is the word 'diary' better than the word 'blog'? probably not.
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Action!
Action!
Chris called the other night and said, �Do you want to hear a joke?� I said, �Sure!� And then he said: �James Taylor.� I�ve been laughing about that one ever since. After a few more dumb jokes back and forth between us, we talked about the bear on his back porch who was trying to get at the hotdog that had been left on the grill.
It also made me laugh pretty hard when one of my gentle readers wrote to suggest where Kant could get more cowbell.
Today I finished revisions on that paper I wrote that was accepted for publication but came back with two big reader�s reports suggesting revisions. It�s always nice to get a reader�s report that starts off �This paper strikes me as nothing short of brilliant�� even when it continues to point out, rather accurately, some glaring oversights in the argument. Yet more evidence that everyone needs an editor. So I finished a new draft and I sent it off to my editor. And I hope that will be that, though chances are there will be new revisions? The only thing I know is that it never ends.
In other news, the house is in such a mess! It looks like a house where someone is revising a paper, planning a new course to teach, and trying to pack up ten years of shit to move, all at once. Because that is exactly the house this is. In addition, my �duties� keep getting interrupted by lots of social engagements. Monday I went to see Stephen do a solo show at the Rite Spot. Tuesday I had a very nice dinner with one of my dissertation directors, to celebrate my having gotten the fellowship at Haverford. Yesterday I had a late lunch with my friends Lee and Elisabetta and their son Eduardo, who are currently visiting from Italy. Then I had cocktails and snacks with Heidi, Liz and Viveca at a fancy sushi joint in my neighborhood. Tonight I�m meeting Liz and Evany at the Ferry Building for some overpriced consumer goods and a drink or two. I�ve also got stuff going on almost every day I can think of for the foreseeable future, so it feels like summer, and it�s fun. I might even have a date with one of Marco�s BFs, and that is a fun development.
Now that I�m more deep into the packing up of things, it is feeling more and more strange to leave this apartment. We just found out that Colleen can�t take over the lease, because the landlords haven�t done any work on this unit for like 20 years, and they want to come in and do an overhaul. I feel bad for Colleen about that, but I also think it might be for the best. This place really does need some serious attention from some construction workers, etc. I had been insisting to Colleen that if she stayed she had to make them at least replace the hallway carpet and fix the kitchen sink. But moving and looking for a place is No Fun. I Know.
So it is truly the end of a chapter, now that even Colleen will be leaving the house. I just keep concentrating on the positive. Like how I won�t have the terrible heinous loud selfish neighbors anymore. I have occasion to remember why that is a blessing at least once every day while I�m trying to work and once every night while I�m trying to sleep, so the bad neighbors are finally playing a positive role in my life by helping me keep it all in perspective, you might say.
Giving up the place also puts some other things in perspective. For instance, I don�t actually feel like this is the end of me being in San Francisco. I had thought that giving up the apartment would leave me feeling unmoored, like I was being cast into the City of Brotherly Love and out of the City of Gay Love. But it is more and more clear to me this summer that this really is where the largest part of my life is. It might take a bit more planning and subletting and couch-surfing to spend as much time here now that I won�t have my own place, but that will be OK. And then when and if I end up back here, I�ll just have to find another place to live. It�s not all that complicated, really. People face much steeper obstacles to their happiness every day, of that I am certain. In the meantime, I have a great big sunny apartment in Haverford and I�ll be 30 minutes from a major airport and 90 minutes from New York City. Poor me!
5:21 p.m. - July 14, 2005
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