December 2, 2008

Drove the injured Prius to the body shop, after which I was given to drive a cream colored PT Cruiser, which I like. In some ways, the Cruiser suits me better. It’s less like a spacecraft cockpit.

Rented a house in Savannah for the New Year. Five have signed up to go, and there’s room for another. It’s an experiment for me, who usually go on my own wild lone. Too many things intervene for me to have much of an opinion about it now. Will the town be alive? Will the sea be frozen? Will there be WiFi? The original plan was Lisbon, but that began to feel too far away. Most people’s lives are at home, and mine is not, particularly, and that began to seem strange.
Finding something to suit a disparate group is surprisingly stressful. Some want luxury and some economy; some want beach and some downtown. It is also unexpectedly fun, like the working of a puzzle.

Jason and I went to get keys for our new space at the Flood. A wave of dissatisfaction went over me as I stood there, thinking of the time it will take for me to move in and get use out of it, thinking of the labor of schlepping those stairs with cabinets and supplies, wondering if the painting means anything or is but the expensive folly of the amateur. Jason, however, will use it, and use it quick, and that makes all well. What will it be like painting with him? I hope we chatter like parakeets.

Have foreseen my Purgatory: to have every single student in the hell-class ask separately when the final paper is due, that information having appeared in the syllabus in August.

I miss Marco. Maybe the holidays will afford an excuse to get in touch–though then the strain of his finding fifteen minutes to spend with me will remind me why I allowed it to drift.

Found N’s video blog. I thought while watching it, “What fearlessness!” I spend half my time covering up, finding the path of circumspection. Encountered F at the video store, and was almost flattened by his booming self-confidence–one might even say braggadocio– and yet, one acknowledges, that’s what works. What works better than talent. N, who has both, will cut a swath.