The Things That I Did Not See, and the Things That I Saw.

This week in Boston with weather was nice and then nasty. It was warm most of the time before a mix of snow, ice and icky-cold rain came down on Thursday.

I feel odd.

(Insert your joke here.)

Since grad school ended about six weeks ago, all I’ve done is rattle around the world looking for a spot to settle for a bit. Now that school’s out – forever – I’m left with just my ambition, the city of Boston, the newly acquired ability to make hummus, and the computer that I type on. I’m flat broke, but I’ve been that way before and so I find it only mildly annoying, like, ‘oh, no, not again'. I’ve been broke many times in my life, selling your CD’s and your white blood cells broke, and it’s not something that bothers me anymore. I know money will come back into the picture, because I work my ass off. Even when I’m not working for an employer, I work myself into the ground writing. So the whole thing with money will turn around soon –it’s just that annoying little pebble in my shoe right now that hurts when I step on it the wrong way.

Wednesday morning Aral picked up the telephone when it rang and a lady’s voice asked her “Have you ever wished that you had a magic wand?” It was a pre-recorded telemarketing scam for some sort of vacuum cleaner or other machine that promised to be everything anybody wanted, to make your house gleam with the absence of human skin cells, hair or smudging finger prints. This happened while I had accidentally left the TV on after the Daily Show and the program Win Ben Stein’s money came on. I watched the former speechwriter for President Nixon fight with C. C. DeMille of Poison, Matthew Sweet and Weird Al Yankovik for $5000 dollars. None of these men needed another 5 grand – well, maybe Matthew Sweet – and the whole morning just slipped into that realm that has no other name than The Surreal. I have had several such days lately, where events get so odd and disconnected that I have to go lie down for just a bit, perhaps with a novel or some comic books, and just pretend that I didn’t see/hear the things I just did. No, the president didn’t just declare us in a permanent state of war, forever, Wednesday night. That didn’t happen. I didn’t see it. I’m reading Kavalier & Clay.

I got caught up with Ford and Dust earlier this week by phone, and that was incredibly pleasant. Ford and I have adopted each other, I think. We’re just there when the chips are down for each other, you know? Dust and I understand each other’s intricate neuroses. I also got to talk to Underdown for the first time since Christmas this week, and that was lovely as well. I owe too many letters out to people lately because I’ve been writing so much for myself.

I saw Medford this week too, where Tufts University is. It’s nice out there, a town full of neighborhoods and children and New England houses with yards. The kind of place that I immediately liked, that seemed comfortable, a staying spot. If I decide to go after a doctorate, I guess I’ll have to think about Tufts. Medford isn’t in Boston, just really, really close. It’s one and the same in my mind with Davis Square, because they’re pretty close to each other.

Last week I saw the Women in Black, the group of ladies who petition for peace in the Middle East whenever they have a spare moment. The ladies marched around in a loose oval in front of a drugstore in Coolidge Corner. They reminded me of PTA members, moms who were annoyed with how their children were being governed, more than protesters. I thought they were just unbearably cool though. I kept expecting them to offer people cookies and punch, but no, they were asking people to promote a world of religious tolerance. And that kicks ass.