it's over. move to somnia.

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What I Did During the Second Full Week of My Fall Vacation by Mike, Age 24.5

Item #1: My parents called up to say they'd bought a new car, a Honda CR-V, which means that they now have three cars between the two of them and would I like to take the well-worn Jeep off their hands? I hesitated at first, since I am defiant about living car-free, it's hard to park around here, I don't want to be responsible for its defacement blah blah blah...wait a minute! I could do that driving cross-country thing that seems so popular with the kids today! And check out various graduate programs while I'm at it! (Hmmm, maybe I'd better pick the car up before then, so I can run some errands here in town. And go out hiking and exploring. And stay out in SF after midnight.) The only snag is that I don't want to leave until after the Berkeley International Affairs Graduate School Fair (see below) next week... Then I'm going to a wedding on November 10... Thanksgiving is November 21... well, crap. That doesn't give me any more than two free weeks at a time until December. Not a good time to check out Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Item #2: Last week I shadowed my (now ex-)roommate* Sarah, who is in the master's program in public policy at Berkeley. I was curious; I have a tendency to discount something out-of-hand if the name of it sounds too dry to me, but I had an inkling it might be of interest. It was, but what most captivated me was the lunchtime discussion group on international affairs, which is apparently a sorely-missed (by some students) part of the policy/governance landscape. I did a little more background research and reflected on my desire for a deeper political and economic education, and I thought to myself: International Affairs! Of course! Here I'd been thinking about doing a master's in geography (because it's safe and familiar), but wanted something with a more professional orientation, and it was right under my nose! I checked out APSIA and grew more intrigued. I told Sarah about my revelation and she replied, "It makes perfect sense for you! It's like the marriage of geography and public policy!" And damned if interdisciplinary isn't my middle name! So I'm fairly excited that Berkeley is hosting a whole mess of events next week to do with international careers and graduate programs.

Item #3: I've spent entirely too much time online as of late, reading and posting to forums discussing things like music trivia, cultural literacy, and other silly pursuits. (See if you can figure out who I am!)

Item #4: Yoga! Iyengar and Ashtanga! Different styles! Different instructors! One of whom was like a drill sergeant! During whose class I somehow injured my back! Which now hurts like hell! Fucker!

Item #5: I've gone to some of the SF Open Studios: for three weekends in October every year, the approximately five billion artists in San Francisco open the doors to their studios and the public gets to see and buy work from up-and-coming avant-gardistes. I would love to get involved in the art community somehow, but I just don't know where to start.

Item #6: I've expanded my cinematic horizons and watched Rashomon and American Mullet on the big screen. Each is compelling in its way.

Item #7: Just, you know, hanging out. Going out. Talking to people. I went to a party Saturday night and met my roommate's friend's coworker's college friend, who happens to also be my ex-roommate's girlfriend's classmate (as well as my ex-roommate's high-school friend's ex-girlfriend). For those keeping score of degrees of separation (DOS) at home, that would be Mike-Rex-Will-Henry-Cindy; Mike-Albert-Debbi-Cindy; and Mike-Albert-Martin-Cindy.


* It was kind of sad: she had just gotten settled into the house, but her girlfriend and her commute necessitated that she move to a solo apartment closer to campus--in the middle of the semester. Talk about tough.
peachy as always, Mike at 5:37 PM