Picking Up Speed

It's been raining off and on all week here in Tucson. On Monday, there was record rainfall, and the medical school affiliated with the U of A in Phoenix actually completely shut down due to the weather. The governor declared an emergency because, as nobody plans for rain in the desert and rocks are hard, there is not much of a drainage system. The streets turned into rivers, events were cancelled, and it was one of the few times that there was nobody tabling on the Mall. It didn't matter whether or not a person wore a rain coat, had an umbrella, wore good shoes or absolutely nothing - there was no avoiding getting wet. I should know. I had to go cross campus multiple times to get to class. By the end of the day, since everything else was soaked, I was walking around in just shorts and a t-shirt.
And just about an hour ago, a nice quick rain shower interrupted the pep rally going on on University St. and it's still wet outside.
There's a beauty to Tucson after it rains, even though people complain about the humidity or the general wetness. You can finally see it without the dust and grime that accumulates over time, and with the strong sunlight that inevitably follows these monsoon rains, rainbows are very common and PREETTYY as anything.

After the rain, I went on a quest for jazz shoes for my Theater Dance class, because the only shoe/dance store within biking distance is only open on weekdays. Mission successful there.

The rest of the week has been pretty boring. There's been homework, a couple quizzes (easy), and a lot of studying going on. We're all kind of in the same boat with that right now, so that's kind of nice.

Also, last year's Rube Goldberg machine has been broken down and ravaged for parts. (That's the current president and president emeritus with some spare nuts and bolts.)

This year's machine - the current theme is The Modern Kitchen, which will allow us to create exploding blenders, speed-of-light toasters, self serving ovens, cats on Roombas, and the like.

Also, like last year, there was beautiful 9-11 tribute in front of the Administration building - a reminder of all the lives lost.

Anyway, that's been my week. This week's song of the week - "American Pie" by Don McLean - and this awesome town who did a lip dub to it - the entire thing.