In a nutshell, I scored some bargains at the Friends of the Library sale, including twenty-four classical CDs–among which were three Arthur Fiedler RCA Living Stereo discs–and several hardcover biographies, and Norton editions of Moby Dick and Madame Bovary.  The afternoon of the FoL sale, Miriam and I went to a picnic at the Thomas Center, and later that night met up with Matt and Kerri to see their new house.  We drove with them up to Newberry and experienced bizarre things.  We walked through a corn maze, took a hay ride and got chased by a thresher, and stood ankle deep in corn.  In front of Backyard Barbecue in Newberry we saw the aftermath of a horrible motorcycle accident.  Some guys had been running from the police and wiped out.  The regulars at Backyard Barbecue take karaoke very, very seriously, and a guy who looked otherwise like any redneck you’d see in a small town sang a spot on version of “Mr. Roboto”.  Then, when we were about to leave, Matt got locked in the bathroom, and the manager had to kick the door down.

Sara had a birthday dinner at La Fiesta, and afterward Miriam and I went to Laura’s house so I could determine whether her cat was fat or just really fluffy.  She’s fat.

Last night was Halloween, and though I would never wear a costume, Miriam did get me a classy fake mustache, and I enjoyed waiting to see if people would recognize me at Big Lou’s.  Jackie walked past me several times, then sat right behind me without noticing me.  She was dressed like a girl from an Old West saloon.  One of the Big Lou’s waitresses was the Hamburgler.  Though I don’t like dressing up, I enjoy seeing how other people dress up, and at the party we went to afterward our friends had some great costumes.  Ryan and Miriam had dueling pirate outfits, and no fewer than three girls dressed as Lady Gaga.  Mark’s zombie hunter costume, and Karla’s “Sacred Grove” were wonderfully improvised, and our hosts–Kerri’s sister Kristen and her girlfriend–dressed as Luigi and Mario respectively.  It was good times.

The first day of autumn classes at the University of Florida was August 24.  I am taking eighteen hours this semester, so I’ll be the world’s busiest student until mid-December.  To tell the truth, I am overwhelmed.  Don’t be surprised if I neglect this webpage for some time.  I haven’t even finished writing about the great Puerto Rico vacation.

Meanwhile, when I think back on this summer, it seems like a blur.  Particularly memorable were the weeks I spent watching Ken Burns documentaries before Summer B classes commenced.  The rest of the season was consumed by German homework.  Alas, that continues this fall.

In the meanwhile, while Elke is away, I am caring for her animals.  The menagerie includes two cats (her adorable kittens have another home for the summer), four rabbits and a chicken.  The cats require little care.  They’re sassy, but I don’t have to touch them.  The same goes for the bunnies.  They have their own large cage, and all I have to do is fill their food dispensers and make sure their water jug–which sends water to several nipples in the cage–is always full.  They don’t seem to like being molested.

The chicken, on the other hand, is the most demanding of all.  She doesn’t really like her oats as much as she likes the rabbit food.  That’s fine; I’ll give her what she wants.  But she’s always getting under my feet, and if she thinks I am holding something she can eat, she’ll jump up.  I am a six-foot-tall, 190 pound man, but it still makes me a little uncomfortable having a chicken lunge at me.  After school every day, I let her out of her cage, and she pecks around the yard for a few hours until I come by later to put her back.  Once it’s dark out, she goes to sleep near the back door, and I have to pick her up and carry her to her cage.  She doesn’t fight me, but she does lift her wings up when she knows I am about to grab her.  More troublesome is the way she knocks over her water bowls.  She tries to climb up on them, and ends up dumping the water out.  I make sure to check on her several times day because of this.

I also check for eggs every day.  I never really gave it much thought before, but eggs are completely bizarre.

I did add a class about ancient Egypt to my schedule, and it is the first class I have ever taken in McCarty Hall.  It’s in an auditorium, and, in spite of the rain, it seemed nearly full.  I dropped the course about America in the 1970s.  I had reservations about the instructor, and it would require a goodly amount of writing, whereas the Egyptology class requires none.

On my bike ride home, after it had stopped raining, I encountered a small boy also on a bicycle.  He said, “What’s up, dude?  Want to race?”  He couldn’t have been more than eight years old.

I don’t know that it’s really that big a mystery.  I have written maybe six letters to the editor of the New York Times, and three of them have been published.  Two have been about classical music, and another about the expanding exurbs of the Tampa Bay metropolitan area.  I write letters when I am inspired by a topic.  Obviously, I have eschewed inflammatory rhetoric when I have written.  I know letters from crackpots don’t stand much of a chance in the Times.  The Gainesville Sun, on the other hand….

When I first began seeing Miriam, I asked if she’d be willing to cut my hair.  I think she did once, but haircuts, in her opinion, are best left to professionals.  So, beginning in 2001 or so, she and I started seeing Amy at The Tease, which used to be in an upstairs suite on SE 1st Street.  Amy was nice, and did a good job, but The Tease was very expensive, and, if I recall correctly, Amy only got a fraction of what we paid.  Eventually she left The Tease and Miriam and I sought a new hairdresser.

I don’t remember how, but we found a girl named Danielle with her own salon called Hair Supply in an old house right behind Wise’s Drugstore.  Danielle is really talented–so much so that Miriam feels free to say, “give me whatever”–and she’s a mom who’s running her own business, so we feel good about going to her.  Plus, she’s not that expensive, and, best of all, she is glad to take a before and after picture each time I go.  Since 2005 or so, Danielle has been the only one to cut my hair.

Last month I had an appointment that I simply forgot about.  I had written it down, but by April 16 I was so busy with papers and tests that I simply spaced out.  So, today was my makeup haircut.  Miriam told me the other day she liked my hair when it was a bit longer, so I only got a little taken off the back.  And, while I didn’t get a shampoo–my favorite part of the haircut procedure–it didn’t cost me anything.

Danielle doesn’t do any advertising I know of, and her name isn’t even written on the outside of her building, but it seems like half the people I know go to her.  While I was there, I ran into one of Miriam’s roller derby teammates.

I doubt I will ever grow long hair again.

Plus, I’ll write about writing itself.  A course I took this spring really opened my eyes about what constitutes good writing.

Also, I’m not so worried about swine flu.

• I began classes at the University of Florida.  This is remarkable, because had I waited any longer the window would have closed on me, probably forever.  The University announced this year that they were changing their admissions policy for transfer students.  Unlike other universities in Florida, UF doesn’t have to admit students with transfer degrees from community colleges.  They can pick and choose.  And when the average GPA for entering freshmen at UF is over 4.0, there is little incentive for them to take people like me.  I got in just under the wire.  School is challenging, but rewarding.  I feel very grateful to be where I am.
• This year I became active in a roller debry league.  I am not a skater, of course, but I spent a lot of time with the girls who are skaters, and contributed to the league in my own small way.
• I did lots of traveling in 2008.  In January I spent a weekend in Daytona Beach at the wedding of my closest friends; in June I spent almost a week in Chicago, which is surely one of the world’s great cities; in early August I spent several days in Hilton Head, South Carolina, which I didn’t care much for as a place, but can now say I’ve seen; went to Savannah twice; had a great weekend in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, which is a delightful little town; had an incredibly memorable week in Washington, DC, where I saw a million amazing things.
• I made lots of new friends, and reconnected with many old friends on Facebook.  I saw Burt twice.
• I got myself an amazing Fender Telecaster, which is ideal in nearly every way.
• I continued my incredible no-vomiting streak.
• I paid off all of my credit card debt.
• I watched lots of Olympics on TV.
• I became the last person I know to buy a laptop computer, and it’s changed my life.
• I discovered Samuel Johnson, which also changed my life.
• I had several photographs published in books, magazines, and even the website of the Wall Street Journal.
• I ate an astonishing amount of Hungry Howie’s pizza.
• I perfected the grilled cheese sandwich (the secret ingredient is salt).
• I read: Emma; Persuasion; Oroonoko; Wuthering Heights; Lady Audley’s Secret; Evelina; Robinson Crusoe; Roxana; Oliver Twist; The Monk; Clarissa; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and tons of poetry.
• I saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in concert; they played “Jungleland”.

So long, 2008.  You were good to me.  As I do every year, I close with the Stephen Foster sentiment that has become my credo: Hard Times Come Again No More.

I am just in following an afternoon spent in airports and in the air, and it feels wonderful to be back in my own house among my own things, relaxing on my couch with my cat on my lap.

The Washington trip was beyond belief, and tomorrow (Sunday) I will certainly write all about it.

It was a little chilly this morning, and where I would normally sit–beneath a Shumard Oak on the Reitz Union lawn–it felt uncomfortably cool.  It’s warmer here, the breeze feels nice, the grass looks pretty and I can lean back and relax.

The stadium is open to the public every day except when there’s a game.  You can’t go play on the turf, but you can hang out and watch the groundskeepers and the birds that feast on the discarded popcorn left by football fans.  Mostly it’s used by students who run up and down the steps.  I’m coming back this evening because GRR will be doing some drills here.

Later this afternoon I will write about the great weekend I had.