So tonight is my last night in Astoria.

It's always bittersweet, packing away a room that you've gradually filled with your things over a year or so. Odd things turn up in the corners: ticket stubs, to-do lists, plastic figurines, ideas for mixes, doodles, bills, receipts. It's like cleaning out the pockets of an old coat, which I just did a minute ago. I found a couple of notable items: in the same pocket, ticket stubs from two movies that I saw with Noah more than half a year apart (Spider-Man and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind); and an invitation to the Champagne Brunch senior year, which I somehow never used....

The big question after living for a year with Haiwen, of course, is where things stand in the great Signet lunchtime debate. Who was right, Noah or Bessie? I'd have to say that both had their points. On the one hand, I'm glad that I've gained Haiwen as a friend; in most respects, he's a good friend and an extraordinary human being. On the other hand, and I mean this from my heart of hearts...it's time to get the hell out of here before I go completely crazy.

All in all, and despite what Haiwen says, it was a very good year.

After a year away, I feel a lot closer to this point of view of my country. (A copy was posted in the math department in the fall, and I never got around to googling for it.)

Dorothy Parker said it best: "Toss a hat at Katharine Hepburn, and no matter where it hits, it hangs."

True enough, but she gave just about the sexiest performance in screen history, in Bringing Up Baby. See it again if you don't believe me: that girl could swing a golf club.

Here's some interesting New York City school news.

Last night I did the synchronistic Dark Side of Oz experience for the third time, at the home of one of Tamara's friends, the charming Angela. I was in charge of starting the album at the third roar of the MGM lion, and my timing was a little off, I think, because we missed a few of my favorite moments (e.g., "And who knows which is which? / And who is who?"). However, in broad strokes, it was as impressive as always. You can read more about the evening at Angela's blog. As Angela notes, she and I talked blogshop for a while, and I seemed to have given her the impression that I am "entrenched in blogs." Which is probably more true than I'd like to admit.

Think of it this way: Ringo must be cooler than you thought, cause he's the Nat of the Beatles.

I'm always getting screwed in these Beatles comparisons.

But no matter. This guy is my coworker's sister's boyfriend. Think I have any chance at getting some tickets next year?

I'm also going to listen to my first presidential candidate of the season this afternoon. I'll let you know what I think.

To quote a recent New Republic column, we're all sodomites now.

And sorry, i'll be more careful.

Yesterday was rather an exciting day for liberalism... Strom Thurmond died and sodomy got legalized... The appropriate way to celebrate this event is clearly to commit indecent sex acts with someone of a different race. Other than perhaps [name deleted] I bet none of the regular readers of the blog pulled that off yesterday.

[I don't think we've been authorized to expose our mutual friend as a sodomite or miscegenator. At least not online. As for what he was up to yesterday...I probably can't blog that, either. -- Alec]

I don't know what to say about this.

Though my attempt to find Sullivan St. may have failed (I really can't see how it makes sense to have it in Daly City), I have located another Counting Crows lyric: "down on Virginia and La Loma, where I've got friends who care for me" from Perfect Blue Buildings.

Speaking of John....I discovered today that my new apartment is just a block down 72nd Street from the Dakota, where John Lennon lived and died and where Tom Cruise lived in Vanilla Sky. Right across the way is the Strawberry Fields garden in Central Park, with the Imagine memorial. I didn't realize any of this when I leased the place, but I can't help thinking that it means something.

Frankly, regardless of what we decided freshman year, I think I'm clearly George, Dave is clearly John, and Noah is clearly Paul. Nat is still Ringo.

Before the trip to London, most of the previous three days were spent in Oxford, where Sarah and I cooked, ran, played chess in a cafe (split 1-1), played violin and piano duets (I'm better than a year ago, but still agonisingly slow), and did absolutely nothing touristy.

Just returned from my last (for now) trip to London, which included a pilgrimage to Abbey Road. I didn't quite have the nerve to walk across with bare feet, holding a cigarette in my right hand.

Too bad we never took the picture of the four of us crossing outside of Lamont. I was trying to remember what the Weld 38/Beatles matching was. As best as I can recall, it was: Alec - John; Me - Paul; Noah - George; Nat - Ringo. Is this right?

Also, while congestion charging may have reduced traffic in central London by 40 percent, my snot is still as grey as ever after a day in the city.

This week is on of those times when the whole world splits into two groups... In this case, those who have finished reading it, and those who haven't. I've now joined the former...

In under 12 hours too, despite spending several hours drinking beer in SF and playing a full game go.

Hmmm. 81 percent of freshmen passed the test, and no other class got above 50 percent. Do all the mathematically inclined students drop out in 10th grade and get jobs trading commodities?

In case you hadn't heard, Mr. Chu's first year of teaching algebra just had a spectacularly ironic denouement: Citing Flaw, New York State Voids Math Scores. This comes after sixteen of Mr. Chu's seventeen students failed the math regents exam last week. The statewide pass rate, I believe, was around 37 percent.

Yep, pretty much. The point about noticing that it's a rudder even when you're not thinking of it as such is a good one, though.

Wouldn't the craft turn to whichever side the pole is on (unless people are moving around on the craft or something like that)?

This morning there are three editorials listed on the Times front page: Colin L. Powell on Zimbabwe, Nicholas D. Kristof on Iraq, Paul Krugman on Bush. I clicked one without really noticing which one, saw the headline, "Freeing a nation from a tyrant's grip," and still couldn't tell which article it was.