Midterms, a road trip, and still trying to learn how to Salsa.

Not quite sure where to begin on this one. It's been a packed week.

I'll start with the bike. I'm going to restart the training program for the century race from the beginning. I have the time to do it, and seeing as I have missed about two weeks straight of rides, it would probably be better for me to go back and re-train instead of jumping headlong into the longer rides.

The Microeconomics midterm seems to have gone well. I did about as I expected: well, but I can do better. This weekend we have the chance of revising two of our answers, which is good. Still no word on the take home portion.

I did very well on the stats practice midterm, so I am not as worried about that one coming up this Thursday. I'm still studying for it though.

Watched "Motorcycle Diaries" with la mexicana, before she left to go home with some friends of hers for the break. After seeing on film the lands in the Southern Cone and Peru that I've only read about... I'm more desperate to get down there and see it myself. I would highly recommend seeing the film to anyone. The acting is good, the script is good, but the cinematography and the landscapes are what stood out to me.
It was like the continent itself was a character and a personality in the movie. It was dynamic, and fluent, and it had its own voice. The lush forests, the pampas, the mountains of Peru and Chile, the Amazon. It's an amazing land. The movie reminded me of the movie I saw in Lawrence about Taos, New Mexico, which tried to capture
the immensity of the landscape on film. I've seen Taos, and I was still impressed by the film (even though it is impossible to capture those mountains in their true form on canvas or film), which makes me think that South America is just as vast and impressive if not more. But enough of my idealizing about lands far away.

I've been thinking a lot about the movie "A River Runs Through It." I really should read the book. My dad once told us, on our... jeez... fifth or sixth viewing of that movie, that the line at the scene where Norman's girlfriend is crying over the state of her brother, that the entire point of the book, the movie, and a sad lesson of life is revealed in that one line. "Why is it that the people who need the most help never ask for it?"
I was wondering that at four AM Sunday morning, cleaning up the gumbo that one of my best friends had just vomited onto the carpet of one of our other friends. I was thinking about it later that afternoon when I told my friend (timidly, and waveringly, as if offending him would really make much difference on the matter) that he needed to stop drinking, that I was worried about his health, and that he should seek help. What kind of friend have I been to let this go on without saying something earlier? I knew it was a problem, but I always figured it would just fade with age. And on top of that I was concerned about sounding like a hypocrite. I drank with him. I didn't try to stop him from drinking so much. I haven't offered any viable or alternative activities that would keep him off the sauce.
All I could do was point him in the direction of the bathroom, get some paper towels, and drive him home in the morning. It was frustrating to see some one I respected put himself in that kind of danger. Especially some one as talented, intelligent, and witty as he is. But I don't know what I can do. He took my weak attempt at friendly intervention seriously, and he said that he would stop for a while, try and find other activities, and just stay off it for a while. He denied any need for outside help.
But that does seem to be a recurring theme in life. No one ever does really ask for help when they need it the most. I wonder if they realize it, or if they just don't think to ask?

On the better side of the evening, I got to see a lot of my friends who I had not seen for a few months (and in some cases for a year or two) as well as meet some of their friends at the colleges they go to. They seem to all be doing very well, and I'm very happy about that. All in all it was a good road trip, and I was pretty happy through most of it.

But I must admit... I missed her a lot. She comes back on Monday though. I would definitely like to see her again, and hear how her weekend went. That and have her teach me how to Salsa some more. :) I found myself thinking, "Oh, she would like that story/joke/conversation" or "Ah, she really needs to meet so-and-so, he/she's a character!" or "This would be a good song to dance to..." Since do I start hearing songs and wanting to dance? ... This is trouble. Lots of trouble.

Two of my friends are coming up on Thursday to see my crummy apartment. Sweet. More people I can torture.

Right now reading two books. Put down the Cela book for a bit and picked up "In Defense of Globalization" by Jagdish Baghwati, and a David Sedaris book (not "Me Talk Pretty One Day") at the library. So far... the Baghwati book is funnier. But I'm only halfway through the Sedaris, so it might get better soon. Maybe I just have too high of expectations after reading "Me Talk Pretty." That book had me laughing for days.
Actually, I'm a little surprised at how interesting the Baghwati book is. But I guess it is part of what I want to research, and it deals with a lot of the problems I would like to help solve. I got the name of another book from my friend which is supposed to be a good counter argument to it. At this point though, I still lean toward globalization. It has shown good results, despite certain problems. But the problems can be addressed, whereas isolationism and protectionism would only lead to more problems. But the book has brought up some interesting questions about the topics I want to write on, so it's a good preemptive "brainstorm tool," for sure.
The Cela book is just... I can't wrap my brain around it right now. I need more time, and less things floating around in my head so I can sit down and decipher it (and not just the Spanish...). Argh! I used to be a Spanish major! I used to be able to interpret and analyze books with ease! I'm losing it! :(