I pre-ordered a class ring today. Totally not the wisest financial decision I’ve ever made, but I wanted one. A gold one. Like my great Aunt Mary’s 1933 West Philadelphia High School class ring, which, at 91, she still wears. I also think sometimes it’s good to be reminded of all the hard work you’ve done and all the hard work you still need to do — and that you can indeed do it. When that reminder is on your hand, it’s hard not to notice. Too bad the beaver on this ring is so scary-looking.

In aca news, I finished my thesis presentation, and now I just have to actually start doing thesis research (hahahahahaha) and editing/translating my Peru documentary (with help by gracious people from Colombia, Mexico, and Spain, respectively) and conduct an interview and write a paper in the next 24 hours for business class (have I mentioned I love Sloan School of Management? That’s my dirty little secret of 2009) and finish a grant application for conference travel funds by tomorrow (have I mentioned I’m going to Berlin in January to present at the International Conference on Technology, Knowledge and Society? Because I am!) and write my fellowship proposal in the next week. And we also have a German couchsurfer arriving this weekend as well.

Life goes on, life continues to be fun, school continues to be overwhelming and fun, etc. Also I watched POINT BREAK in a fond homage to Swayze, and it was ridiculous. Vaya con Dios, bro.

We now have a quasi portrait studio in the living room. I took the opportunity to shoot the first in what I hope will be a series of ‘Living Room Monologues’ — this time with M., who came for her annual visit this weekend and is honing her interest in improv acting.

Hat tip to Hillz for the link.

…but this is funny. Also I have nothing else to write until I finish my thesis presentation (on streaming mobile video, civic production and the redefinition of the public realm) so I had to post something.

I’m the one in front of the guy in the white shorts. DD’s in front of me.

, originally uploaded by vacshell.

Just returned from a wild night of standing onstage with Bono & U2 in support of the release of Burma’s elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Some stills from my Flip, as seen from pit below stage:

[Written by my friend N. Scott]

Our office stands on wooden stilts,

overlooking a small lot of gently used cars.

All were garaged—and are one-owner vehicles,

if anyone asks.

At lunch we eat pulled pork sandwiches with beans,

listening to Rodney Dangerfield rant about the

respect we want more than money.

And Alonzo’s laughter puts pirates to shame.

Every night, the dark flash
of one elusive mouse across the living room floor.
There is no sense in a hunt, a capture,
a slaughter or release; just go in peace,
I say, and he/she winks at me,
crawls into a backpack against the wall.
It’s good to make new friends in fall.

I am quoting an NP song with this title, but it applies to the way I feel about my thesis. First of all, am supremely grateful for the assistance of my classmates, professors, DD, industry people and old and new friends for trying to help me navigate the murky waters of a thesis topic selection.

I am teetering between something strategic/interesting/political that would likely enable me to pursue employment with the EU (a case study on a UK e-gov/m-gov cross-platform model that has increased engagement to digitally divided populations) and something fun that draws on my multimedia and activist background (ubiquitous video and the redefinition of the public realm, as RG has termed it), which would look at the political impact of user videos shot from mobile devices and distributed online (for activist purposes or political documentation or whatever else) but which would also potentially pigeon-hole me into a lifetime of further work with iNGOs. Turns out it’s a lot easier to come up with a cool name for your imaginary thesis than actual research questions and theoretical frameworks.

If I freak out, I can always return to my original idea of measuring user perception of new m-parking initiatives in San Francisco. But that might be, as Abhi says, “really boring.” Also I have to do a presentation on my final idea in two weeks. Which, in the grand scheme of my MIT life, is the equivalent of two hours. But I am still grateful for those two hours, and all the people who haven’t completely given up on my intellectual abilities. Yet.