the time was 10am and math165 just ended. needing to read a packet for english later today, i picked a bench on the northeast corner of the “quad.” i sat down and began reading. eight or nine pages into my homework, i heard a strange hissing/screeching sound from the tree above. i safely assumed it was a bird and didn’t bother looking up from my text. after a few more minutes of constant birdcalls, i got fed up and took a quick glance. there was a squirrel hugging a branch and it was screaming…well maybe it was going for more of a roaring effect but it ended up coming out sounding like a revving geo metro. it jumped from branch to branch and frantically screamed from each perch. i’m not sure whether or not it was just morbidly angry or just scared of heights. but really, who cares?

on another note, i just got back from Chinatown. i was bored after class so i took the L over and took a walk in peace and quiet (well, relative peace and quiet). on the train, i met two Chinese ladies. one of them was maybe in her 50’s and the other was the first woman’s mother. we conversed in Mandarin and i told them that i was a freshman at The University and that i was studying business. i learned that the daughter actually works on campus…but doing what, i don’t know. they were heading to Chinatown because the mother likes tofu but none of the american supermarkets sell it. anyways. i got to Chinatown and i began to walk. i went all the way down Wentworth and back then down Archer and through the new part. despite the usual bustle and the occasional JDM converted ITR blasting techno, i found my time there pretty peaceful. i’m not sure why but i felt so comfortable and calm when i was there. my troubles melted away and i felt so alive. i’m going to do this more often.