the weather has been suprisingly mild the past few days, at a time when New York is supposed to be unbearable with humidity and heat. i remember the torturous walks back from work last summer when i could feel my back covered with sweat by the time i made it four avenues over from park ave. to broadway. i feel that such misery will return next week when i begin training at lehman brothers.

it’s late (early), which is nothing new whenever i find motivation to write in this blog. i live on the 36th floor of my building and yet, i can still hear the garbage trucks beeping and chugging along outside. they are loud and prevent me from enjoying the light breeze. i remember in elementary school, i learned somewhere that garbagemen make a decent amount of money with good benefits. i realize now that to wake up this early every morning and handle the foul-smelling loads each time is not such an easy job and should defnitely be compensated well.

it’s sad to hear that people died in london due to another terrorist attack, but i didn’t have much of a reaction when i saw it on television and read about it on nytimes.com. i guess after 9/11, it’s hard to care for news that isn’t right in our backyard or directly related to someone i may know personally. my only relevant moment today was watching my roommate rich come home early from training because the salespeople at Bank of America had to field calls from london and cancel their speaking sessions with the new analyst class. from reading headlines about Britain’s “pragmatic response” to the attack (as if it had been well-rehearsed) as well as global money managers’ assurances that such events are unlikely to have a direct impact on the financial markets, i feel as if these attacks are becoming a part of life in the 21st century. just best not to be around whenever the next one happens.

i performed an oral surgery on myself of sorts. two days ago, i came out of the bathroom coughing, irritated in the throat region. i told melanie that it felt as if a piece of hair had been stuck somewhere in my throat. i had been unable to cough anything up and saw nothing when i looked in the mirror, but it felt so much like a strand of hair was bristling against the back of my throat. melanie suggested that it was probably just a scratch and that it would go away soon. i tried not to think about it and ignored the strange feeling for the next two days. it didn’t cause pain at all, but every now and then, i felt as if something was definitely stuck. today, feeling especially irritated in the throat, i opened my mouth wide and looked at the back of my mouth once again. this time, i spotted a thin black line at the back on one of the tonsils. i tried in vain to take it out with my fingers. i wished for metal tweezers, but ended up trying the hooked part of my glasses and my toothbrush. i actually started bleeding on one of my tonsils. i eventually gave up on the idea of picking the piece out and instead, i pressed my index finger against the back of my mouth in order to slide out the piece of hair. after many unsuccesful tries, i finally caught a break and slid the hair out of my throat. it was about an inch long and it was lodged right in a crevice on the right tonsil. whew.

i would write more, but it is really late and i am really tired. i am still thinking about wednesday night when wook, me and melanie went to tartine, a cute little BYO french bistro in west village. we purchased a pinot grigio and a 2000 bordeaux at a liquor/wine store before we got there and i must say, i was very pleased with the bordeaux. this wine expert i know told me that bordeaux and other southern french wines had a great year in 2000, so my eyes lit up when i saw a 2000 bordeaux for sale. the drink was very smooth and left a subtle aftertaste. it went very well with my cold poached salmon entree. good food, good wines, good people. pleasant thoughts to take to bed with me. adieu.