Almost spring.

It’s a beautiful day in London today. It was gloomy and rainy yesterday, and it could be just like that again tomorrow, but it’s hard not to enjoy it anyway while it lasts. I decided to talk to Subway and get a sandwich wearing only a sweatshirt and flip-flops, and it felt so nice. Apart from exams and the extreme stress that I’ll inevitably face, I think I’m going to enjoy summer’s approach.

Over the last week or so, I feel like a fire has been lit underneath me. I’ve nearly finished two term papers and I’m starting on my third this weekend. They aren’t due until May 1, but I’d like to get as much done here in London while I have access to the LSE Library. I currently have 17 books checked out and they’re all piled neatly along my wall right now. I wonder how many I will actually read? Haha.

I think I’m channeling energy into these papers so I can put off the inevitability of starting my thesis. I met with my adviser last week, and I could sense that she was frustrated with the direction I want to go with it: she’s a critical theorist and anarchist (no joke), and I want to do a quantitative study of voting behaviour in California. She’s not the one giving me a grade, and I have full reign to meet with whomever I want, so I think it could actually end up being a positive experience. When I visit UCLA in April I’m planning on talking to some of my old advisors to get some input as well.

I was going to go out last night for a friend’s birthday, but I was exhausted from the week and I’ve started getting a pretty bad cold (or maybe it’s allergies). Last weekend I went to a Japanese-themed bar near campus. They were giving out free costume items to the audience, so I just ended up taking everything and wearing it at once. The result was kind of scary:

Today I worked on stats with a friend and cleaned my room… not the most exciting Saturday but pretty relaxing.

I only have one week of class left. Back to California in nine days!