being a parent means you're willingly giving up some of your external social life in favor of spending more time with your kid. one kid lead to another - once the second one enters your life, and the drop off/pick up at daycare circus is in effect - you find your life to be just a little bit less social than before. being a parent of two AND trying to finish up a thesis in no-time brings you to the border between asocial and antisocial. i know. believe you me. the past three months, i've been dodging phone calls from friends during working hours, loads of emails are still awaiting attention, and the family... the family, i guess, cannot avoid noticing my blank face which indicates me thinking of how to implement that darn selection metric, instead of concentrating on swinging the swing in the park. i eat, sleep, dream thesis work. don't get me wrong here, so far i still enjoy it. but now when i start to think of an eight hour working day as short, and the twelve hour ones as normal, i guess i have to slow down.

so here's to all of you who still cares: at the end of the tunnel, there is a party.