back to normal...

The thesis handed in, I am returning to a somewhat normal pattern of life. The Big East tournament is on TV, muted, with a baseball game (currently Washington/Houston) streaming off the 'net. It's nice to have baseball radio back again. There is much reading to be done, but no sources of mood-altering stress. Just went to Trader Joe's right when it opened, which is by far the best time to go to Trader Joe's, and stocked up on provisions. The Organic Ginger Limeade is new to me, and will be a staple of any Trader Joe's trip. It's nice on it's own, and if mixed with vodka on the rocks, would nicely accompany Thai food. Will cook dinner for K tonight, and then head over to a jam session with a professional African musician, who plays mbira music. I've been dabbling in mbira lately, and am ready to get taken to school by one of the big boys.

The Chinese New Year Parade was cool, if overrated. Highlights, aside from the expected dragon dance teams and an unbelievable amount of firecrackers, were ridiculously cute groups of kids, many of whom were dressed in pig costumes (we have entered the Year of the Boar). The parade is difficult to take pictures of, as it was constantly moving and was at night, so I borrowed one from the Chronicle. If you ever arrive slightly late to the parade, avoid Union Square, as it is so crowded that one literally cannot move through the crowd. We had good luck a little further up towards Chinatown.

The other highlight, aside from the really cute kids, was the Gavin Newsom (SF mayor, recently admitted to knocking boots with his campaign manager's attractive wife, has now entered an alcohol treatment program, not pictured) sighting. He was dressed casually in some sort of pseudo-asian silk shirt, and got rock-star level applause from the crowd. He was even with a rather attractive blond, whom I have not been able to identify, and was pumping his arms triumphantly in the air (think of th SNL skit where Darell Hammond's Bill Clinton steps up to a podium and says, "I...am...bulletproof"). The girl behind us was excited to see him. The following is a pretty good paraphrase of her commentary: "GAVIN! I LOVE YOU GAVIN! GAVIN, I WANT TO HAVE YOUR BABY! I WANT YOUR BODY GAVIN! OH MY GOD, GAVIN!" Yeah, he's gonna be just fine.