The picture above depicts yours truly in a contemplative posture.  I was most likely doing which of the following…

a.  Calculating the number of days (~360+) before I would be able to return to an establishment that sells espresso drinks in standard sizes (short, tall, grande) and where such drinks are prepared following a multi-stepped bean-related process (i.e. grinding the beans, heating milk, shooting steam through espresso, etc., as opposed to pushing the "latte" button on a boxy, metallic contraption.)

b. Trying to recall certain complex Chinese phrases I learned just a few months earlier, "My name is Todd.  I am a student.  I am from America."

c. Contemplating whether I would have enough time and energy to write the great American novel before the second semester of language study begins in Xining (the second week of March!  Kiss your summer goodbye, friends…)

d. Wondering just how bad the Seattle Mariners are going to be this season while simultaneously trying to forget that I woke up at 6 a.m. to watch the Seahawks lose in the Superbowl (a team I had never previously followed by the way!)

e. Convincing myself that Sarah didn’t just eat an unidentified object that she hadn’t just pulled out from under a coffee shop stool.

f. Posing as The Thinker.  (Emphasis on the word Poser.)

g. Developing new insights on liberation theology which could threaten to undermine my friends’ love for the boardgame Settlers of Catan.

h. Nothing.

i. Stubbornly fighting off the propensity towards post-vacation ennui.    (Look it up.  It’s a good word.)

j. Speculating how late in life one could start a career in  Thai boxing.