NOTES FROM THE BOOK MINES

We've been watching a lot of German film back at the house. I have no idea what's come over us, persuading us to stay inside during the incredibly favorable late May afternoons and watch a German opera enthusiast attempt to haul a steamboat over a mountain so he can make a fortune on rubber to finance his dream of building an opera house in the middle of the jungle and premeiring with "Caruso." But it feels pleasantly of-the-moment, and the moment feels like a hammock we're afraid to fall out of. This might explain all the sitting very still that goes on.

I'm thinking about refurbishing my German; it's been nearly four years since I've studied it, but I've been surprised by how quickly I've picked it back up while watching Fassbinder films. I've been able to catch little inconsistencies in the subtitles, which pleases me. I used to be able to read Mann and Goethe and everybody in German. I used to be able to compose fairly well. I'm thinking about finding a dictionary at the bookstore and plunging back into Steppenwolf or one of the other books I read in high school, just to feel the unfamiliar terrain of another language beneath my understanding of the written word.

I'm calling the library "the book mines" because I feel like there's this constant flow of books through invisible channels, this mountain of books that's constantly messing itself up, and we few library workers have to pick them up and put them back, hauling unweildy carts up and down the dark, humid aisles. I feel like I should have a helmet with a light on it, and black circles under my eyes.

Actually, I've been enjoying the library the last few days. It's really nice to be able to chat with friends while you sit at work. Everybody's smart and funny. And good-natured. I'm also very happy with our progress of the mountain of books left over after classes ended; in fact, the mountain has been entirely organized and is ready to shelve. Not bad for a weeks' work.

Happy Birthday to Tyson, who turns 20 today. Tyson, I hope you're happily sitting in a field smoking a covert cigarette while I write this.

Unbelievable news: I sat up in bed at 2:30 this morning, stumbled over to my computer, and wrote out the beginning of a short story and a brief essay on tenor solos (separate pieces, although they could conceivably be worked in together) while asleep! At least, I don't remember any of it. The Word document (saved on my desktop as "GENIUS MIDNIGHT WRITINGS") was still open when I got up.

Hello. My muse has visited.

JACK THE BOOTLEG, JOHNNY

This has been a strange week. By "strange," I mean "bad." Our DSL is out for some reason, and I missed an e-mail that would have told me that we didn't have a 9:30 AM design meeting today. Now I'm on campus way earlier than I need to be, and I have to get up early tomorrow for the rescheduled meeting. And, with all of the excitement from Monday, I'm a little, shall we say, depleted. And full of useless, useless coffee.

Yesterday I met with Lauren, the other writing ATTRA, and Dave, the fiction teacher. Governor's school is going to be great. Lauren and I will be an impeccable poetry/fiction team! I'm just now getting fully excited about what this will be like. I'm a little nervous about the week-long orientation we have to go through before the high school kids get there; Dave said it was "a lot of role-playing" and made a face. Does that mean there's going to be a trust fall, too? I guess I forgot all about this nurturant stuff when I made the application. And don't get me wrong, I think I am a nurturing person, I just don't like the institutionalized activities that are usually required for such purposes. Maybe I'm just borderline shy. But shhh, don't tell anybody.

JE N'AIME PAS LE ROCK-N-ROLL.

Some down points for today:
+The car got towed (but I got it right before the tow truck drove away, at least). But yes, I feel stupid. Relentlessly stupid.
+I had to get up at eight this morning to move Megan's car to the other side of the street, for fuck's sake. She wasn't there, and the Melnicks were banging down our door demanding she move the car so we could have the street cleaned. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Yes, I did get up on the wrong side of the bed today. The ass-early, cranky, driving in an undershirt and pjs side of the bed.
+I brought all of the goodies for Tyson's package to school with me, but left his addresss at home.
+My new shoes are hurting my heels.
+I had to wait on the phone for around an hour to get the bills put in my name.
+I had to park in the campus garage.

Some up points for today:
+Zach said that my new skirt looked nice.
+I saw Metric and the Stills last night with Andrew, and it was great fun.
+I get to meet with the fiction teacher from governor's school tomorrow.

Some great news:
Zach and I are going to start a t-shirt company: STFU productions (or something)! Of all of the potential readers of this blog, I imagine Tyson is the only one who gets this joke.