Holy cow.  If you’ve been reading some of the other posts on this site, you know we have some seriously talented bloggers working here.  It’s been a blast being part of it.  So, quick, let me show you something cool I did at the LSE!

Umm, wait.  That’s the cool thing?  A picture of you and some dude?  YES!  The “dude” in question is Julian Castro, who in my very humble opinion is going to be the next-next President of the United States. (Why next-next and not next?  Well, he’s a little young.  But look for him to run for Senate – against John Cornyn – or, more likely, Governor – against Rick Perry – in 2014.  Next is a funny word.)  He gave a fascinating lecture on “US Leadership in the 21st Century” on Monday, and then I pretended I had class in the holding area he went to afterwards in order to get this picture.

Speaking of classes, those are going well.  (Glad you asked.)  I got my first essay back, in IR203, and without going into too much detail, I can report that I will not be failing out of the LSE – at least not yet.  Just three more essays to go, and then I’m done for the term.  It’s an old adage, but it really is true.  Time flies.

As it turns out, I don’t.  I took a train up to Edinburgh last weekend to see my family in Scotland. (Remember, I have family in Scotland?  Check out my first post.)  It was an East Coast Line train out of King’s Cross, and besides doing the touristy shot of Platform 9 and 3/4, I spent most of my time on the train reading Marx, for my EC311 assignment.  It was very eerie to read Das Kapital as we sped through the very industrial landscapes the book was written about.

Luckily for all you free-marketers out there, I found this guy in Edinburgh as well:

Sidebar: there was a very scary clown lady dancing just behind the pedestal that you can see above.  Shortly after this picture was taken, she emerged, and approached me waving her arms like Kali herself.  It was freakin’ terrifying.  I ran away.

What else have I been up to?  Well, a lot of the same, really.  A lot of writing, a lot of reading, and good fun with friends along the way.  We’re getting to the point in the year when you start to know the people around you – have histories and back-stories with them.  That’s a nice thing.  It’s certainly made life here a bit more fun.  I guess I’ll end with what’s become a bit of a tradition on this blog: a picture of me in a pub.  Not my most flattering, to be sure, but hey 🙂