It's almost spring again... and all I have to say is it's about damned time. I love winter... for about three weeks. That's usually sufficient. I mean hey, we even had snow this year. Most years we just pretend Oklahoma has real winters. It's just about over, though. Today the weather has turned beautiful, the University's randomly slaughtering trees to make room for more environmentally sound things like parking lots, and birds are singing. Sounds like spring to me. This makes me happy.

Things in the world at large are a little fucked-up. Par for the course, I suppose. I've heard a lot of interesting things in passing about top-secret nuclear target lists and the like. The Israelis and Palestinians are demonstrating their love for one another on a grander scale than usual. The first-world is waging a war on the rest of the world in the name of fighting terrorism. It's a sloppy scene.

The thing that really strikes me lately is the size of the gap between Joe Average and the political system that governs him. It seems like our government carries on and plays their little games largely without us. We fund the system, of course, but the extent of our interface with it is almost entirely limited to the police, taxation, and elections. It reminds me most of professional athletics. It's a spectator situation. I suppose that this is the way things have always been. It just never ocurred to me to think of it in those terms.

I do, however, find the politics-cum-pro-football view to be sort of a relief. At least until I start thinking about the parts of the world that see the uglier side of the sport. I would hate to be in foreign policy right now. The very thought makes me shudder.

...

The geekhaus is changing it up a little here in the very near future. Bobby has taken a job with Travelocity and is moving to Dallas. I have to say I'm a little bummed. Bobby's been a real pleasure to live with. His deadpan humor is unmatched. At any rate, good luck, Bobby!

At the moment I'm not really even looking for another roommate. I hope to buy a house in the near future.... then I'll decide what to do next. Renting sucks.

...

The whole house-buying thing is tripping me out. I have this strange perception of it as a monumental process. I suppose I'll start by asking someone at my bank if it's even something I can practically consider doing and proceed from there.

My basic criteria for selecting a house are simple. It must be someplace reasonably safe. There must be some hope of selling it in a reasonable time frame without taking too heinous a loss at some point down the road. It must be reasonably structurally sound. It must not suck. That's about it. We shall see.