a very large group of us descended on abyssinia last night, including some of the first-year students who haven't made an appearance since the beginning-of-the-year party. there was no beer, and i had an extended conversation with e. who tried to make luo po gao but could only find turnips and rice flour and none of the other ingredients that go into it. also, i'm pretty sure (although correct me if i'm wrong) that you have to wrap the cake in some kind of cloth before you steam it, in a manner similar to suet pudding. e. has also been hired by our lab to help the russians translate a particular psychometric scale into russki, something i find highly suspect, because (a) aren't there bilingual people in russia? (b) this is one of those top-secret things involving astronauts being sequestered in fake space capsules at the bottom of the tunguska river, and (c) shouldn't russian cosmonauts* have to know english anyway in order to communicate with the americans who are on the mission with them?

i trailed along with some people who were going to second dinner at a pizza place because they needed to carbo load for a 20-mile run, and we had beer and dina ordered the grossest buffalo wings in the history of civilization, and we discussed whether they teach you what to do if you absolutely have to puke while scuba diving (think about it). for future reference: carbo loading should not involve large quantities of melted cheese. finally, it was off to oxford marc's place for education on how to be british, and do british things the right british way god save the queen jolly good show pip pip cheerio and all that rot. there were scones, and cream, but not devonshire cream because philadelphia sucks like that, and for the last time i refuse to say it like it rhymes with bone, and i don't care how many funny looks you give me. yes, you too STARBUCKS BARISTAS. ARE YOU DOING A PHD?? there was also port and harrods bristol cream sherry and little devices to drink from which are supposed to make you cultured**, and all in all, it was a nice way to end the week.

oh, and:
1) happy birthday, von
2) if you've watched this week's battlestar galactica (blood on the scales), go back to the miniseries and watch the first scene in the CIC with gaeta and adama, and marvel at how far the show has come.


* incid, ever since watching armaggeddon, i have the ridiculous but unshakeable notion that every russian astronaut looks exactly like peter stormare.

** i remember saying a long time ago that i would put more pictures up here, and once again i have failed in my promise.