I had a good day. I am really excited about my seminar on the Kuril Islands. It is a lot of what I want to do but of dubious funding (the proposal has been shot down by NSF three times). in the off chance that it does go through this year maybe I can get in on the project. I went to watch the debate at a bar down town with some of the other ESS people, more just to meet people than watch because it just makes me sad. It was interesting though. Now back to learning Russian. differential equations tomorrow after I find a calculus book to learn. Love to all.