Sunday, January 22, 2006

What's up?

A weekend day is being spent alone after a long week of going to the city, exploring, spending money on good food, school starting. It feels good to be alone for a little while even though I love my gal. She went out to meet an old friend. I need this time to find my center in my work and forming my project. I have been a bit scattered since I got back from Kyoto. It is amazing how hard it is for me to find a common strain of my work in Asia. There is so much there, just lingering under the surface waiting to be put together, put to use, manifested into working knowledge. Often I sit down to brainstorm and come up with many questions that have one word or one phrase answers in my head. I want something to explore in this area of elderly care. It's all there, I just need to read more, to build a more concrete foundation. There is so much experience and advise that is sloshing around in me. I pull out a notebook and try to spew forth ideas, but get about a paragragh before it turns into sketches and doodles. Not really beautiful but more like absent-minded strokes, even my art is lacking intentioned focus. Yesterday we went to two different art shows, and I was enthrawled with how my favorite pieceslooked as though each stroke had an inherent purpose. Damn, so much struggle when I can SEE that it can be done with one stroke. I think about my thesis and want it to come out in one stroke of thought and ideas, but it does not happen like that. I write ten, and walk away. Come back, and I don't like any of them. Shit. The most solid things that I know I want in my thesis are elderly care, touch, compassion, natural methods, community, and peace. From there, I just draw a blank in how to go about putting all of that into a huge paper that shows academic understanding, analysis, holistic perspectives, and counter arguments, and researched evidence to support the focus of my education...blah, blah blah. I just want to get out there and do all this shit that I have to write about in the next four months. Not really, because I want to graduate, and have a better understanding of my work, and a very good piece of work that a possible boss might look at and want to hire me. Ah, the unknown future, I guess that is what I/we are working towards, and helping humanity as a whole. Sigh, if anyone has any suggestions, please do make them. Everything is well, and I am about to finish my 23rd year of life. I am in love with someone. What more could I ask for? Well here are a few pics of our time so far. Eva on the digital leash, us together at the African art exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and a great university choir singing at Martin Luther King Day celebration.


In the City


SUBWAY
eyes watching
sweat beads on face
grime
outlinging bitten nails
falling to the right
can't stay up
leans on my shoulder
"Are you alright?"
"Mmmbrmbrm...
thought you were someone else."
scoots over
eyes watching
a notebook
curled edges
pen touches paper
only slides off
[like Monty Python's castle arghh...]
syringe falls
no cap on needle
back into pocket
soon gone
[sadness
want to cry]
eyes watching

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Changing Location

Wow, so many changes since december 9th. It has been a month, and I am on the complete other side of the world, in another modern city, kind of strange for a country boy. I did find it a little awkward to be in the hills of WV for ten days though. It was hard to get myself out into the muck and rain when it was so comfortable in by the wood stove. I hope all this city life does not ruin my love for weather, woods, and getting dirty. So now my lovely lady, Eva, and I are staying at my grandparents' luxury apartment in Garden City, NY until we find a good place in Brooklyn. This place is really posh. I heard Eva saying to her mother, "This place is huge, it has two of everything, two bathrooms, two livingrooms, two bedrooms..." Luckily, the grandparents are in Florida, and willing to let us stay.
Now, we are about to take the train into Brooklyn to meet our advisor for lunch, and get our student cards. Normal school stuff. More later...