Monday, April 25, 2005

Stairway to the stars

music

I just read The Moon Is Down, an enlightening, engaging, short, and unsatisfying novel by John Steinbeck on the futility of war and the pain conquest brings to the conquerors.
Joseph Heller (1923-1999) is my birthday-mate. Maybe I'll re-read Catch-22 in his honour.

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Elfriede Jelinek

music

I'm looking forward to reading some of her novels, and perhaps watching the movie based on "The Piano teacher."
Four hours later...
I just bought Thomas Friedman's The Lexus and the Olive Tree. I'm not quite ready for his newer (hardcover) work, The World is Flat, to which Charles Vest referred today at his lectures.

Friday, April 08, 2005

My baby just cares for me

music

I'm reading a paper about Hilbert's 17th problem, while daydreaming about glorious research breakthroughs, about future travels, the sounds of music, and all-that-jazz.
Yesterday, I watched a mellow Israeli movie titled Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi.
In about six hours, I'll be watching a dance show on campus.
So much is happening, and so much is to happen: friends' parties and dinners and such, SIAM talk, roommate moving, visiting San Diego, family coming over for my sister's graduation, taking brother to see stuff and to buy pastries, Nick's play, friends' graduation, another SIAM talk, movies, reading my stash of seven math books at home, research meetings with Xin and Maryam, candidacy, Christmas, language abroad trip, more reading and writing and research - exciting, eh?