i work best when there's a deadline. so i'm going to work like a robot tomorrow when i have something to deliver. in the meantime however, today was yet another day of slowly pecking away at the code. i'm close, i really am, but with so much 80's music to download, it can be a bit distracting. today i went heavy on the new order, OMD and erasure, the musical staple of any asian-american kid growing up in the 80's. still, when i really needed to concentrate, i prefer the serenity of absolute silence. around lunchtime i played russian roulette with my digestive system by eating the leftover reuben sandwich from 2 nights ago. surprisingly, i didn't suffer any adverse effect. i watched about 30 minutes of crash which jawei transfered onto VCD's a week ago. and as it often is with my normal routine, i took a shower around that time as well (some people shower in the daytime, other at night, but i like mine in the afternoon apparently). later i watched some oprah, coincidentally she had on the cast of crash to do a panel discussion about race relations.

there were several events happening this evening: a haruki murakami book reading at MIT, a lecture about formerly-extinct-but-newly-discovered woodpeckers at harvard, or a free movie down in boston. in the end i met up with julie in the T station and went to the screening of waiting. the yawkey way area was pretty quiet, sort of the calm before the baseball storm that'll be arriving tomorrow. joel told us about being on grand jury duty for a quarter of a year. sara led us all in before the long line of general public people were allowed into the screening room. waiting is the kind of movie that has all the hallmarks of an instant cult classic. the humor is raunchy and envelope-pushing, and the plot is ripe with comedy, about a group of young slackers working at a chain restaurant. when they're not spending time making out with one another, or "enhancing" the food of customers they don't like, they're going around playing games like flashing their private parts. don't expect to come away from the film with any sort of deep moral message, other than to be kind to the wait staff the next time you eat at a restaurant. i haven't seen a movie this funny since 40 year old virgin, but i'd argue that this film might even be funnier because it's not trying to sell a sappy love story, but instead it's just a day-in-the-life snapshot of these restaurant workers.

later julie and i went to boston beer works for a late dinner. we were extremely polite to the waitresses. we both had burgers, and gave them a big tip when we left. riding the T back i told julie about my new look, my fall fashion forecast calls for lots of hair, i think the gays call it an otter.