Wednesday night I got to watch the President's State of the Union speech with some folks from College Republicans and the Washington County (Oregon) Republicans. There were a couple dozen of us there: women in skirts and neat makeup, men in neckties and crisp haircuts, and, well ... me. I don't get a chance to go to the CR meetings on campus because they're on Thursday nights and they conflict with my yoga class; so this was a too-rare chance to hang out with other Republicans, which I did. A very nice young woman named Lucy gave me a lift there and back, as I'm still wheel-less for the time being.
Thursday I got my Physics exam back. Didn't do quite as well as I'd hoped, but still scored 10 points above the class average. I had a screaming headache on the day of the exam and made a lot of dumb mistakes. (Memo to self: the static charge on the INTERIOR of a conductor is zero. On the surfaces, it'll gravitate toward wherever there's an opposite charge nearby ... grrrr ...)
Thursday night I went out with a couple of friends and met the artist Shahna Lax, who does amazing work in what she calls "Judeo-Islamic art", combining Muslim and Jewish motifs. She's based near Taos, New Mexico. We met up at the coffee shop at Powell's Books, made a lot of noise, and then went on to the Blue Moon for a drink and a bite to eat. Of course I didn't bring up politics; I'm "out" as a Republican to my friends, but with new acquaintances from the left-leaning arts crowd I leave it alone. (It doesn't exactly enhance my dating life, either. But I digress.)
Friday I picked up a box of "business cards" with my name and address, along with this blog's title and URL. So now I have something to give out to friends when I casually let it drop that I "keep a little web page". The cards look really sharp - Office Depot did a nice job on these.
I'm working my way through the BBC's 'Hamlet' on DVD for the second time, and I'll probably view it a few more times this week. See, the Beeb are good for a few things! This production is 3 hours and 42 minutes long, but it's worth every minute. Amazing how every time you watch Shakespeare, you can feel as if you're watching it for the first time. I like the way Prince Hamlet channels his dead father, with Ophelia playing the same role to him that Hamlet himself did for the elder Hamlet's ghost. Hope to post something on Hamlet later.
My latest obsession is Myst, the classic computer game now in its fourth installment. Each new Myst game is prettier, fancier, and gloriouser (yes, dammit, that's a word) than the last. I've played the first game (now out as RealMyst, with real-time movement), Myst 3 "Exile", and Myst 4 "Revelation", which is just incredible. Still haven't gotten Myst 2 "Riven" yet, but that's only a matter of time. And of course there are the books!
And on a much less glamorous note, I've got to get some more housecleaning and, yes, homework done today. Will post again soon. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, go check out Jeff's post about a world that lives very close to ours.
