all of these things are written in the sand behind me

Today was great. I slept forever, and woke up in time to go to the Taj for brunch, where I had absolutely delicious linguine with a spicy tomato sauce. I came straight home after lunch, and I spent five hours immersed in the newest Harry Potter book; yes, it's ostensibly written for children, but the storyline is quite engrossing, and I'm a sucker for good-vs-evil epics. It came out yesterday, and I was quite surprised to find a copy of it here. Since I am a fast reader, I read over 400 pages this afternoon, and so am two-thirds of the way through it. This made it very tempting to skip dinner, but I had already made plans for it, and so I reluctantly went to Angeethi despite my desire to finish my book. The food was as tasty as always, and I drowned my quiet frustration in murgh makhni and garlic naan. When I came home, I was a good girl and called my parents rather than continuing to read; as the conversation lasted for approximately two hours, this may have been a mistake, but my soul is better for it. Now, unfortunately, I should go to bed and get some sleep before my malaria dreams shake me from my slumber.

Talking to my family is always fun, and I'm excited for them to come in September. I'm under siege in a hard-fought war to get me to move home, and so conversations have been extremely entertaining of late. Unfortunately for my family, there are no Starbucks back home, and the idea of writing without an endless stream of cafes au lait and mocha frappuccinos is slightly less appealing. But, it was pointed out to me that I could buy the local bar, thus establishing a 'steady stream of income'...but this dubious plan will have to wait for another day. Perhaps it will be included in my dreams of the end of the world tonight; serving Budweisers to my high school classmates while freezing to death under a mountain of snow seems like just the right finale to my otherwise bizarre and random life.

I shall leave you to debate whether or not I should move back to Iowa someday; for now, it is time for bed!