Quick Update

Just wanted to update people on what I've been doing. Basically my thesis is coming along well, it looks like my self-imposed deadline of July 31st will work out fine. I've also been applying to jobs everywhere, mostly in Chicago, but also places like Portland, Maine and NYC. Other than that, I've been continuing guitar lessons with a teen-aged beginner, as well as an older guy who's been playing for a couple years. Both are just fun people.
I've also been hanging with buds, watching movies, and always listening to music. For example, last week I watched Puccini's Tosca, which I enjoyed. But today, I watched the Met's live version of La Bohéme from 2008, which just blew me away. It was so good that I was literally crying by the end of it, which explains why it's such a hit. This was this first piece of music to actually make me weep, which I was not expecting at all. Nowadays my eyes might water at the end of great movies (like the Life Aquatic), at the end of a great book (like For Whom the Bell Tolls), and even the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra's performance of Ravel's La Valse almost had me there, but this was the real deal, and I am not the least bit ashamed. I highly recommend it to everyone.
Lastly, Ben and I bought our tickets for El Salvador! I fly to El Sal via Atlanta on August 2nd, and come back on the 11th. Our lease runs up soon after that, so it'll give me a few days to say goodbye to everybody and move to my next location! Craziness.