You Ought To Be Here With Me

If you think it's lonesome where you are tonight,
Then you ought to be here with me
If you think there's heartache where you are tonight,
Then you ought to be here with me.

'Cause with you I'm whole
Without you I'm cold.

If teardrops are fallin' where you are tonight,
Then you ought to be here with me.
Loneliness callin' where you are tonight
And you ought to be here with me.

'Cause with you I'm whole
Without you I'm cold.

So, if you think about me where you are tonight,
Then you ought to be here with me.

Roger Miller wrote that. Even though I've never listened to his stuff, I understand that he's an important figure in country music. I just know him because he wrote the words and music for Big River, which is perhaps my favorite musical. It's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and it reaches some deep material (as did Twain with the book) even as it presents itself as a story of a drifter-boy and his adventures down the Mississippi River. It's really about his descent into the world of slavery, his realization of the cost of freedom, and the importance to right versus the status quo. It also deals with loneliness and waiting for a better day.

(If you don't know the show, you should. It's excellent, and I bought the soundtrack on Amazon a couple years ago.)

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I guess I said all that to say that I'm feeling lonely. It's probably because I had a good day, and someone wants to ruin it. I went to an international gathering this morning, and it was alright. I'm hoping that the other campus is better, but it was nice to be with others like me anyway.
Then I read a bunch of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (only 100 pages left!) and studied Chinese.
Tonight I went to a dinner party that happened before the housewarming that was postponed until tonight. It was nice just to chat with a bunch of fellow international students. The food was not bad, either, especially these fried glutinous balls with sesame seeds around the outside and a sweet bean paste inside. I referred to them as China's Krispy Kremes, and they're probably the closest one would get to a KK here.
On the way back to the school, my roommate and I spotted rambutan at a fruit stand. I didn't stutter. Those of you who are long-time readers understand the beauty of the rambutan. We bought about a kilo of them.

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There is very little sunshine through the smog here in Beijing.

T