Tears 4 Fears

I'll be in Seaside in ten days. Until then, I'm alive and awake and well.

Thanks to Daniel Lopatin's EccoJams tape from last year, I've encountered all kinds of old jams that would've otherwise flown under my radar. "Woman in Chains" by Tears for Fears and "Too Little, Too Late" by JoJo are in almost constant rotation on my iPod. I also rediscovered "Laughing" by David Crosby recently, via Zech's expertly curated and truly funny radio show.

When work-related stress had me momentarily zoned out and preoccupied, a brief conversation with my mom opened my eyes. I usually spend too much time talking to my parents without really saying anything. I'm trying to be more honest to them and to myself lately, and in the process, get to know us all better. It was really a splendid moment that replenished what might have been a dampened evening.

I also refreshed myself by cleaning out the cat litter at my parents' house. If everything went according to plan, they'll each think the other did it, making everybody happier (of course, my secret hope is they discover I did this without any prompting and love me even more for it). I did it on a whim, remembering one of my favorite passages from the queer masterpiece The Well of Loneliness:

"She took what she gave and she gave what she took, yes, but sometimes she gave just a little bit more -- and that little bit more is the whole art of teaching, the whole art of living."

Isn't that a swell thought?

Time passes. That it's already midterms hasn't really resounded with me. That I'm feeling this ecstatic has.

Take care and carry on!