I received a nice email from someone today about this site. It's the first in a long time. No name, but it was still nice.
One of the reasons I haven't been more diligent in writing here is a general sense of melancholy brought on by the end of the year, and all the hype of the millennium, which has made me overly introspective and giving me a longing and loathing to account for my life up to this point. Account, then project into the future. Yeah, just great.
A good friend of mine emailed me today saying she just got engaged last week. She is one of my oldest and best friends, living now in New Jersey. Her beau is American. I'm happy for her but also selfishly concerned our friendship is doomed, especially if she stays in the U.S. for good, which I believe she will. Another friendship lost to marriage. I sense a tinge of jealousy too, as my love-life is comparable to a 15th century Franciscan monk hermit living alone in the Italian Alps.
I'm also at a crossroads. What do I do with my life? I'm still asking this question at 31 years old, I can't believe it. Choices: 1, take Spanish and do my Honors thesis essay this semester and graduate with honors, applying for the masters degree program; 2, take Spanish and graduate with a non-honors bachelors degree, using the extra time to rewrite/rejuvenate my novel-in-progress, and applying for the masters degree program with less chance of getting in; 3, doing number 2, applying to the creative writing masters degree using my novel to get in; 4, take the semester off and devote all my time to the novel; 5, take Spanish and the honors thesis and audit Medieval Literature, leaving novel and poetry for the summer.
Factors in deciding: do I want to spend five more years getting my masters degree? Do I have the talent/drive to write professionally? Do I really need time off to write, shouldn't I be able to do it in my spare time? Can I afford financially to write full-time and make next to nothing? Etc.
I finished Robinson Crusoe today. It's amazing it was written in 1719 and has been a success since. The English is quite readable, and the story feels modern except for a few things like the old firearms with powder and the gold money like pieces of eight. I believe Robinson is available on-line, if anyone is interested.
I did go see Man on the Moon with Jim Carrey. Excellent. Uplifting, a celebration of humanity.
