Just as I expected, the first thing that Anne, Elizabeth and I did when we saw eachother was begin screaming and hug. Girly to the extreme. But what're you going to do? The excitement for proper Goldtime is a little too much, after all.

It is not to say, of course, that I didn't enjoy break. I loved seeing my friends from back home. But it's amazing to notice how much I've bonded here, too. You really can't tell how something is until you leave it for a bit (wow, that's a good misquote of Joni Mitchell if I ever) and fall break put a good contrast to things. I love all my friends, both in Washington and here. It's a good life, truly prodigious, to have so much.

Visiting my darling VK was lovely. I'm glad she's happier, and *cue Curt Wild voice* gettin' her act... together. Those fish are dearies. Send me postcards! Was that a good enough transition?

Riding on an endless plane here, reading Atwood's The Handmaiden's Tale, I was struck so many times by how lucky I am. Sometimes it is more than enough to be able to travel alone with subversive novels, magazine clippings of Lou Reed and Blixa Bargeld and a sheet of photo-booth stickers as bookmarks. It is more than enough to be able to giggle girlishly at German industrialist musicians and to wonder what to do with eight stickers of you, your best friend, and a feather boa.