"...But before tigers crouched, Garth hurled."
--A guy in the parking lot of Andronico's

"A senior trip to Cabo is not the time to be getting all philosophical, though."
--A high school age guy, in a cafe

"If you walk into a strip club and hear Ani DiFranco playing, you're definitely in trouble."
--A guy whose voice rose above the chatter at a party

"Wow, must be an emergency."
"Really, do you think? Because six fire engines, some cop cars and an ambulance, really, that could be them getting lunch or something."
--Two women (one a wee bit sarcastic,) near a bus stop on College Ave

"They say if you can count all the bad things that happened to you on your fingers, that ain't doing half too bad."
"I was shot at twice, but it was on the same route, does that count as one or two?"
--A passenger and a bus driver

---

I am still in the depths of my two weeks of drowning in school, though the end is wavering in sight, above. The organization I work for is still falling apart. America is still bombing Afganistan. The economy is still going downhill.

But I'm ok.

I don't know what it is. Could be that I saw a really nice sunrise before going to bed this morning. Could be that I got a lab, a homework, and a mini-project done in 48 hours (take that, CS department.) Could be that "Buffy -- the Musical" last night was brilliant and beautiful and funny as hell. Could be that a friend I look up to told me I was a good writer. It could also be that I get to take a study break and play with OS X tonight. It could even be that I heard Kirkwood is getting snow already and snowboarding season is so close that I can almost feel the cold and the whoosh.

But whatever the cause is, I am overwhelmed with the feeling that everything is going to be ok. More good things have happened in the past 24 hours than I can count on both hands. And that ain't doin' half too bad.

Thanks for all the support.

"You haven't slept in how long? You can't keep up this kind of abuse. Your body's going to die someday."
"And for me, that day was today, it happened around 5 am. I feel better now."
--Two guys (or I guess, one guy and the ghost of another) in the computer lab

"Bella, you need espresso, not tea. I can see it in your eyes."
--The guy behind the counter at Brewed Awakenings, to me

---

And people wonder why I'm such a raging caffiene addict. Berkeley's full of peer pressure and coffee pushers!

"The professor is explaining what the GDP is, and how it's the measure of the general economic well being of a country, like we've never heard that before."
"Tell me about it."
"Then anti-capitalism girl raises her hand and says, 'Can the GDP measure love? It can't measure love. What is it worth then, if it can't measure the real well being?'"
--A girl and a guy talking on Piedmont st

"Truth is omnipresent, we just refuse to recognize it. Truth runs high."
--Written on a tag tied to a tree in Hearst Mining Circle

"Well, breezy and cold is better than chafey, if you absolutely must ride a bike naked."
--A guy to a girl at Yali's Cafe