so here comes the end of the quarter, galloping up out of nowhere. it was september just yesterday, i know it, and i was baffled and struggling under the weight of school, thrilled and energized by the light of knowledge. understanding. and my first quarter here is four class periods, two papers, and one board-game-cum-exam away from completion. and i still like it here: in fact, despite my reservations, i've absolutely loved my science classes, and, as i said it to silke last night, catapulted myself squarely into the range of science dork.


i feel alive here; i feel my mind moving, stretching, grasping new things and reaching for more. i am reading a big, complicated book completely voluntarily and enjoying it more than i would have believed two months ago. (although, to be honest, part of what i'm enjoying is the mere fact that i know what the authors are talking about when they use phrases like alluvial deposit, arcto-tertiary derivation, and edaphic horizon.) i want a good book on geology or evolution for christmas. i wish i was taking conservation biology instead of opening the creative mind. i talked about dihybridization at the dinner table and mitochondria at the bar. but it has been like cool wind on a muggy day: rejuvenating.


the sky was close and pale all day today, swift wind making metaphors of the leaves outside my window. a breif snow that settled back into drizzle, and a long paper that needed two pots of tea to be coaxed into being. oatmeal for breakfast, lentil soup for lunch, a thick rice, lentil, walnut and spinach amalgamation for dinner, and tea tea tea all day: it is winter indeed. i've not gotten myself out of my pajamas or quite out of sleep all day; however, i have a planning meeting for the monologues in half an hour, so i suppose i should at least put some pants on. my plan for the night after my meeting involves a couch with blankets, a warm body, and some chick flicks. hopefully the snow will pick itself back up, and we can make hot chocolate and smile at the cold outside.