Saturday, 18 March 2006 @ 4:49pm. Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I saw a bit of footage on television for the parades and it looked like a lot of fun. This holiday makes me think of the clover patches in my old neighborhood in Groton, Connecticut (my family lived there for a year near the submarine base). As a kid, I would be outside for hours with friends or on my own out in nature in search of four-leaf clovers and the ends of rainbows. The nearby streams and thick forests usually blocked our paths towards the rainbows, but I did find plenty of four- and six-leaf clovers. Really. 
Yesterday I actually held a baby cicak in my hand for a couple of seconds. I was moving a book on my desk and noticed a small thing jump into my palm. It then jumped onto the desk. It took me a moment to figure out what it was, and when I did, I squealed a little. It didn’t bite; I was just startled. Upon closer inspection of my books, it appears the lizard has made a home of sorts in that area and well, let’s just say, I’m not fond of his bathroom habits. At least he eats the insects in my room!
I had a fruitful day yesterday at a local legal records office. I found potentially relevant materials, but I won’t know for sure until the photocopies come back next week. The copies are very expensive, but I like to think it helps finance the office as a whole. I ran into my friend there, so we had a late lunch together in South Jakarta. I discovered and tried New Zealand Natural icecream, and it was fan-tab-ulous! I have yet to visit New Zealand, but if the food there is as good or better than this particular company’s icecream, then I’ll have to figure out a way to get there.
I then went back to the Freedom Institute via busway to finish up some more work. Julie and I later went to a movie theater to see “The Pink Panther.” There was at least one censored (i.e., deleted scene), but I’m not sure if there were others. Everyone in the audience seemed to love this movie. The slapstick humor was taken very well. The most popular scene, however, was where Steve Martin meets with a pronunciation coach and he tries to say “I would like to buy a hamburger,” but fails to capture the American accent. We went to the less expensive theater, but I’ve heard it’s very similar to the more expensive ones. The theater had nice seats, a decent sound system, and AC, so this was a good first experience. I’ve heard that there are even more discounts on Mondays, so I may have to check it out sometime. The walk home was great - no traffic, quiet streets, no catcalls (or rather a couple of sleepy remarks initially), and not too hot or muggy.
Today it has rained quite a bit and of course, the leak is back in my room.
