Oatmeal

...it's what for breakfast at 2:45 on a Saturday afternoon. That is, it's accompanying me as I post.

My exuberance of last week has faded into something of a malaise. Ennui? The cause is a series of small disappointments and hindrances. Apartment hunting, after being fun for a while, has turned into a hassle, especially because we didn't get the one we loved. It also means that, rather than do fun things together, Monty and I have spent all our time running between apartments, weighing real estate pros and cons, and asking about utilities. My part-time job helping out the artist-woman is a real downer, and my other waitressing job didn't work out. The homeless lifestyle -- living out of a backpack and bumping people out of their beds or sleeping in a tent -- has started to get old. I'm ready to have my own space again. There's a strangeness associated with being back at the Zu as a graduate. I don't know how to articulate it, except to say that it feels oddly isolating.

Enough whining! Here are good things that have happened this week:
- I got my cello. Monty found one cheap and bought it for me, which means that after an eight-year hiatus, I'm going to pick it up again. I love the cello because it's an instrument you actually have to hug. And, when you play it right you, can feel its vibrations through your whole body. That said, it will be a while before I play it right again.
- After another long hiatus, I am rejoining the Quaker community in Northampton, starting tomorrow. So happy to have Quakerism become an active part of my life again.
- I found out that I get to start my full time job on a part time basis this month. I'm meeting with my boss next week and moving forward from there. A big relief.
- It's always glorious to see so many Chapman friends in Amherst. They (you) are the best of the best. Plus others, like Scott and Sara last night.
- Obama = Nobel Peace Prize winner. Happiest news of the week.
- If you are in New England, have you seen the trees? I mean, my god.