monoceros blogsA very quick update:
1. Moving across the world is harder than I thought. I'm spending more time packing, re-packing, moving to a friend's apartment, visiting the Salvation Army, throwing out junk, putting the junk back into my suitcases, pulling out books to send by the post office - all this even after my major shipping deal earlier this month. Lesson learned - we always have more belongings than we imagine.
2. I'm feeling rather depressed about leaving Ann Arbor. I have more to say but writing it down would get me more upset.
3. My Argentine tango lessons have been going wonderfully. It's the one thing that's distracting me from the imminent departure, but when I stop dancing, I remember too that I won't be attending more lessons at the university's Argentine tango club soon. I'll miss the terrific partners I've had here and of course, the thrill of dancing. One last outdoor milonga this Saturday night, and then I'll have to do lots of research on where to go dancing in Singapore. Not just any tango, but close-embrace Argentine tango. LK and I can't begin lessons yet since he has military and work commitments but I'll see if I can find some practica sessions for us to attend. More on tango - the dance, the music, the movies, the shoes - soon.
4. I made a short trip to Chicago recently. A splendid trip - I do love that city by the lake. Plenty of Parisian architectural details, fewer people than in New York, huge and beautiful museums, deep-dish pizza, Russian tea-rooms, a very blue-hued lake, numerous parks, the Chicago Tribune building.
5. I bought a laptop bag. A good one made of Italian leather. It's green; probably the reason why it was on sale in the first place. Not many people carry green laptop bags.
Basta! I will return.
I did it. I got moved. I stayed up till three yesterday morning scouring my apartment for things I wanted in the lift van and things I should throw out. I stacked my books into very tall piles; I went through manuscripts, critiques, notes; I selected magazines to keep, put aside kitchen items I want in my future kitchen, and dug out coats, gloves, scarves. Everything was organized into sections in the living room - household items, clothes, bedding, bric-a-brac, books, magazines, folders, stationery. And I slept for four hours on my bed before stripping it of the sheets and preparing it for the move.
I'm ready to go home.
One day before Independence Day. We sang the "Star-Spangled Banner" in church today, a song I'll confess to singing in the bathroom. I can't resist that rousing tune.
A bunch of us gathered at Peter's house for a cookout. Now that I've graduated from the MFA program, visiting the director's home and watching him feed his one-year-old Owen (who loves blueberries) seem perfectly normal.
I asked a friend, A. how she and her husband, T, an ex-MFAer, met. She gamely told me the full story of how a friend dragged her into participating in a frat party's entertainment. It involved a police uniform and a bikini. She was mortified by the experience, but T. ran out after her. To put it shortly, he married the stripper years later.
The fireworks are reserved for tomorrow evening but outside my window, there're bursts of a different kind of fire. Fireflies dart just inches from my face. They make me think of strange magic.