Christmas, Airports and Black Ice

Picked up the little one (who is now 21 and was sized-up in a restaurant in Santa Barbara by Rob Lowe last night) at JFK. Nothing like a road trip with a little black ice, one that lasted three hours from northern NJ and went bumper-to-bumper from the NJ Turnpike to the necessary exit on the Belt Parkway. Glad to have her here, glad to be back from that road trip. Hope everyone drives safely this holiday season. And don't forget to wear that seatbelt and take the keys from anyone who's had a little bit too much.

That Time of Year

Love Christmas (not). But this year, I'm trying. Done with finals, done with term papers (last one out the door tonight), moving back to Jersey and moving, as we all know so well, sucks.
Glad that it should all be done in two weeks' time, the sorting and the packing makes me wonder how I've collected so much junk in a year's time: I'd done the zen thing and moved with just the basics...now it's time to minimalize again.
Shucks. Just when I thought I could enjoy a few weeks off.

Faces, Frozen in Time

You can pick up a box of old photographs and be amazed by what you see. Dad died this summer, and pictures of him are everywhere. One caught my attention: This one. I had seen it before but after scanning it, making it larger, it got to me. What was I seeing in those eyes, that handsome face? Frustration? Disgust? Anger that you had four kids and a mother-in-law at home? A small house and an unappreciative boss? Were you questioning your reason for being? Was the smoke curling up your nose as you took this shot? No matter. I've seen this face before.

Gosh, I loved you, Dad. Did you ever find out what you were so angry about?

Head in a Vice

School has not been easy. I wish it was. Week of midterms, broken cars and rain. My eyes hurt, in the way they do before you cry. I can't cry but my eyes hold the pain, all the wincing and none of the release.

I'm hoping this feeling goes away. In time, everything does. So tired and bone weary. Sorry to complain (but let me). Thank you.

Highlights of the Weak

So good to see all my high school girlfriends from Queen of Peace. Car broke down on the side of the road about 7 miles from Narrowsburg. I think it may be dead. I'm not. Yet. I think. This week was exhausting. So much school. So much work. But this was fun.

My Brain

I smell smoke. Could it be my head is FINALLY exploding?

No such luck. So much work. Transcribing a 90 minute lecture for a class that demands I transcribe it. This is how I'm spending the last remaining hours of my Sunday. Have an invitation to go do something fun this week and probably won't be able to accept it for all the work I have. Still, grateful for so, so many things.

Gratitude, gratitude. I think I actually just need to get laid.

Bad Girls

I had forgotten how wonderful this book is. Hawthorne's post-modernist heroine could be any woman, the description of Hester Prynne's escape to a small thatched cottage with a view of the ocean, working on her vegetable garden, living independently, a small, rambunctious child in tow. Have to finish it before tomorrow. Enjoying it thoroughly. Then it's on to the Communist Manifesto. Good grief!