Go out and buy The Kite Runner today!

I would like to give Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner a resounding endorsement. What a gripping novel! I started it on Thursday night and finished it on Sunday night around 12:30 AM. I read it all the way to Philadelphia on Saturday morning and all the way back, even though that would have been prime sleeping time. I just couldn't put it down.

Perhaps some of you have seen that a movie by the same name has come out. I guess it is probably a good flick, but as always I'm sure that it is missing critical pieces that one can only get from the novel. It is the story of Amir, a boy born and raised in Kabul, Afghanistan in the '60s and '70s, after which time he and his Baba (father) flee Afghanistan and settle in the US. The story follows the course of his life and the way that one action he fails to take colors the rest of his life as well as the lives of others. In that respect it is rather like Atonement by Ian McEwan, which I haven't read but I did see in the theater and has been nominated for Best Picture Oscar after winning Best Dramatic Film at the Golden Globes. But I digress. Amir's story is much more graphic, violent and maddening...you don't particularly like him as a person because of his weaknesses, but he could be you or someone you know, which makes it more difficult to grapple with. There is some redemption to be had, but not entirely and not without mistakes and more mistakes. The author's description of the culture there is also enlightening. It gives you a sense of the Shi'a vs. Shiite, the Pashtuns vs. the Hazaras and the way life has spiraled out of control for each group.

So pick it up and start it when you have a long weekend so you won't have to wait to finish it. I believe President's Day is coming in February right?

Two As make for a good first semester

Again this goes to show how invested in this Master's degree I am: I finally got around to looking at both my final grades for last semester tonight! I had heard from someone in class in early January that the grade for one class were there, but not for the other class. So I waited a couple days and looked online, thinking that the second grade would surely be posted by then. It wasn't, so I was only able to see my one A. (Yippee, but totally expected.) Then about two weeks ago I was talking to my buddy-pal Kate from Admissions and she said the other grade was finally posted. Kate had said she was slightly disappointed by her A-, which got me wondering back when she told me they were online, if I would get an A or not. However this tidbit didn't arouse my curiousity sufficiently, because I completely forgot about it until this evening when I was standing on the subway platform thinking about how I needed to pay my student fees and would have to log into the TC online system to do so before Friday. It struck me then that I had another grade waiting for me! I did get an A, so all is right with the world.

Semester two starts a week from today for me. Classes officially start at Columbia schools tomorrow, but both my classes are on Tuesday, so I get another week off. That was well planned on my part, nicht wahr? It gives me one final weekend to do whatever the hell I want with every last second of those days without having to feel guilty that I'm not reading from some textbook or writing some reflection paper. I didn't realize how much class dragged me down until I didn't have it anymore. Only two more years people! God persevere me.

Happy New Year!

Like most of us who partied too hard, I spent my day recovering from a hangover. When I first awoke this morning and rolled over, it felt curiously like my brain was sloshing around in an alcohol bath and had been bruised and battered. I took some Aleve and attempted to go back to sleep, but to no avail. Why is it that I've become one of these old people who can't sleep in properly anymore? I hate it!

I took it easy this morning and had Ronit fill me in on the details from the evening that are missing from my memory. Like midnight for example. I have no recollection of midnight! Isn't that a shame, seeing as how the whole night really exists for midnight? I remember things before and after midnight, but not that moment. Strangely enough I remember handing my friends their coats so we could leave, but I don't remember getting to the subway at all. Yet I remember riding on the 2 train home, but not riding on the N,R to get to the 2. It's all very spotty and weird.

Anyway, what I remember of it was really fun. We went to Swift (natch) and met up with our friend Lars, his friend Sasha (not sure if that's spelled properly) and our other friend Gabe. We took up our usual spot at the bar just to the right of the door and joked with our favorite bartender (see below--this picture captures the essence of Rob). The music was cheesy 80s, up to and including "Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News and "Africa" by Toto. Can't go wrong with those tunes! We reminisced about our best moments in 2007 and talked a little bit about resolutions, although only Lars had come up with one that he actually intends to keep. I haven't settled on any yet, as I know I won't bother to keep them anyway. Last year's were going to be very easy and I didn't stick to them hardly at all, so I have a bad track record.

So what did I do on my first day of 2008 besides drink lots of water and move very slowly? I went to two movies! I saw Atonement, which I was really wanting to see before I left for Iowa. It was a solid film, but I can't say it was what I wanted it to be. Go and see it though, as it is very well done. I also saw Juno, the one about the pregnant teenager. It was both comedic and tear-jerking, which was a nice combination. I think that Ellen Page did an excellent job of portraying a 16 year old in that situation. She also has one of the most perfect mouths I've ever laid eyes on. I found myself watching her mouth when she spoke her part, rather than watching the greater scene. It's just so perfectly formed! Anyway, Jennifer Garner was also really fantastic at her part, which was small and had few lines, but you saw her every emotion on her face in her body language. Now that's good acting. Rounding out the day I went grocery shopping, entered receipts into my checkbook and talked to some people on the phone. Now I am going to go lay in bed and read a chapter out of "Gig: Americans Talk about their Jobs", which was coincidentally edited by the son of my favorite Executive-in-Residence at Columbia Business School. Small world huh? I am constantly amazed by just how small it truly is.

Here's wishing everyone the happiest of New Years and all the laughter you can possibly squeeze into 365 days.

Ro and I on the way downtown

Rob hams it up for us in his pink ruffled tuxedo shirt