Those of who take notice of blog changes.  all four of you.  may have noticed that ads have begun popping up in and around my blogspace.  i did that. 

I figure, can't hurt.  I have made $1.75 so far.  and if i get enough to take mmf out for dinner, thats what ill do.  Interestingly, i believe that in the agreement for running the ads i am not allowed to A) click on the ads myself (i truly have better things to do) and B) I don't think im supposed to encourage my readers to click on the ads (which i wasn't thinking of doing in the first place).  This second rule is a bit strange to me as i also have the option of editing which ads are shown, to better fit my audience. 

Which means i'm essentially being asked to figure out exactly what you guys/gals would like/want/need, but then not to encourage you to get it.  it all seems very backward.  Which means it will probably work. 
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In other relevant news.  Being in my building in graduate school is becoming a metaphor.  How so?  Well, they've begun construction on the area all the way around our building.  Which means that the parking lot is gone, as well as the grassy hill where you could watch the sunset (the one beautiful thing that this building has is a great view of sunset).  Now its a dust bowl.  And the building vibrates.  And there's beeping.  This is the "new view" from my office window (which doesn't open).

home sweet home

As grad school has excavated my will to continue this "educational" process, the machines outside are reflecting this process before my very eyes.  Living a metaphor. 
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Speaking of things that are totally wrong.  I saw this scene unfold at the coffee shop over the weekend.

I'm at the counter, talking to my barista friends, when i hear a girl/woman speaking in noticeably loud Chinese (not sure which dialect).  I turn my head and see the girl sitting at "the island" talking super loud and i figure her friend (obscured by the pillar in front of me) across from her must be running over the "close talker" episode of Seinfeld in her/his mind (if Seinfeld made it to China). 

Then i turn and realize, there IS no one across from her.  This girl is rattling off a conversation, volume turned up to 11, while voice-chatting over her computer.   it was too good not to try and capture.  So, with the help of some friends, i got some surreptitious video.

Some notes on the video:  1.  it's back lit.  sorry bout that.  no control over the sun yet. 
2. The volume doesn't really come through.  You can hear her, but you can't hear how, relative to the other sounds in the shop, she was like a verbal firework going off in the center of town.  I think this has more to do with the microphone on my iPhone, more than me exaggerating the actual volume.  Enjoy:

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And.  To close.  Some words of wisdom:

A dirty dog, is a happy dog.