baby, it's cold outside ...

  It's the first day of spring, but you wouldn't know that from the weather.  The wind is howling, the sky is a mass of dreary clouds, and the temperature is cold.  Every now and then a particularily vicious blast of air rattles my windows.  It is quite discomforting, especially when I consider that back home, it is warm, sunny and a week away from the peak of cherry blossom season.  Needless to say, nothing is growing here yet. The plants have all wisely decided to wait another month or so before poking their heads above ground.

 While the weather here is depressing, there is one up side to it.  There's is absolutely no temptation -- zero, zilch, nada -- to go outside and play. This means that I'm forced to stay inside, stare at my computer screen, and attempt to write papers.  So, while I read my friend's status updates on Facebook about the 'sunny weather,' 'first day of SPRING!' and 'WARM TEMPERATURES!!,' I can console myself with the fact that it's cold, being outdoors sucks right now, and I'm better off holed up in my apartment doing school work (or pretending to).

  Oh, and just so you can see what I mean by the statement that "being outdoors sucks right now," here's pictorial proof. Don't say I didn't warn you.