Tarasa, the young model who's staying with us, got a gig with teen vogue. Hurrah. Her mom's worried about upcoming gigs in new york where agent wants her to go on her own, kind of troubling since daughter's only 16 and it is the modeling world and who knows what kind of pressure photographers with less conservative values might exert. may Allah protect her, grant her hte benefits of this opportunity and spare her the nightmares.

in other news, went to hala's party at trojan hall. met ehta, working on synapse elimination research, esther, working on bilingual education research, arlene, working on gender roles in latin theater research, and janet, student senate diversity liaison.

hala's sociableness makes me appreciate her and want to kill her at the same time. she has no idea, even though i threaten her quite a bit, i think she thinks i'm joking. how is it that people who are bubbly and who do not say anything significant become so entertaining and infectious? it's because they're pretty. and bubbly. let's not forget pretty. those two in ocmbination equal Power. not necessarily respect. but power in the sense that one achieves access to other people's hearts, gains their confidence. but again, not necessarily the kind of access or trust on an intellectual level that involves what people spend their primary lives doing. it's access to a more basic relationship founded on hospitality. where all subsequent conversations these people will have with each other will be about managing livelihoods, raising kids, housekeeping, maybe an idea or two thrown in. as opposed to constant philosophical debates, analytical discussions, pursuit of academic inquiry. one doesnt necessarily need hospitality to establish that kind of relationship with a person.