Just got through my first day of classes for the Economics graduate program. One day down... at least four more years to go. Everyone in the program seems to be very nice. I'm espescially liking the math focus of the program. Its going to be a rough year, but I need to get the math and the theory down before I can do any good out there.

I seem to be haunted by the Ottoman Empire these days. That is to say... Turks. Espescially Turkish girls. My last year in undergraduate I met two very lovely Turkish girls. One however could not speak English very well, and the other was... well... she had her own "Quijote" thing going. Vaya con dios, doña Turca: perhaps our paths will meet again. Until then, please stop stealing soccer balls from the poor Brazilians.
But seriously, I met a very cute girl at orientation from Turkey. Seems rather nice, and doesn't seem like the type of person who would go down a child's slide about thrity times in a row for no apparent reason. I'm beginning to think though that the Ottoman Empire is out to get me somehow. They took Cervantes' hand (at Lepanto, as legend has it)... perhaps they're after me now. Hm.... or maybe I'm paranoid.

Finished up most of my homework this afternoon, and might head down to an acoustic jazz show for an hour or two to relax. Plus its free, from what I hear... if its not... then I come home and listen to my stereo. Maybe go back to the carrel and do some work. See a pretty Turk. Life is good.

Today was my rest day for the bicycle, so I went to a Yoga class in the morning to try and stretch out. Godawful music, only three other people there, and I discovered that I not only can't stretch, but I have no balance. On the other hand, my legs feel ten times better and I'm seriously considering going back next week.

As far as the bike status goes, I started training for the century this Monday with an easy paced ride of 10 miles (though I only made 9, no thanks to the fact that I made bad calculations in my head from km to miles). Then on Tuesday I went 15 miles instead of 12 (thanks again to my poor metric conversions). Wednesday I decided to work out the calculations with a calculator, and actually hit the exact goal for the day of 14 miles (a tenth of a mile over but... eh). All of this done between 7:00 AM and 8:15ish. Not bad. I'm amazed I can still get up that early and function well for the rest of the day. In fact I think I function better. I'm a little ticked at the traffic all the way back from White Rock Lake, but such is Dallas. Tomorow I'm supposed to ride 12 miles, and Saturday is my first long ride (50 miles... ouch). I'm a little discouraged due to the fact that I can't break more than 14 mph on my average speed. At that pace I would finish the century in 7 hours, not counting rests. Yeah. So once I get the distances down I need to focus on speed. The target average speed for this month is 12.5-15 mph, and I'll try and up it next month. Of course the big bike news is that I cleaned my chain and replaced my brakes ALL BY MYSELF! YAY! I'M A BIG BOY NOW! ... okay that's just creepy. Yeah, now I need to figure out how to change a tire while on the road and then I'm pretty much set.
Hm... wonder if any of the other first-years want to join me in this crazy endeavor... I wonder if the Turk has a bike... ah, life is good.

See... this is what happens when I don't have my bass to kill time with. TV just doesn't cut it anymore.

Speaking of my bass... I miss it. The low grumbling E espescially. I miss my bow. I miss playing music...

I also miss my family very much, and hope they're having a good time on their respective coasts.

Yes. The Economics class, the Turk joke (and it is a joke, mind you, I just find the whole situation funny), the bike, the bass... a good first post. Enjoy the day.

Reading:
"Clandestine in Chile" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (based on interviews of the Chilean film director Miguel Littin).

Listening to:
"Illinoise" by Sufjan Stephens.