Musical Theater

I wish I could write that I was doing really great things that have prevented me from writing. But it was just 'the bitch of living'.  My bank decided to suspend my service because of UK transactions. This would be ok if it didn't take several false reassuring conversations long distance that ended with "your service is restored".  I don't know the language, I'm Black and a "rich" American.  I can't have my card declined in Bulgaria.  It's more than embarrassing. The bank, Wells Fargo, should have just said, yeah we're just gonna make this really difficult. This is gonna be just like hell but, the strange thing is... we're gonna do it here on earth. To fix your account is gonna be like hell on earth. Anyway, I am now an online banker with no real branch.  I never lived in a city where my bank was anyway. There were those magical 11 months in Baltimore, when I was a Wachovia customer and the branch was 3 blocks away. Oh Baltimore!

And then, to be honest, David was sending me scans of things. His death was just the perfect excuse to not work on the dissertation and just listen to iTune podcasts. This is all I do: humor, politics, television show reviews, maybe Russian, I just subscribe to every podcast I can.  I have been somewhat productive.  I wrote a few abstracts, I decided exactly which emporia to include and which economic theory I am following. By the new year, I will have the first chapter- Intro/terminology completed. 

Today, ARCS went to Ottoman Sofia, which was really just the only functioning mosque in Sofia. The other mosques were quickly turned into proper orthodox churches. Once the Ottoman Empire left, Bulgaria was redone. And then of course, Emil tells us about an Ataka protest that took place in May. These guys rushed in the mosque and did a bit of damage and interrupted the Friday prayer for the Muslims. 

But I have some fun things coming up. I have tickets for Tosca later this month. I am psyched to see how that is staged. There is another Theory and Archaeology lecture coming up. But now I am actually friends with that guy Juli and I can make him laugh out loud and we can knowingly roll our eyes in a secret friendship language translated into "this is bullshit". Well, this is my version of fun at any rate.  Lastly, Sofia just opened up a Socialist Art Museum. Yeah! So very soon, pictures from this.