It was a simply perfect day outside, and I spent every moment of it in a radio studio, one of perhaps two people in the entire godforsaken windowless building (so designed, supposedly, to frustrate molotov-chucking student radicals of the 60's-70's; that also explains the ridiculous main staircase that only goes up three of the six floors). Couldn't it just be nauseatingly hot, dank and muggy out, like it was all last week? That would at least make me feel a little better. So, too, would you tuning in.

My whole life's changed a lot inside of two weeks, having been taken into the doctoral program here starting in the fall. Quite a change, going from planning on three more months here, to three more years. Last week's graduation rapidly switched from being The Finish Line to something rather less climactic.

Spit with Totti! - The best internet game of Euro 2004

Mike Magee - hero. I've had a hard time saying who my favorite Metro is since Clint Mathis stopped being any good (in the Swamp, anyway - that means around 2002). I get the feeling Magee is going to be that guy. Amado? Love him as a Metro, but have to always hope he craps the bed when the US plays Honduras. Gaven? Great player, but does anyone think he'll even be here in 2 years? Clark? Let's see him get his form back first - and who ever cheered their hardest for a defensive midfielder? No, Magee's just the sort of player who might score a zillion goals for the Metros, but never be flashy enough to make the big move abroad (there, now I've jinxed it).

Now listening: The High Strung - These Are Good Times. Rockin show Friday night. Rockin band.

Now reading: Robert Musil and the Crisis of European Culture. Excellent stuff that I should have had down before I wrote a paper on Musil, technology and the destabilization of empire last week.

I've decided that the best way for me to get through the next three years of study is to work on my novel at the same time right through, starting this summer (see if I can finish it, even). Countering academe with art to strike a balance between the two, or, the idea that the easiest way to carry a 60 lb suitcase in your right hand is to carry another in your left.