Long Weekend

To make up for my disappointment over Egypt visa, I treated myself to several social and intellectual affairs this weekend.

Went to a party thursday night, which I usually avoid here since they are somewhat targets for the insurgents. The unusual part was an open air dance floor, complete with a disco ball. So, you could look up, see the disco ball, and also see the moon.

Friday, had lunch at Le Bistro with Mike, a visitor colleague. Bistro is another potential target restaurant, but I like the crowd there. I had a very different idea about Mike, and was very impressed with his experience and background. A good case against rush to judgment, I suppose.

In the afternooon, hung out with the Brac Bank mafia at Kabul City Center coffee place. Ishtiaque, the friend I know from Dhaka, is planning a trip to Tajikistan for the Afghan new year, I'm really tempted to follow along. Let's see how it goes.

Then dinner with Monami, Jishan and their work colleagues at Monami's house. Great food,
I could get used to this.

Came home and watched American Gangster. I had high hopes for the movie, but it seemed too mechanical. I don't really see why Ruby Dee got her oscar nomination, her major payoff moment in the movie where she slaps Denzel, was a complete let down. She wasn't convincing as the fiery mother of a clan. And Cuba Gooding Jr was sooo bad! Total miscasting.

Saturday, I finally finished Sicko, the Michael Moore documentary. the Cuba/Guantanamo part was really moving, although you could totally see the doctors playing up to the camera. Sometimes, a good setup can often lead to a good payoff. I was tearing up when the fire dept of Havana made their speech about brotherhood and support post 9/11.

I also saw the Mists of Avalon, the 3/4 hour TNT miniseries, and thanked myself for not wasting time on the book. I had the book for about a month now, but the size was a big deterrant. Now that I know the story, I think I'll concentrate on other books. I love Joan Allen from watching her pleasure herself in Pleasantville (there's a good plug for a movie, watch Joan Allen pleasure herself in the bathtub and set a tree on fire), but even she was bad in this movie.

I also tried to brush up on matrices, and found that I already forgot most of the concepts and principles, since I haven't used it in last 8/9 years. I was looking at the equation of eigenvalues, and got a major headache. Slowly and surely, I hope.

Tonight, I'll curl up with the Fog of War, another half watched documentary. I'm pretty excited.

And the final good part is my weight loss program is going much better than last year. I was able to do 30 elevated pushups without straining myself, and have started to lose the love handles. If I can keep this up for next two months, I'll reach my goal of 50 pushups per day. Not finding enough opportunities for walking though.

It's nice to have warm weather. I miss a special someone, so a shout out to you. Sorry about the wallet.