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With the economy in the tank and the cost of just about everything going through the roof (let's not kid ourselves, people), we're seeing a downturn in business here at work. I don't mean to say I'm not busy or I have a lack of things to do, it just seems like it all comes in bursts. I could go two hours without doing anything, only to be slammed moments later with stuff that keeps me working every minute until 5:00.

So during this morning's slow period, I was tooling around Amazon.com, which feels a bit traitorous because of the way they treat small publishing companies and authors. I bought a handful of books (I'm a sucker for books) because the pocketbook speaks louder than my principles when it comes to books. But the real point is how amazed I was at the way the company tracks your purchases. These days we're no strangers to having what we do be tracked, from what we purchase at the grocery store to what university programs we might be interested in (after expressing interest in one university, I've been inundated with others offering similar programs).

I'm sure privacy advocates hate it, but I'm personally not too concerned about it. While I was going through the recommendations that Amazon.com was giving me, they made a link between the Kitab-i-Aqdas and the Qur'an, saying that if I purchased one I would be interested in the other. It just makes me curious about what kind of criteria they use for this sort of thing. Is someone manually doing it? Given the volume of books they carry, I find myself doubting it. It was just an unusual connection. Not necessarily wrong, just unusual.

Last week, I went to see the Thursday night midnight showing of "Dark Knight," the new Batman movie. I didn't get home until 3:00 AM and asleep until 4:00 AM, but it was certainly worth it. Keeping the TV off and not reading the news very often for a few months has kept me somewhat isolated from pop culture and I was in Africa when "Batman Begins" was released, so I didn't fully appreciate the magnitude of the movie's release.

The theatre was packed, and there were 5 different midnight showings in addition to a 3:15 AM showing, which only a crazy fool would drag themselves out of bed to go see. All of the shows were sold out. I struggled with my exhaustion at some points in the movie, but overall it was a great, great action movie. A co-worker loaned me his copy of "Batman Begins," which I watched last night, and it was a bit disappointing after watching "Dark Knight." That isn't to say it wasn't a good movie, but it paled in comparison. I should have watched them in the correct order like everyone else in the world!

Plans for moving back to Little Rock are right on schedule. My petition for re-enrollment (a so-called reapplication application) was accepted. My FAFSA was processed by the government in record time, leaving me to wonder why they move like a sloth on everything else, and now the actual decision will be left to the university to decide (now begins the sloth-like movement). I spoke with my aunt about the whole issue of moving around, and I'm consulting with my parents about logistics (when, how to move). The only bad thing so far has been the higher than anticipated price of apartments after some more in-depth research. All of the reseafch I do online is useful but in the end I think it's going to be a feet-on-the-ground type of expedition that will be the most useful.