Homeward Bound
(17-26 May 2001)
26 May 2001
[from
Albuquerque]
-2400 words & counting.
-I need to
remember that amidst all this
writing, I ought not neglect e-mail either. As yet I have
been, but there's people I need
to stay in touch with too & balancing the real world with my
new created one may prove
difficult. It's interesting how consumed I am by having a
plot mapped out in advance.
25 May 2001
[from
Albuquerque]
-The novel keeps getting
stalled-out. Though I had a lotta errands
to run today, including getting pics devloped from the roll that
went from the late days in
Waltham till just last week. Highlights of this included the
only pictures I currently own
of Madeline... I'll put one up soon, even though I know she'd kill
me for it. I need to
revamp the Pond in general soon. Though the novel must take
precedence. It'll be
underway by June, I promise. Who am I
promising? Myself, I guess.
-Much of the
reason for the current delays was spending a long time helping my
Dad get used to the web today.
I'm trying to get him to start a webpage, which he wants to
do, but it's all or nothing
with him--if he's going to do it, it has to be BIG. We'll
see...
-In the process of
showing him the web, I ran across the fact that Steve Yuhan, famed
Princeton debater &
all-around good guy (with an interesting webpage which might
lead you to believe he's a non-profit) has linked my
page! Egads. But this discovery
led to the even more astounding fact that fellow-Nats-semifinalist
Amy Phillips of NYU acclaim
(see here for HER
page) was at CTY in '95 with me at
Dickinson! & we just missed by a year in Balt'mer, as
well. I think we ran in
slightly different circles, though... I'll bet she wasn't playing
much Diplomacy there.
24 May 2001
[from
Albuquerque]
-Eliaii kills me when he talks about how
much money he's saved not getting
a car while I'm driving him home. Every time.
-Things are
not as bad as they might have
seemed on some fronts, proving yet once again that worry is
utterly unnecessary. A waste in
all ways. Though there is reason for conCERN. How much
remains to be seen, as do most
things. Yeah.
-Methinks later today will be the official
launch date for the novel!
This would be so much more fun if I had a working
title. But at the same time, maybe
the lack thereof is what will make success a
possibility. Maybe I'm just makin' stuff
up.
23 May 2001
[from
Albuquerque]
-Trains are still fun, even if I'm getting
familiar with the territory
travelled & I'm more the observer than the speaker. It's
good to be in observation
mode with this whole novel thing pending.
-So many interesting
e-mails that bring good cheer
from myriad sources! Yay.
-I think my Dad's more excited
about the WYN project than
any of the rest of us are/were. Hey, whatever works.
22 May 2001
[from San
Diego]
-Given Fish's rampant affinity for cheese,
it would seem that a likely candidate for his personal
savior would be "Cheesus". This was the product of
a visit to Ralph's (a local super market) that was filled
with irony & strangeness. Especially when the debate
over apples began & a UCSD alum who Fish vaguely knows
chimed in about random conspiracies. Ah, the
craziness.
-How much things change; how much things stay the
same.
Too many facets to that reality, really.
-"Goodnight
fish!". This was after I turned the lights out
on the local apartment's fishtank, but Fish was right
there. Yeah, you woulda had to be there.
-Definitely
gonna
miss San Diego, but it's time to move on. I've also missed
Burque & my parents quite a bit. I'm leaving on
a train this afternoon & will be in town halfway through
tomorrow...
21 May 2001
[from San
Diego]
-After a good weekend with DK, Jaque,
& of course Fish, I'm a little down about all of our
futures... not in general, but relative to each
other. Proximity is the big issue. I'm finding a bit
of irony
in the idea of both Kunx & Fisher wending their ways toward
the east coast as I promise myself to ne'er return after I
graduate 'Deis. Also of interest to me, however, is the fact
that Fish & especially Jake just don't give themselves
enough credit for anything. I got the unfortunate feeling
that both of them underestimate themselves to no end.
At least DK has a healthy introspective perspective... he
only underrates his so-called "hovel", actually a
nice place & so close to the Frontier! Maybe it's the
A-plusses that do it. Seriously, though, Jaker &
Fishbop are cooler than they think. I guess that's the
summation.
-Ah, a train ride tomorrow. But I'm
surely gonna miss SoCal. It's been a ton of fun, as per
usual. This is my last of these trips, I s'pose, since
next year I'll be at my own graduation & then MAYBE I'll drive
out here, but probably not before Fish's graduation.
I was gonna say I'd pick up DK's on the way, but he's on the
5-year-plan now.
-The human body's healing abilities
never fail to amaze me.
20 May 2001
[from San
Diego]
-"Shrek" is good romping
fun. Though I'd still love to let some Sociology majors
go at it about that movie.
-Lauren is too quiet around
us. Though, who wouldn't be? Still, it's a shame,
because I think she has a lot to say.
-Well, look at the latest
feedback... Fish called it "a long essay".
I guess it's a sign of amicability, if not
more. Reassuring. But I still can't get over this
slightly
slighted sensation.
-Happy Birthday, Stina!
-Sometimes I just
gotta say life is great. This would be one of those
times. That's really all I need to
say right now.
19 May 2001
[from San
Diego]
-I am a complete idiot. Running down
a hill that had been easy to walk up, I careened down at
a scary angle into an asphalt road. I'm actually quite lucky
a car wasn't coming & thus got away with bad scrapes
to my left elbow, right hand, & right knee. More pain
& blood than I would've expected, though I was good at
catching myself & not damaging my head, for example. But
I still feel really dumb.
-The above injuries didn't
(surprisingly) prevent me from playing basketball, though they
still hurt more than they should. But apparently I've
stayed in really good shape this year, at least relative to DK,
Jaque, & Fish.
-Ah, harebrained schemes. It's
great to have a large part of the crew around though.
-Happy
Birthday, Mesco!
18 May 2001
[from San
Diego]
-Camping was fun, even if it was my first
introduction to "car camping", which apparently
is camping outta the back of one's car at a politcally correct
"campground". A far cry from the Canyon, though
most things are. Also a far cry because I was pretty much
silent on this trip... though I really like Suarez, the rest
of the gang were nice, but I didn't quite click with them at
first. So it goes.
-The Weakerthans show was amazing.
Even the 2 opening acts were pretty solid, though lots of
folks cleared out before the Weakerthans closed the show,
which was both disappointing & nice because we got to move up
to about 5 people-rows back of stage. Highlights
included "Aside" (2nd song in the set, as well as on the
disc) & "Left & Leaving", which wasn't
as good live as on the disc unfortunately. The lead singer,
who looks exactly like an un-green Kermit the Frog, cracked
up in the middle of "Pamphleteer", skipping almost all
of the words as he kept laughing. But there was much
new stuff, including a great song in the encore, so maybe a new
release is upcoming.
17 May 2001
[from San
Diego]
-I've been wondering a little bit about
the technical precision of this here page. It occurs
to me that those little "from San Diego"s from this
& the past year should really possibly say "from La
Jolla", since that city (village?) has jurisdiction over
where I am &, interestingly, all of UCSD. Which sorta
begs the question of why it isn't UCLJ. Berkeley isn't
UC-Oakland & Davis isn't UC-Sacremento (though here I admit
my ignorance of that area by not knowing exactly how close those 2
really are). Why does San Diego get special rights?
I guess that question alone is enough for me to not start
saying "from La Jolla". Like everything else
on this page, it needs salt.
-Lisha's page is cracking me up of
late, though it (apparently?) is bothering her Hahvahd
mates a bit. Either way, some interesting notes on the
nature of lack of food messing with people. Stina is
famous for her self-analysis of this & it seems to be an
increasing theme. Maybe revolutions of the starving is
not so much an issue of rights violations as low blood sugar
getting people ornery!
-I'm gonna see the Weakerthans
tomorrow! In a venue approximately the size of
Chum's. Sweet. I dunno how relevant a setlist will be
since I only have 1 of their 2 albums & they'll probably play
most of that. It would be a little like the
MB20 setlist from Baltimore, in a show where they played all but 3
or 4 tracks they've ever released.
-Sometimes it
worries me that all my friends 'round here are
materialists. I still think Gris would enjoy making Danny
Korman's
film idea of "The Philosophy Room", though. But
we'd need Hirsch himself, a decrepit basement, & some
quality black & white film.
-Amen to Lisha! She
reiterates that no one has to read these types of pages if they
don't want to. A point
that, at a more turbulent time a while back, I was ardent
about. Nevertheless, the people who DO want to read these
raise some interesting issues. For example, last night I met
Emily, a PIRG friend of Fish's from 'round here.
After the "I've heard so much about you" (typical
around here... I guess Fish & I talk a lot about each
other to our college friends), she proceeded to back that up by
telling me she's seen pictures of me, been to my website,
& even seen my quiz. It was a wee bit
strange. & it certainly shouldn't be... this is all out
there for
potential public consumption & shows up on search engines, for
the love of the baby! I guess I don't always
consider that even friends of friends may be reading this
& it's interesting to confront that face-to-face.
Introspection, My Worst
Friend* (Current)
Ye Olde Archive (Past)
Tell me this is not the end...*
*-lyrics from an as-yet unreleased song, "The Same Old
Frontiers",
by SWClayton.