there is this great spanish TV show starring an american character named sam, and i laugh at myself because i can understand the spanish much better in his slow american accent. it's kind of saved by the bell, but i like it.

oh, my god. even better: "hoobs." they're kind of like gummi bears but furry. maybe more like the fraggles? but not that good. and british.

i should probably not smoke first thing in the morning.

ohhh, rock on, the hoobs *are* a jim henson production.

last night was nice. tyler and i celebrated him turning in his paper. smoking in the backyard, watching _the big lebowski_, eating mashed potatoes and celebrations. although, as tyler noted, some of the chocolate flavo(u)rs are not so celebratory.

came home in a cab--doubt i could have navigated the buses even if they'd still been running.

now i'm up a bit too early but want to be awake when K leaves for work.

what else has been going on? hmmm. ummm. back to class--that's a welcome feeling. i have missed the language instruction, and it's made even sweeter by knowing i don't have any other classes to concentrate on this term.

i feel all limited and shit. by this new blog, and not knowing how specific i can be. fine. my language is hebrew, so there. ancient, not modern.

everyone download this now. this is what mr. pants has to say about it: "Cilla sings a Lionel Richie song while sweater-clad children sloooowly pop-n-lock around her house. She sings to them about an all-night party and then shows them the door. Merry Christmas. oh, also, what is wrong with that kid in the green pants? that kid freaks me out."

on TV right now: a mexican religious group that combines catholic and mayan beliefs. they have a healing ceremony in which the central sacrament is coca-cola--administered to encourage burping, in order to expel evil spirits.

it's been a strange day. saw "y tu mama tambien" with marie and her ukrainian friend. had a couple drinks. joined K, stan, et al at our pub. madness. everyone was out of control and there was a table of rat-assed american students. one of their women folk was celebrating her 21st. she kissed several members of her group, male and female. she apparently had already hit on K before i got there. then she puked all over the bathroom door. ah well. i've been there. the puking part anyway... yeah, so stan was being stupid and i was laughing at it all but really i was glad to get home. K sleeps while i type and watch TV.

i am learning a lot of patience in my life. i think it's good for me. but damn it's difficult.

oh, and today was the first hebrew class in the term. it was *so* good to be back with my awesome hebrew professor and my two fellow students. sunny breezy outside, coffee and time magazine during an extralong break. grammar.

hi, i am in love and i am happy.

K and i have been watching '24' on the BBC. it is gripping. last night i made spaghetti with roasted sweet peppers, chili, and garlic. and parsley and parmesan cheese. and we drank wine. i was tired. very tired. today i am not tired. he will be home soon soon yay! he is cooking tonight. he is in a wonderful mood because he gave a lecture today and during it he played the music i've introduced him to, and he danced, and yay.

i have the best book. the best best book. it's a cancelled volume from the oriental institute. get ready:

_four-syllable idiomatic expressions in vietnamese_ by nguyen dang liem.

how beautiful is that? ericka, you must must see this book.

four idioms involving rice: com cao gao kem--"expensive cooked rice, scarce uncooked rice; high cost of living." com lanh canh ngon--"healthy rice, tasty soup; i.e., harmony in family." com thua ca can--"scraps of rice and fish; scraps of food, impoverished situation." com trang ca tu'o'i--"white rice, fresh fish; good food."

i'll post some of them every once in a while. it's accidental poetry again. this book is great. it's part of a series of occasional papers from the east-west center at the university of hawaii. it was published in 1969.

some things i really like about england:

1) NHS. now that i am registered. i went to the doctor on this sunny saturday morning and asked, nicely, if i could get a note that says i've been sick for two weeks and will be sick until, oh, say...tuesday. and he wrote me one, on the offical sick note stationary. because it's true, and it's been impeding my work, and i am so tired of chunks coming out of my sinuses.

2) flowers everywhere!

3) "pop idol"--this TV show where people from different cities show up and do a little a cappella rendition of a pop song and then talent scouts tell them if they're any good or not, and then if they win they get to be famous. i am amazed by the ratio of famous people to regular people here in the UK. i think it's much higher than the ratio of stars to regular people at home in the states. why, i don't know. i have never even heard of about 70 percent of british celebrities. my continuing education in this field takes place if i wake up early enough on a saturday to watch TV. that and my consumption of the magazine portion of every major newspaper: the guardian, the times, and, um...the sunday telegraph...what else? i don't know. but i read a lot of newspaper magazines.

things that make me sad: yesterday was gorgeous. blue blue and yellow. and i wanted to be in gambier with my friends. but K and i had an afternoon in the pub and a roll around on the grass in the park, and i went to synagogue, and i was okay until i stopped for a drink with my friends and then i was all feverish again and had to go home and sleep. so i guess 1) not being in gambier this weekend and 2) continuing unexplained illness.

today i have the flat to myself. i am going to clean up everything i have cluttered. i am going to work on my essays. and i am going to take it easy and sleep and try to feel better, even though this is april 20th and i should be doing something else.

http://bipolarity.blogspot.com has been temporarily removed from the internet.

it will return in an edited form.

a big "fuck you" to a soulless bastard who calls himself "fayez," for being a (for lack of an adult category for what he did) tattletale. he emailed the administrators at my graduate school and informed them of the existence of my diary. censorship is so alive and well.

a big "thank you" to the administrators of my program, who stayed late on a friday afternoon to talk with me about this matter. we had a very nice conversation and i must say i had no idea what the centre's president might be like, but i found out today that he is a genuinely caring and fascinating man. also, much thanks to my friends for coming to my defense on my guestbook. long live internet journaling: honesty, candor, expression, and communication--all in a convenient and time-stamped format.