"Sitting in the kitchen, coffee on the boil..."

So begins the song I first heard at WDFM this morning.  Among the albums I checked in, Flash in the Pan showed "Lights in the Night".  That tune has been playing in my head all day.  When I came home from grocery shopping at Riverside, I felt the existential nausea. 

Instead of putting the fruit away, I placed them on the bedspread.  I sketched a colorized still life.  The Pirates game was on the television, as if I really cared about it at that time.   I just felt such a sense of uselessness and purposelessness.   It was as if Jean-Paul Sartre himself had been present in the former motelroom. 

 

Thu 15 May M+F

Tomorrow's the end of the term and the end of my undergraduate years.  Because I am going on a trip to New England and Canada at the end of the month, I have plenty to look forward to.

Two weeks until the end of the month and I graduate.  I will have to give up marking albums for WDFM for awhile. Given I have no other duties with the station, they shouldn't object.  I'll also pay two month's rent ahead while I am gone from State College.

I managed to find out that the referendum lost almost 40-60%.  La Presse had a headline yesterday where Pierre Trudeau called the referendum a "cul-de-sac".

The Toronto Globe and Mail tended to be neutral on the affair, although polls did show that René Lévèsque would not win this time.  I'd like to talk with ordinary Canadians about it.  My club of Liberal Arts Council did have a Canadian in it, but I've lost touch.

 

Sun 25 May  M+F

George Lucas is releasing "The Empire Strikes Back" this weekend, the sequel to "Star Wars".  Reviews note that the movie shows it as "Episode V".

Graduation lurks on Saturday, and by this time next week, I'll be on my travels to New England.

 

Sun 1 Jun  F

Whoowhee!  I am a college graduate!  I have two simultaneous degrees in history and (general) science.  An era ended yesterday with graduation, and I face a summer with no certainty about September.  Perhaps I should have done for an MBA.  I practiced Buddhism today and tried to let go; it helped a little.  Last night's dream about meeting my sister's "fiancé" didn't help at all.

Tomorrow morning I am paying two months' rent before I begin my trip.  My itinerary looks like this: I will spent a week or so in New England, then cross into Canada in New Brunswick, go through Québec (and practice my French again), then through Ontario.  I figure I'll cross back into Detroit and make my way back to Pennsylvania in ten days.

 

Wed 4 Jun  F

I made my way to Wilkes-Barre on Monday.  After a brief visit, I left on Tuesday morning northeasterward.  I expect to arrive in Maine by tomorrow to begin my trek northward.  New England is so nice and cool in June!  We'll probably stay overnight in Vermont.  The bus should reach the border with New York State later this afternoon.  The weather coöperates so well.