Bulungi Suspected of Making the Country Up WASHINGTON, DC-Chad Halpern, U.S. Ambassador to the West African nation of Bulungi since 1994, has been asked to return to Washington to face allegations that the country does not exist.

Other people should never be treated as gods. Note to self.

I must continue to believe in myself even when others do not, just as I must allow others to believe in me when I cannot believe in myself.

When the red flags come early and often. When honest attempts at communication are met with hostility and more confusion. When hurt feelings result in more hurt feelings. When tension begets tension. When I stop paying attention to other friends and family. When the knot in my stomach grows tighter every day, and self-confidence is replaced by self-doubt, when i am afraid to be my true self...the downward spiral grows tighter still...

Giant Cockroach In Bathroom 'A Harrowing,Kafkaesque Experience,' Grad Student Says NEW YORK-A routine toothbrushing turned into a profound exercise in nightmarish, existential horror Monday, when poverty-stricken Columbia University graduate student Marc Edelstein, 24, came across "the most gigantic cockroach this side of...

So says Madam Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who also happens to be one of my favorite bulldog-resembling women. Albright was on "The Colbert Report" recently just long enough to reveal her sense of humor and razor-sharp way of looking at world affairs. I thought the quote was too cute to omit from this blog.

My beloved elementary school principal passed away suddenly on Monday night. He came to France with us on our exchange program during 6th grade at Montclaire elementary school. I'll put some pics up here when I go home this weekend. Quite shocking, and a "remembrance of lives past." [passed?]

"They were just looking for the right neighborhood." On Easter, "As I get older and my memory fades a bit, I can hide my own Easter eggs!"

Music by Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, and Mariah Carey's recent "comeback" album, for starters.

I translated four typed pages of French correspondence between Libyan and Egyptian officials from 1930 in one day! I'm very proud of my solid and improving French skills. Mr. Lawson asked me to look at this document he found in London for an article he's researching about a border dispute between both countries involving illicit trade in livestock. Very gratifying! I love translation and wish to study more languages (are you listening, CIA?).

Involves a lot of "Colbert Report" watching. I'm relishing it! I've been having fun downloading things from iTunes and cannot wait for the chance to do more when I have a job and money to spend! Soon! On the horizon!

Going to Syria is a great idea for the most powerful woman in the American government. No joke. More later.

McCain's pro-war rhetoric is almost laughable; is he trying to court the support of the few remaining pro-war Americans? Ally himself with crazy evangelicals who are more likely to support Bush and therefore the war? I'm struggling to retain my respect for McCain.

I cannot remember where I first heard this, but it's been rattling around in my head, so I finally looked it up. It's a beautiful child's prayer from the 18th century: Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. [World Prayers] It's quite beautiful, and simple. It reminds me of books I read, like "Goodnight Moon," and "The Little Prince" as a kid. Doing yoga in my room at night reminds me of an important part of myself I thought I'd lost--movement. Realizing that I loved to dance is one of my earliest memories. Yoga reminds me just how much I miss it, and how naturally it comes to me. When I can't dance, it's like an entire language I can't speak. I'm also missing a wholeness and a sense of connectedness. I was so un-balanced and dis-placed by the trauma of the illness that so many parts of me were shuttered and abandoned. It's like they...

How totally strange it was to open the latest edition of "The Onion" and see a picture of someone I know inside! This is Elon Musk, whom my family and I knew many years ago when he was an intern with a colleague of my dad's. He's a sweet, soft-spoken guy originally from South Africa. Elon went to the University of Pennsylvania , as my dad did, where he majored in physics, as my dad did. He went on to co-found "Pay Pal," make a lot of money, and start his own space flight company. And he's in "The Onion" ! How crazy.

I watched "Borat" again today, and can't resist putting up part of the film's fictional "Kazakhstan" national anthem: Kazakhstan is greatest country in the world. All other countries are run by little girls. Kazakhstan is number one exporter of potassium. All other countries have inferior potassium. Kazakhstan is home of Tinshein swimming pool. It’s length thirty meter width six meter. Filtration system a marvel to behold. It remove 80 percent of human solid waste. Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan you very nice place. From Plains of Tarashek to Northern fence of Jew town. Kazakhstan friend of all except Uzbekistan. They very nosey people with bone in their brain. [wikipedia] Sascha Baron Cohen's brother wrote the original music for the film, including this anthem, I believe!

What is Iran thinking with its latest international attention-grabbing stunt? They've "captured" 15 British servicepeople whom they claimed were in Iranian waters illegally. That's funny; British videotape clearly shows the Brits were inside Iraqi waters at the time and that the Persians crossed out of their own territory in order to make the capture. I don't see Iran killing any of the hostages--that would go too far and provoke a major international response--unless that's what they're looking for. With all of the talk about a possible US military operation against Iran, are they looking to call our bluff? And why Britain--because they are US allies, and capturing Americans would have been too brazen? Anyway, the incident is escalating, not surprisingly, with angry Iranian demonstrators crowding around the British embassy in Tehran. With a government as oppressive and propaganda-based as Iran's, though, it must be nearly impossible to determine w...

I'm sitting at the World Ground Cafe in Oakland, contemplating an enormous, square-shaped plate of chicken caesar salad, listening to mellow music, and thoroughly enjoying myself and the day. I like this cafe a lot; it's rapidly replacing relable old Gaylord's as my central study spot. They also make a delicious iced mocha, and the quality of the salad is excellent. This is an unrelated clip of the fictitious "Borat Sagdiyev" doing publicity for his blockbuster "mockumentary":