there's a boy who's a krishna and he thinks you look pretty

1) this morning i was walking to class and crossed the street improperly during stopped traffic without going down to the crosswalk. naturally, in my american way, i gave the truck in front of which i was passing the courtesy wave (an uncommon gesture here) and kept on my way. but immediately, the passenger door opened and a man carrying a liter bottle of coke (and possibly an intoxicating supplement, despite it being only noon) hopped out and linked his arm in mine and fell into step with my brisk pace. he was middle-aged, scottish and either drunk or fiesty as they tend to be. the conversation went something like this:
man: you know, i've been looking all my life for a lady just like you.
me: well, that's nice but i'm taken.
man: taken? (grins) i don't mind sharing!
me: listen (tries to pull away) i'm on my way to class, i have to run-
man: to class? what class is it?
me: excuse me-
man: ohh are you american? or canadian? blahblahsomething i interrupted
me: (stops walking and looks dead on) it was lovely to meet you, but i really must be going. goodbye (breaks free, finally)
-et fin-
hope he and his driver-friend enjoyed a good laugh over that one.


2) in my divinity school class today we were discussing neuroses in general before getting more specifically into how freud extends his thoughts on neuroses to religious beliefs and behavior. my hoary old professor alistair kee spoke of how some routinized behavior is socially acceptable - for example, people often double-check that they've locked a door even though they really know that they did in fact lock it. when it becomes more than twice, it gets weird. most people have a relationship of whimsy to cleaning, undertaking it as they see fit to, when the need is clear suddenly, but when it becomes excessive is when there is something afoot. conversely, the professor informs, the author evelyn waugh apparently kept a flat in paris for awhile that he absolutely never dusted - a neurosis of the other extreme, of protest perhaps. apparently he used to tell his friends "keep your nerve! keep your nerve! never dust."
2a) something fairly adorable: brecht, famous playwright of populist marxist theatre, apparently kept a little donkey on his desk wearing a sign saying 'i want to understand.'

3) my travel plans with jay to brussels, amsterdam & berlin have just this evening fallen through. we decided we could pursue this idea much more efficiently in may, with more time, less money spent, better planning. so i default (quite happily) to my plan b, which is to head to london (and hopefully oxford if my application to visit with my scholarly friend there proves successful) for the same window of time. which is when my six baltimore friends will also be there! along with john and his lovely girlfriend, and jay also may still come along for some low-stress but high class travelling. so basically things just get more epic by the day.

now i am off to bake danish cookies (my midnight domestic session, it seems), as i've just yesterday stumbled upon the information that it is andrew's birthday tomorrow (he is eeeven older than i thought), and though i'll be working at the restaurant during the crucial moment of the surprise party our friends are throwing for him, i can't very well show up empty-handed when i do finally make my fashionable way.
there really is just too much to do. life is terribly unrelenting. so! i will force insomnia and make no other sacrifices, to keep large my embrace.

love-