sunday march 25 2001    |    1:49 p.m.

gambier tapwater is pretty foul stuff. not undrinkably foul, but more like chemically foul. i checked the hot pot in its beginning stages of heating, and a thin white film had formed on the surface of the water, kind of like sometimes when you boil rice and little rice weevils float to the top. not fun. but the water is boiled now and poured into a generic plastic cafeteria cup with the bigelow i-love-lemon teabag dunked in, and the chlorine film is ostensibly gone. although the tea is turning an alarming shade of muddy off-pink. should've stuck to green tea as usual.

i've spent all morning reading infinite jest, since ten-thirtyish until now, minus whatever time it took to go to the bathroom for tissues and water and answer a quick phone call. it's sort of a process because some parts i will want to read over and over, and then there's the whole world of explanatory notes to muse over and get side-tracked with, and . . . well, it looks like i won't be going to work today. fuck the ten-odd dollars' incentive -- this is still comps celebration weekend after all, and i finally have dfw to read, and i'm feeling selfishly indulgent anyway.

i feel like i should take short breaks from the book at least. no way i can plow through 1000 pages in one day, but it's deceptively tempting, as much as i wouldn't want it to end. [pause to locate the pack of cigarettes.] and besides project number two for the day is to rework your mixtape completely and also to make one for ed, now that i feel i have decently updated the music so in conjunction it won't all have that stale-ish aftertaste. i'm all backed-up with this mixtape business. as usual.

so i never made it to the comps party-cum-indiefilm extravaganza. (although i did marginally make the taping; more on that later.) ran into m_ (name withheld due to potentially incriminating subtance-matter) at dinner post-forties with natalie, and ended up at her place smoking up a storm with her & company. by nine-thirty somehow i made it back to my room planning to take a short nap which somehow turned into an all-night sleepfest. oops.

yesterday fritz and i spent the afternoon and a good part of the evening in mount vernon, out on a stony adventure, running errands and eating ludicrously (in comparison to "bricks") good food at friendly's. stopped by his place for taping number two, as number one had been accidentally erased the night before. ran into natalie, stephanie, hammy, and a substantial group of other women, and followed them to brian's birthday party plus fully-stocked (and i mean fully-stocked) bar. went home and talked to the boy and was fast asleep by one in the morning.

also had a rushed cigarette with the lovely miss k yesterday morning before she took off back to cleveland. hopefully she will come back next weekend and we will party. and daniel should be having more "celebrations of finality" soon, so i'm just collecting the rainchecks like it's nobody's business.

the turning in of comps wasn't as satisfying and carefree of an event as i'd anticipated. i'm still very much unsatisfied and a little worried. but it's over and the anxiety dreams are gone for the time being, so this is good. next step on the stress-ladder is this new york deal, if they ever call me back. should quit holding my breath and resume the job search, meantime.

silly liminal things, weekends, really.

last-minute things. to whomever left the george benson lyrics on my guestbook -- rock. you made me dig up my 20/20 tape and listen to it all morning, whenever it was. (i've since recovered, thank you.) now i just hope there wasn't any sort of pointed meaning implied in the lyrics, because that would be slightly scary. although i'd probably laugh. that would be one classy declaration, by way of george benson circa 1985.

and also, i think my dland images are broken. so unless i hear otherwise, i guess i'll be forced to redesign this thing at some point soon. blah.

now maybe to shower and make some more tea and read some more book.