"gravity is nothing to me, moving at the speed of sound -- i'm just gonna get my feet wet until i drown ..." -- miss ani. who, tho lovely, is nothing like miss annie, who it sounds like is not perfectly spacklelessly happy yet so let's all wish her the truest of true loves for her place, shall we?
that goes for all my summer chiclets, scattered as they are far and wide across the northeastern corner. from those farthest south (UMD i guess: hallo folks!) to, uh, NYU? no, northhampton!
which reminds me: ross and i were talking about which classes to take this morning and he decided to audit one of mine, Murder in a Mill Town. it's social history of America b/w the rev. war and the civil war. he wrote it down on his little piece of paper as "Murder!" and i commented that that word just doesn't look the same w/o the exclamation point.

i'm writing this now from ben's new room. there's a huge red framed picture of marx, engels, and lenin above the bed; it's funny and creepy at the same time. for now tho i'm facing the white-noncinderblock wall and the window that looks out on the nicest quad on campus. ahh, to be a junior w/ a good lottery number. not that the barn is anything to sneeze at, especially since we've painted it peach medley and lavendar and cleaned and swept and scoured and entertained! (dinner party last nite: what a trip) and hung up posters and pictures and started work on the hallway's knickknack (wow too many k's in that word) shelf.
for those of you who are confused, maybe i should compose a cast of characters: the new folk of whom i'll be writing for next interval. So We Have:
ben. the bunny. one year older, a bio/english(?) major, living in a 2-room double w/ rob, who has a throaty chuckle and malcolm x glasses and boatloads of asian art and books around. last year rob roomed w/ ruby, aka matt rubin, who's my year and a character: everyone on campus has at least heard of him, possibly resents him for one thing and has forgiven him for something else, but that's what happens when you're not only one of a very small number of republicans on campus and vocal about it to boot. last year, ruby went to italy over break w/ my roommate jocelyn aka jolly, who's charming and stylish in a chattering way and has more STUFF than anyone i know. this year, jolly's living in willets, the ghetto dorm, near marc, who was originally supposed to live w/ ruby last year but that plan miscarried, thank god -- marc ended up alone in a double. but he has enuf energy and flamboyance for two, especially once the alcohol starts flowing or someone turns on the madonna. also occasionally fueled by likker is mariah, who last year lived across the hall from joc and me and who this year will essentially be living w/ kent, her boyfriend, in another apartment in the barn. she's driven, political, very put together, often loud and more often laughing.
then there are the barnies: ross also possibly an english major -- certainly a unique individual -- loves music, loves to dance; rebecca, tall, dramatic, 1940's beauty type, who likes projects and unconventional color combinations; and joel, who i know least well: he's unselfconscious and sweet in an boyish way. but smart. they're all smart.
that'll do for now. there are others, of course, but i'll identify them as they come onto the scene.

the last few days have been lovely. family time in the barn, lots of bonding, including Dip of the Month -- a traditional skinny dip at the midnite when the month changes in the creek in the Crum, our campus forest. we swam under a full moon and emerged to dry ourselves around a bonfire left burning dimly from a freshman activity. then becca and i returned home still in towels; the boys, dressed, walked ahead.
and we have phone service! finally. goddamned verizon took forever to come thru. i'll email y'all the number as soon as i get it. now i should figure out what movie i'm going to see to review or whether i should do an old one, apocalypse now redux or ghost world. having su wu as my editor makes me nervous.
damn this is long. i guess i've been influenced: this morning, the barnies, ben, and i were sitting around reading rilke poetry and Moby Dick. oh man. welcome to swat.