On Saturday, Amy and I visited the San Diego Wild Animal Park in Escondido. Or as I will call it, the land of only ONE gas station! There are actually two, but they are next door to each other, so what's the point?! Anyhow, we did get gas in time and made it to the park alright. We had a really fun time there, and enjoyed a 3-D VR roller coaster and a train ride through the park. This is a picture taken from the train as we were touring each of the animal habitats. The hour-long train ride was awesome, and you could really see the animals interact in the expansive environments. The only real walls are to keep the predators from the prey! On the right, there's a truck with people doing a close-up tour. If you cough up an extra $90, you can take a close-up photograph tour on one of the trucks and even feed the animals. Maybe next time. ;) We hit the San Diego Gas Lamp district afterwards and enjoyed a nice dinner and some beer. It rained all night, but in spurts, so we still stayed pretty dry.

Amy visited this week and we spent thanksgiving in Calabasas with John, Eliza, Andrew and Danny. Amy and I shopped and she cooked the bird to perfection. I spiked the mashed potatoes with green food coloring and everyone was impressed. (yeah... that's how I remember it) We all had a great time, but fell into food coma while watching Uncle Buck on DVD. Amy and I hit the Getty Museum on friday and poked around the exhibits they had on watercolor and ancient greece. You can check out their website at: http://www.getty.edu/museum

Tom and Karen visited a few weeks ago (over Halloween) and we spent the better part of a nice friday walking along Venice Beach. We saw all kinds of people but eventually found ourselves watching this guy. This entertainer carried on for the better part of a half an hour and gave us a pretty good show where he made jokes, danced, and played music. He danced the limbo and after a lot of dramatic buildup, he actually jumped on a pile of glass!! Great photo Tom! (ouch)

This morning we treated ourselves to breakfast at Maxwell's on Washington Blvd in Santa Monica / Venice area. It's a tiny place with an outside bathroom, but the food is great. The 3 of us saw Bad Religion last night at LA's oldest venue, the Palladium. (fact check!?) We checked out a local dive bar called "The Cinema" and had a great time there. A band was playing a song called "Motor City Made up My Mind"... it ruled, and the verse was about driving to california from detroit.. crazy, and they sounded a lot like They Might be Giants and Willy Nelson in one. Mike designated the cinema as our home base bar, and I see many visits in our future! anyhow, back to studying!

I've survived my first mid-terms and I think they went pretty well. I got the median score on my Energy Methods course (check the spelling on the title of the book!, I think I've got a "copy"!) Anyhow, I am still waiting to get my mid term back in the other course, Mechanics of Deformable Solids, which I think went alright. Today I've been kicking back a bit and enjoying a little study break. I just burned an hour playing the online game "peasant's quest", (check www.peasantsquest.com) It's pretty funny, though I needed a hint to win, but hey.. life's too short. I will hit the books again tonight and try to work ahead to have some free time for thanksgiving with my girlfriend. a break will be nice and I'm excited. I can't believe there's only 3 weeks of school left...

After an exciting thursday at the library, I visited my first Korean supermarket in Koreatown and bought some stuff. I was of course being advised by my korean friends on what things to avoid, but was amazed at how low the prices were on fruits and vegetables. I'll wait and see how my body reacts to the food.