Gah

I've made attempts to post something substantive for the last three days, but every time I sit down I can't think of anything to write about other than what I'm reading, how boring Newton can be, and how I beat the main quest of Fallout 3 before my brother took his laptop back to California. Maybe if I changed the title of this blog to "What's Aaron Reading?" I'd feel less guilty about my natural inclinations. Anyway, thanks for checking in.

Q: Where am I not?

A: In front of an oven, piling in loaves faster than a coal-shoveling wretch coal in a Victorian-era locomotive. I have come home for Christmas. Yesterday was my birthday and the last day of my employment at the Great Harvest Bread Company. I am typing this on the tiny keyboard of my brother's laptop, as the network adapter in our family computer seems to have broken the moment I walked in the door.

Now I begin the great intellectual tasks which will someday put me on the same page as Plato, Einstein, Lewis Black: designing a syllabus for my RC course next semester, catching up on my research, and making my Mom sit through episodes of Twin Peaks as a kind of forced parent-child bonding experience (ah, how the tables have turned). I should also start brushing up on my Japanese, on the chance that the Powers will have mercy on me and deliver me unto that shining isle sometime next year, with money. I will try to post insightful comments about my progress as these tasks develop. Fortunately for you, dear readers, distractions in Newton are few.

Q:What am I going to do now?
A: Make another cup of tea.

Still Alive

Sorry about the no-posting. Summer became busier than I anticipated. I'm leaving Newton tomorrow for vacation with the family, followed closely by the start of school. I don't know when I'll be able to resume regular posting... nevertheless, I don't intend to abandon this space, so if anyone is still out there, check back every month or so. I wish you all the best during summer's slow decline.

January 1

I suppose that New Years day is one of the quietest days of the year. In America, at least. Most things are is closed, but there aren't any special traditions to take part in. Sure, there might be family rituals, and if I remember correctly they have some traditions in France, Spain, places like that... for us, it's the day to take down our Christmas tree. I figure that for most people around my age it's first and foremost the morning after a party. Which is fine. Days this quiet are hard to come by.

Of course, most days in Newton are about this quiet throughout the year. I'll be happy to get back into Greensboro, at least until I get tired of it too. It's not like Newton has nothing to offer: I like my neighborhood, the weather here, the cats. I like the huge oak tree that grows in our front yard. It used to lose a huge limb every winter during the ice storms and once one crushed our neighbor's car. I was sure that one year the last of its limbs would drop away, and we'd have to cut it down. But there haven't been any ice storms the last couple winters. Maybe it will be around for a while. I'm 99% sure that the tree doesn't mind staying in our front yard, not going anywhere, just letting the neighborhood birds crawl all around its shoulders and hair. It's different for me. Not being under any kind of pressure makes me feel like I'm wasting away a little bit. There's a sense of helplessness about being in my house and not having anywhere to go. If I can't do useful work, I at least want to be out, making interesting memories or trying something new. Making pottery or something. Maybe that's all available to me, and I've just grown too helpless to see it. Maybe not. It's silly because I'm always so eager to go back home at the end of the semester. I thought I'd go home and bake a lot of bread in our cozy kitchen, with the fire going in the other room. I haven't baked any bread yet, but I still might try... I go back to Greensboro in less than a week now, anyway.

It's funny: I realized that I always start blogs and things like that during December, when I'm locked away at home. I suppose that a pile of books, a blanket, and a grilled cheese sandwich aren't enough to keep me completely satisfied after all. Not to say that they aren't nice. Nice enough that I'll miss them when I go back.