happy first day of august! only 1 month of summer left. although autumn technically doesn't begin until september 21, i still associate the month of september with fall. similarly, summer doesn't commence until june 21, yet i can never think of june as a vernal month! kind of funny, my emphasis on seasons, when you consider that i'm from southern california, where we only see the slightest bit of demarcation between seasons....

for the first time in a long long time, summer's end won't make much of a difference for me -- now that i'm in the working world, there's no such thing as a summer vacation. for the past 18 years, september has signaled the return to school, and even last fall was noteworthy in that i moved to virginia and started my first full-time job. this year, there will be no such scheduled or structured change, and it's a bit odd to me. looking on the bright side, at least i don't have homework, tests, or papers to worry about. :) in its own way, this fall is still a momentous occasion, since the lack of change is change in itself. hope that makes sense. :)

virginia is so lush and green -- there is an abundance of trees and deciduous vegetation that is decidedly different from california's flora. in fact, i bet most of california is brown and dead right now, if i recall correctly. sometimes i take for granted the verdant beauty of virginian greenery, but when i take the time to look, i'm grateful for the magnificent scenery that surrounds me.

speaking of virginia, i've been trying to get a virginia state & emissions inspection for two days now. my 1-month temporary VA registration expired yesterday, so i went to two different gas stations for the inspections, without which i can't renew my registration. unfortunately for me, apparently many people were in the same boat and were similarly procrastinatorily-minded -- the first station i went to had a 2-hour wait, and the second, more than an hour. so, i decided to risk a couple of days without valid VA registration (shhh!), rather than wait in my car with the engine running and the a/c going, or even worse -- with the engine off and the heat and humidity working in tandem to make me a human hot pocket (or aussie pie, hehe)!

i finally got my inspections taken care of today, during lunch hour. yay! i rolled into the gas station at 11:40, and was out of there by 12:30. not bad, not bad. and the weather was a bit less steamy than yesterday, with a bit of a breeze, so i was able to survive sitting in my car with the windows down during the 40-minute wait.

dave wrote in his most recent update: "Unlike Clara, I may desire for things to appear simple on the outside, but there are complex inner workings." actually, i believe that i've articulated my stance on the necessary interaction and interdependence between simplicity and complexity, so dave, you're actually agreeing with my philosophy! ^_^

clara@rescomp.stanford.edu