I've decided on a direction in my project on partons, and have more or less convinced my group that it's a good direction. I am happy that M has decided to join forces with me. Her expertise on fractional quantum Hall is invaluable, and the speed at which we're going is exciting. I like working with her. She is patient in her explanations, a quality that sounds easy to achieve, and yet is not a common trait. With her, I found out that talking was actually impossible in the enclosed staircase of 87 Prospect. A hypothesis formed in my mind as we were walking down. I yelled at her, 'You can't hear what I'm saying because of the echoes.' To which she looked confused and mouthed words that conveyed no meaning to me. To prove my hypothesis, I yelled it out, repeatedly.

It was the end of a long week when we departed. I had compressed three weeks of laboratory sessions  into one, so  that I may discharge my teaching obligations for the next two weeks. My advisor also has begun to rely on me more, and has placed more projects on my plate. I began projects with three postdocs in our group, and I've never talked so much physics in my life. Scurrying around like a harried rabbit to make back-to-back appointments. I actually overslept twice that week, by several hours - an event which is a rarity, even during my undergraduate years.

Friday night. I am blowing off steam by chilling in the lounge with T and P. YJ has just finished a talk with Duncan and he looks like a liberated man who's seen sunlight for the first time. We played pool, and drank free beer from PCTS. Later that night, I watched a run of 7 (9?) episodes of Eureka 7. This anime is turning out to be phenomenally good, especially during the run when Eureka and Renton are separated. They are finally reunited through a breathtaking mid-air maneuvre; I felt impelled that night to watch every single episode between separation and unification. I feel I could watch it all over again. The emotions in this anime are strong, yet believable - the physical manifestations of emotions are so well-drawn! I felt this way about Summer Wars, as well.

I'm still looking for a good fantasy book lately. I tried Game of Thrones, but the sparseness of the prose left me disappointed and I didn't finish it. Right now I'm trying the Weirdstone of Brisingamen, which has received fantastic reviews. But curiously the personalities of the two main protagonists are never fleshed out. Maybe it is intentional, and is meant to encourage the reader's insertion into the protagonists' roles. However, I am not liking this shallow characterization; I'll keep reading for now; at least the prose is good. Oh Sanderson, when are you going to finish!