I've still been listening to the radio a lot. There's something about getting variety in my music that makes it a good break. Unfortunately, The River won't come in in my room, but I can gt the only classic rock station in Boston, WZLX. I really like classic rock, and this station tends to play good stuff, like the Neil Young that's on right now, and also a good deal of live stuff and rarities. At least rare to me, the listener who actually owns albums from maybe 5 of the bands they play. I should really get more classic rock. Anyhow, what inspired me to write was their earlier playing of an REM somg. I love REM, and Losing My Religion isn't exactly new, but I don't think of them as classic rock. This thought brought back memories of the Bob and Brian morning show on the general/hard rock station I listened to at home. It is undoubtably the best morning show in Milwaukee, and they had a good variety of comedy, stories, and music. One of the issues they addressed one morning as I drove to school was the question of "what is classic rock? what makes it classic?". They quickly came to a conclusion that classic does not simply mean old, and used the example of how nobody says "You've got a real classic dog, Bob." I unnderstand that classic isn't just old, but music that has stood the test of time. It didn't change the odd feeling I got whenever that station at home played U2, and that's the same feeling I get when WZLX plays U2 or REM. I wonder what classic rock will be in 25 years, when the stuff I listened to over the past 4 or so years is the same age as 70s stuff now. Will the 70s and 80s be relegated to oldies stations? That's a disturbing idea, but I'll do what I have to to get it. Who knows if we'll even have music on the radio in 25 years anyhow.
After my ride this afternoon, I got to thinking about Life. The big picture. I came to the incredibly nerdy conclusion that life is like protein folding. Somehow, it is controlled so that it is not an infinite series of events occuring over an impossible time frame. Early events place constrictions on later ones, directing the flow of things, until the folding is complete. Some of these early events, such as where and when we are born, our race, and our gender, are beyond any person's control. Some of them are in the control of others, such as our early eduction. Like protein chaperones, our human chaperones begin to determine our final identity. Eventually we get the the spontaneous part, where events in themselves begin to affect us, and we are placed in full and conscious control of shaping the remainder of our lives. Interactions with others play an important role in determining our function and final state, but the specificities of these interactions are made with the constraints that were part of our original shaping. 
Whee. Today was beautiful, and even thought I got up incredibly late, I decided it was in my nest interest to go for a bike ride instead of do work. My goal: to find the park a local cycling club is meeting at next Saturday, so I can get there without too much hassle early in the morning. I looked at maps. Simple enough. Hah! Even though I didn't find the park, I had a great ride. I think my biking is going through a transition state now, possibly from the slightly greater freedom I have now that classes have pretty much ended. Earlier, it really felt like I was a taut spring releasing energy. Potential to kinetic. I rode hard and surprised myself with how much power I have, even this early. I guess that's partly from walking everywhere and partly from still getting used to the new bike. While those rides were great releases, and also great ways to get to know the area, it feels like I've hit a "someting more". This may be partially due to my stop at the arboretum last week: few things make me happier than the sight and smell of blooming trees and lilacs, and it was a very nice change of pace, and gave me something that, as much as I love Boston, it hadn't given me yet. I felt connected to the city in winter, but springtime makes me think of my backyard at home. This week, I managed to bike past parklands and nice Brookline and Chestnut Hill neighborhoods that smelled a lot like a Wisconsin springtime. It was also interesting to go for a ride without my odometer at all. Even though it hasn't been able to switch modes for the past few weeks, I was still able to tell my speed. Since I returned it today, and won't get the replacement for a few weeks, it will be an odd time. I don't rely on it to tell me how good a ride is or how hard I've worked, but to see how many miles have been covered and how fast I can go. Fun stuff. The less like work and pressure, the better. 
Enough with today. Yesterday brought with it the disturbing news that a former CWRU student and employee had opened fire in the new Weather head building. Madness. Case has its share of disgruntled students and alumni, but this type of action os really troubling. It's bad enough to know your alma mater will now be known for this day, but I can't even begin to guess at what would motivate someone to do this. He chose quite the building to do it in too, that place is trippy and hard to navigate. It saddens me that something like this could happen at quiet Case, where most students conplain about nothing ever happening. At least it was after classes finished, but Graduation is still coming up. freaky wierdness.