sunny day

this morning is absolutely beautiful--the sky is clear and it is warm. i am even wearing shorts and sandals. nawa and i walked over to the new (v. cool, btw) starbucks on evans and got a frappucino (well, i did, she got nuthin', sorry doggie.). but she smiled during the whole walk and seemed very happy (though, as kaka pointed out, do dogs really smile? i think i can at least pretend.)
here's a nawa picture, just for fun! that looks like a smile to me!!! sorry, though, i don't really know how to make her blue or green or pink like heatherfeather would.















but now i am in the library and must write an international trade paper.

krauetle's birthday present arrived today. we always, always get each other books we think the other needs for self-enlightenment. he got me "Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismuses" by Max Weber (the protestant work ethik and the spirit of capitalism). some nice light reading I recall L-J having to read as a socilogy major in undergrad. krauetle's inscription in the book was "so that you don't forget where our wealth comes from." thanks, dude. something for my spring break, right? i'll get to it after i read a few back issues of people magazine, i promise.
it is funny because he and i have very similar world views, but our slants have kind of reversed since we became friends. i used to be more about creating change through NGOs etc. and he was all about making change through corporations. now, he wants to get a docterate in political science and i am all about entering the corporate world. our views are the same, but we see different channels as being the most fruitful. i am not sure exactly why. for me, i know a lot of my disillusionment came from my fulbright research project which examined evaluation methods in foreign aid organizations and i just saw how ineffective many of these were in terms of achieving measurable results and addressing the roots of the problems. i don't know, it is something i may go back to someday which is why i am getting a degree in international studies in addition to an MBA, but frankly, right now, I just want to be able to pay my bills for once because this whole juggling everything between pathetic paychecks is getting real old, real fast.

the undergrads at DU have been chalking the sidewalks lately to advertise various events. since it never rains in denver, these advertisements stick around forever. it reminds me how at PLU, we had to get up at dawn on the day of an event to chalk because doing it the day before would be futile since it was sure to rain and wash the chalk away. chalking in denver is like having a permanent billboard (but on the ground). i would love some rain. i feel like i have forgotten what rain is like.

ok, onto the EU-South Africa free trade agreement.