 In College You Know |
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I finished The Brothers K on the plane, and I cried through the last one hundred pages or so, so much so that I soaked through several airplane napkins. I tried to be discreet at first so as to not disturb those around me, but it got to the point where every few pages or even paragraphs, I would have to put the book down, remove my glasses, and take a moment to soak up the tears and possibly even blow my nose or just to sit there and sniffle and whimper as quietly as possible until regaining some semblance of composure. I was just overcome. It's not a perfect novel, and I could say more about why I think that but won't because I don't want to spoil it for those who might still read it (and you should). But I love it in a way that I've really only loved a couple of other books in the past few years. It grabbed me by the heart and brain and guts and still hasn't quite let go.  It was a good weekend seeing my sister and Shelley. However, I have already announced that I will never again leave the South during the winter unless it's to go somewhere tropical or I have someone permanently attached to my side and can channel his body heat. I nearly had a weather-induced nervous breakdown while walking down the sidewalk in -9 degree wind-chill weather at 2:30 in the morning on my first night there.  I realize I was improperly dressed in that my not exactly heavy coat didn't even button and my hat had holes in it, but I seriously felt myself having some kind of a psychotic break from which I'm not sure I fully recovered for the rest of the weekend until I landed here and stepped out into the glory that is a 71-degree night in February. 
I loved seeing the law school and meeting my sister's new friends and boyfriend and seeing her in what is now her element. It's obvious that everyone loves her fly apartment but mostly loves her, and she can rock the pink coat and hat like nobody else. I have to say that it did make me feel kind of ancient and not just because I'm turning thirty in six days. Shelley and I were like doddering old ladies next to these students who can stay up until 4:00 in the morning having sing-alongs and baking brownies and laughing their asses off like clocks really have no meaning. It's just a whole different culture, a whole different life. It's been so long since I've been in school that I kind of forgot what it's like -- the energy generated by these small and large groups of people all interested in so many things both different and the same, all crammed into the same place, weathering it all and trying to keep each other from being lonely and going crazy. Grad school was kind of like that for me, but certainly not to this degree, in that it was not exactly an Ivy League law school nor what seems like a galaxy away from home. I've been listening to "I Wish I Could Go Back to College" from Avenue Q since I got back. We've all been a little bit worried about her, I think, not for any reason, really, other than she's so far away in a place that's so cold and we wonder all the time what she's doing and how she's doing and try to imagine the people and places who fill her days these days. Witnessing how close my sister and her friends have already become and how beautifully and vividly she fits into this teeming frenzy of people from all over the country and even the world ... it was really kind of an amazing thing to see.  
2004
2/18:
I thought it was lovely and green, but little did I know that people hate Chinese tallow trees with an unmatched fury.
2/17:
Also, I ordered myself a sticker that says Bush Is a Punk-Ass Chump.
2/16:
I realize he's been a dumbfuck more times than we can count, but so has she! My God! Do we not remember how she treated Aidan?
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