I spent most of today working on my application to Berkeley (their Energy and Resources Group-- erg.berkeley.edu). It's an interdisciplinary program that covers everything from the physics of solar cells to the history of the environmental movement to the macroeconomics of nuclear power plants to policy issues surrounding renewable energy. I'm quickly and unwisely getting my heart set on it, but there's really nowhere else like it. The main guy there has his name on everything energy-policy related, from journal articles to congressional testimony to last September's Scientific American. When I look at papers by other profs all over the country, I swear he's a co-author about half the time.

In keeping with easing back into my American life, I had a precious can of Campbell's split pea soup for dinner. I love how the can warns you not to cut yourself on it--Russian cans couldn't give a crap, and barely take responsibility for what's inside them much less what you could do to yourself on the empty packaging. The "Save these labels for your school!" was rather adorable as well.