So, yes. I went to LA this past weekend. I guess a good way to describe the trip is laid back and low key. Some good conversations, some good food, and a lot of hours spent in a car on the freeway or in LA traffic.

Highlight was Eric's mom's cooking, especially the homemade lumpia.

Almost-highlight was almost seeing Cal beat UCLA in overtime at the Rose Bowl. But that didn't happen, so it kinda ended up being a low-light, which sucks because it was the whole point of the trip, at least for me.

The weather didn't help either. Candice and I (even the SoCal guys at times) longed for the crisp cool October weather of the Bay Area. ("Where's the fog!") The middle of October and it's pushing 100 in LA.....It's just not right! I refused to pay $3.50 for a medium coke at the Rose Bowl, the result was I was thirsty for the rest of the day. No sunburn though. Woohoo.

Also, went to Hollywood on Friday night. Didn't see any movie stars. Almost saw a movie at the Chinese Theatre, but didn't. Someday.

~~~

On a completely different note, the CED almost screwed me again on Friday. Sending me back and forth like a retarded pinball between the City Planning and Architecture offices trying to figure out whether Astronomy counted for one of my graduation requirements the day before the drop deadline. The beaurocracy of the college is something else, a major pain in the ass, but luckily things ended up Ok this time around.

Also, I've done really well on all midterms (except Astro..pass/no pass..so..eh). If I manage to write good research papers, this semester could really pay off.

Also, I'm entering a Disney Imagineering design competition with Leo. It should be fun. Top-secret conceptual design phase right now, so I won't say more than that. Don't want you stealing our great ideas. Ya... you. You stealer you. But, it feels really good to be designing again. This semester, I've realized I can't spent my whole life just writing and researching. I need to have another outlet, I like drawing, making models, and the creativity involved in addressing design problems too much to drop it completely. So, urban design/architecture is now back in the picture some way or another.

That's all for now.