dead woman's body washed up on the charles
this is a local news story that i've been following, because it hits pretty close to home, since i pass through that area everytime i go running along the charles. her body was washed up on shore close to the halfshell. on television tonight they said it was murder, and there were multiple stab wounds. it's pretty creepy, knowing that that area is now a crime scene.

blu-82
the u.s. military have started to drop blu-82 thermobaric bombs (takes me back to my old thermodynamic days!) onto supposed taliban targets. after seeing the footage of these large bombs dropped out of transport planes (because they're too large for fighters or bombers) with parachutes so the plane can have enough time to leave the area, i decided to do some online research on these things. they are awesome! and i say that in the same way that i'd say nuclear weapons are awesome, not because they're cool, but because they're so deadly in its design and intent. blu-82 are these 7 ton bombs that kill not through conventional shrapnel attack, but rather through an intense slow-moving fast burning shockwave. the only other type of bomb that does that are nuclear ones. blu-82's are the largest conventional bombs we have.

my two new favorite songs
me and julio down by the schoolyard by paul simon and judy is a punk by the ramones. they're both featured in the royal tenenbaums trailer. that movie's going to rock when it comes out at the end of december (wide release). figuratively and literally!

laurie's cat update
laurie told me the owners of the cat contacted her and reclaimed their pet after she put up a sign (without photo) about a lost cat found. i didn't think that cat was a stray. even though it didn't have a collar, it looked too good to be a wild cat.

note to self: when you're going home after a nice dinner in chinatown, please do not drink the whole kettle of tea! you will live to regret it on your way home!

my first day back to work after a three day weekend, courtesy of the company. i looked into the bathroom mirror this morning and my eyes weren't bloodshot anymore, sure sign that i've recuperated, at least physically, and was ready to go back into the trenches. i sort of floated through the day, sort of slowly aclimating myself to being at work again. it wasn't too bad, a company meeting in the morning, a 2 hour project meeting in the afternoon, the day went by pretty quick. best part about it is it's a four day work week for me, so the next weekend is just within reach. highlight of my day: activating the growing hand by keeping it in a large jar of water. i haven't played with one of these things since 4th grade, when my grandparents got me a little magenta alligator that i kept in the bathtub and grew it to the size of a shoe. i didn't realize you could regrow it after it shrinks and dries, so i threw it away. anyway, can't wait to go back to work tomorrow morning to see how big the hand has grown!

i gave amanda some sad story about how i didn't want to go home because there was nothing to eat so after work she and i went to chinatown for dinner. i took her to to chau, which is my favorite vietnamese restaurant in chinatown. i'm not sure if they have the best vietnamese food, but i keep on going there just because it's always been the place i go to for pho, ever since when i first started working straight out of college, back in my newmarket network days half a decade ago. exactly two weeks ago amanda and i were just a block away at buddha's delight, that vegetarian restaurant. i am fascinated by vegetarianism. not that i can ever be one (i'm malnourished as it is), but just the fact that it's such a challenge to find places to go eat that a vegetarian would like as well, since they can't eat a lot of stuff because they don't eat meat! i am fascinated by people who show such restraint! wouldn't life be much easier if they just gave in to their natural omnivorous ways and occasionally ate meat? there's a level of control, of dedication, that i admire. reminds me of myself with alcohol.

large pho!

tony eating pho

amanda eating hot and sour vermicelli (vegetarian dish)

to chau was actually sort of crowded tonight, which was good because i think they totally deserve the business, but bad because one of the things i liked about it was its seclusion. i ordered the large pho with a thai ice tea while amanda got some vegetarian hot and sour vermicelli soup. when my large pho arrived, both of us just sat there stunned. large? that thing was a porcelain cauldron. there was enough pho for 2-3 people, let alone a single person. once again, my feeding motto seems to be, always bite more than you can chew. amanda's noodle soup came and i tried some and it actually tasted pretty good. the next time i come, i think i'll order that, just with some meat on my noodles instead of just vegetables. or dinner conversation included who's my office best friend forever, a heated apologetic discussion on why amanda didn't get monday off like most of the other team members, her wedding trip to kansas city this past weekend, and her eyebrows. i asked her all sorts of personal questions about her eyebrows, and even asked that she doesn't plunk so i could see how much bushier they'd grow out (she would not grant me my request, to say the least).

afterwards, amanda and i walked to park street where our ways were parted as we said good bye until tomorrow. i went down to the red line platform to wait for the train, my special mix of ann margaret songs playing in my mp3 player. it was then i felt somebody grab my arm and spun around to see...julie and jared! what an unexpected yet pleasant surprise! they just got back from some information architecture lecture at mass art. on the train ride, julie showed me the fleece stuff she got from old navy (working right next to the mall is dangerous!). we saw this drunken man stumbling in the cabin, and i told them my anecdote about how that very same man many years ago might've groped me on the train but i marked it off as either 1) a drunken grab as he was falling, or 2) he was copping a cheap feel, but at least i still got what it takes to atttract sex offenders! at harvard, jared and i got off while julie stayed onboard. jared went upstairs, i went to my underground bus stop, and we all went home.

and of course i drank way too much tea. it wasn't even normal tea drinking. i was downing them like shots, cups after cups of tea. i didn't really feel the effects on the train, but on the bumpy bus ride back home, everytime the bus jumped i clenched my teeth and hoped to god my bladder was strong enough to carry me through until my stop. when i finally got home...sweet relief!