Chartres

With Chartres checked off and another trip to the Bretagne already in the pipeline, who am I to complain? Well, I'm not sure, but I think Ill do it anyway...

first of all, I still haven't nailed the topic for my Master's thesis, tho I know it should be something on new economic geography and that I should choose at least two cities to analyse from an urban dynamic perspective. I was trying to surf the net for some good material, but the best thing I found was Rem Koolhaas' treatsy on Junkspace, an amusing yet unsettling piece from the Harvard Guide to Shopping. There are some great quotes, like: "Although its individual parts [i.e. parts of a shopping center] are the outcome of brilliant inventions, lucidly planned by human intelligence, boosted by infinite computation, their sum spells the end of Enlightenment, its resurrection as farce, a low-grade purgatory... [junkspace]" ; "junkspace is like being condemned to a perpetual Jacuzzi with millions of your best friends...". Anyway, read this rich form of scathing social critique if you have time; I certainly did, which wasted [at least relative to what I was supposed to be doing] even more of my time. I know I want to expand on the holistic approach I had in my last thesis, but Im not yet sure how I want to integrate such elements....

secondly, Ill have to spend this whole week on house-arrest studying for the theory of finance test I have next wednesday. This kinda snuck up on me... I was understanding every session until a few classes ago when I suddenly found myself copying endless processions of incomprehensible greek characters chained together with logical operators in what can only be described as a rococo math nightmare. Speaking of styles, check out this picture I shot of the stone work surrounding the altar at Chartres Cathedral.

thirdly, guess who I found hyping MEcon on the HSG website?