Deadlines

Deadlines are bad for blog update frequencies. As things are starting to round up here (I plan to be walking on snow in about three weeks), things that need to get done are piling up. I have two upcoming paper deadlines, one this Wednesday and another one the following Tuesday, and lots to do. That doesn't mean other things are slowing down, just that I'm less inclined to report them in blog format. Yesterday was the day of the Big Game, the annual football match between the Stanford Cardinals and the California Golden Bears. And the day of the biggest thunderstorm I've experienced since I got here, possibly one of the bigger ones I've ever seen actually. See how nicely I transitioned out of mentioning the game score? Watching the game from the couch with a Cheeseboard pizza in my lap was not a bad decision. Speaking of food, I've also experienced my first thanksgiving dinner this weekend. Sweet potatoes, turkey, cranberry sauce, jams, stuffing, beef, mashed potatoes with gravy, apple and pumpkin pie, corn bread, and purple carbonated liquid ice cream. Not bad, not bad at all. Here are some completely unrelated pictures from a trip to the Sutro Baths ruins in SF a couple of weeks ago, highly recommend running or walking the trail from the baths to SF. Spectacular.

Politics

Apart from Halloween and the World Series (Go Giants!), the last couple of media weeks have been dominated by the US mid-term elections (house of congress and senate elections held in the middle of the Obama presidency, as well as a number of local governor, mayor, school board, etc. elections). The US political process is something to behold. The amount of time and energy people invest in it is only matched by the money spent. And not always offsetting the latter. The republican governor of California candidate Meg Whitman reportedly spent $160 million on her campaign. Supposedly most of it her own. Have to say it has been interesting, being here during the election. Berkeley is a very political place, and a stronghold for democrats (Obama had 89% of the popular vote in Berkeley in 2008). But also, it's kind of nice it's over. Some of it gets quite ugly. If we ever get negative attack ads back in Sweden, I will stop voting. Here is a very happy guy holding a sign that says "you're perfect", a really cool old (commercial) mural, and an eternal message inscribed in the pavement up the street.