here i am, standing upon the border of the blogosphere for the first time in years. i've brought a few things along with me for comfort-- you'll notice the angler fish on the right from the xanga days, a familiar username, and a much-loved quote for my first title. i'm no good at titles, it's all going to be downhill from here. BUT since i am not one for pictures, i figure i can keep all of you wonderful people informed with my words in their absence. i am, after all, experiencing so many new things right now living in philadelphia, taking my first graduate courses, etc. so what a better way to organize them than a blog? oh, and it'll keep me writing.
this whole all lowercase letters thing is turning out to be pretty irritating. all right, here's the great transformation:
Wonderful. I mentioned before graduate classes. REALLY, it's only one course, and it's Latin Composition. I get to put phrases such as "He hopes that soon he will attain the highest office, the highest honors; but I, knowing the man, know that he will never obtain them," into Latin! I have eighteen or so of these little babies to do a week in addition to a (long) reading passage, and some other small things. It's lovely coming into class, being as prepared as I ever have been (nb. I never really have been) and getting my ass completely slammed by the graduate students. Do I truly have anything to offer the discussion? Probably not, but as we're talking so much about style, I sure as hell can try. Oh what the hell, I'll post one of my compositions here.
PERPAUCADEREBUSPRAETERITISDICEBATDEREBUSFUTURISAUTEMMAGNASPERABATINTELLEXITVEROCUMMULTISOPTIMISQUEHOMINIBUSSEPUGNAREINHACCAUSADEQUAMAGISTACEREQUAMABILLISDESENTIREPRAEPONERETNEQUEEGONEQUETUUMERRAVISSEPOSSUMUSPUTAREENIMVEROSCIMUSQUIDEMPRUDENTIAMEIUSPROBITATEMVIRTUTEMQUELAUDENDAOMNIA
Looks pretty fuckin' rad, doesn't it? Trust me, you aren't interested in the translation.
This neighborhood in West Philly (indeed University City) has proven itself to be a very interesting place. I was getting some pizza and cigarettes from Pasqually's the other day-- a daily venture I make either for food, cigarettes, or beer-- and three drunk old men were outside the front laughing and carrying on. Naturally I lit a cigarette and stood awkwardly near them until one addressed me. This man said he'd lived here since he was seven or eight years old (when this area wasn't as nice as it is now) and ever since he was that young he's loved these few blocks. How it must have been easy for me to make friends right away, because everyone's so damn friendly. That whether black, hispanic, Muslim, Christian, or Atheist, everybody, seeing everybody else going to the same shit as them, just loves one another here. Sounds pretty utopian, right? One of the men had a doctorate from Berkeley, the other two... well, were drunk.
On the other hand, the second night I was here I had a rock thrown at me by a eight year old black boy after I refused to "give him all of my food."
That however has been my only negative experience. And it wasn't even negative, per say, because it was so god damn hilarious. There's a cafe I like a lot around the corner from my house, Cafe Clave, where they have live salsa music on Friday nights. I'll tell you what, that's a hotbed for 35 year old women who want to get dolled up and "just dance. Fuck everything, I just want to dance." Good music, though. And good coffee. No Fourth Roast, but delicious enough.
Anyhow, good day.
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