i am sickened by the self righteous animal lovers of San Francisco who rail against the young men recently attacked by a tiger at our city zoo. i feel as though i'm surrounded by a pack of savage primitives, with a perverted sense of justice that involves feeding our delinquent youth to wild animals.

apparently the two survivors escaped, sought help, were ignored, and were attacked a second time by the tiger before it was shot by police. i can't think of anything more horrifying, and frankly can't blame them for being uncooperative with the authorities.

a tiger enclosure should be designed to keep a tiger from escaping even in the event of taunting and provocation. there's no way around that.

woring in teams to build real things. talking with people about problems that matter. getting things to work that need to work. i'm back where i started, and back where i belong. i love pondering angels on the head of a pin- but it can't compete with the frenzied focus of a high stakes discussion on how to fix something that *must* be fixed. it can perhaps, but not according to my current set of values, where what matters is immediate and tangible.

Several exciting things have happened to me recently, and I've been meaning to record them:

In jamba juice two days ago I received a free smoothy for being able to juggle!! Years of practice have finally yielded a financial reward.

Today, I survived an attempted poisoning on my flight from San Diego to Oakland. I definitely asked for orange juice, but instead was surprised by a mouthful of something closer to battery acid. "oh, i'm sorry. didn't you want vodka mixed with that?" Why do these things happen to me? Maybe my sobriety has annoyed the deity of getting hammered. Maybe the flight attendant was on crack.

Having fun above yosemite falls:

My leisurely walk home from lab last night (at 4 in the morning) was interrupted by an exciting robbery in progress. The hip-hop clothing store right under my apartment had its lights on, and a cop was in front of it talking to people inside. Suddenly, he pulled out his gun and started yelling at them to get on the ground. This made it impossible for me to enter my front door, and when I asked him what I should do, the cop told me to go around the corner. He radioed for backup and in less than 30 seconds patrol cars were converging on the store from all directions. The street was filled with officers, many of whom had their guns drawn. The robbers offered no resistance, and were quickly cuffed and carted away.

The excitement level in my neck of the woods is set on high; this morning as I left my apartment, there was a car crash right in front of me! This poor girl in an SUV didn't leave enough space while taking a corner, and crunched into a parked delivery truck. The truck seemed fine, but her SUV sustained considerable damage, including a popped tire.

In case robbers ever enter our lab, Adilla and I will shoot them with water guns!

Art class, final project:
Each person draws one twelfth of a Georgia O'Keeffe flower.
Here we are in front of the masterpiece:

The Audacity of Hope is great! Barack Obama has given me a perspective on politics that I've never known before. He is thoughtful, impassioned, and truly engaged in the entire process. His book left me with the same feeling I had after reading Franklin's autobiography- that real change is possible, and within my reach. My favorite part is where he explains the workings of constitutional law in a way that makes it seem like the most interesting thing in the world. Also, I like it where he says that his wife can rack up parking tickets like nobody's business. :-)

He admits to having had a relatively easy ride to the Senate, and perhaps because of this, many people ask if he has what it takes to persevere in a tough national contest. What I wonder is why there isn't more emphasis on whether he has what it takes to be a good President (as opposed to just a good campaigner). It's depressing that fundraising ability and battle scars take precident over message. I suppose there's a good reason for this though. I cringe just thinking of the vicious attacks he'll have to endure if he decides to run. I'd like to think that most Americans are as sick of nasty bickering as me, and that Obama will rise above it all.