I am taken aback and very gratified to see so many people reading this journal. It's averaging about forty hits per day, which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. So, first off, thanks for tuning in to my slightly exhibitionist natterings. It's nice to see that people are interested.

My second Clarion-written story "Erin, Yes" was critiqued today, and I got some helpful comments. Almost everyone liked the all-dialogue format and the quick pace, but there were several questions which brought up more questions, and a few suggestions, some I'll take and some I won't. Terry gave me some excellent suggestions, which I will definitely take, not just because he gave them, but because I think they'll help the story. And he wants to see a revision of the story, which we'll go over in our private conference on Thursday.

In completely unrelated news, my allergies flared up big-time last night (if indeed allergies can flare up). A small group of us got together in the lounge to watch "Destroy All Monsters," a Japanese monster movie from the late 60s involving Godzilla, Mothra, Manda, Rodan, and a few other monsters, an incredibly weak plot, and unbelievably laughable dialogue. We used a laptop with a DVD-ROM from Trent, speakers from Lena, and the movie from Jamie; it was like stone soup, or pot-luck movie-watching. I laughed quite a bit.

But halfway through the movie, I noticed my left eye starting to itch and throb, and I couldn't seem to stop rubbing at it. I think the air here went suddenly dry, because the last time I got a reaction this severe was when I walked into the Sonoran Desert exhibit at the NC Zoo in Asheboro. But I took Kelly's suggestion and put a damp towel at the front of my AC to act as a humidifier, and when I got back in my room this afternoon, I did notice a difference. I'll reiterate: allergies suck. And as this isn't terribly interesting, I'll stop bitching about it.

Terry has organized a movie night tonight in his apartment over in Van Hoosen (the building where we do all our critiquing, and where the instructors are housed, which is directly adjacent to Owen, where I am living). I'm not sure what we'll be seeing, but it will be nice to do some socializing outside of the crit circle.

Oh, I forgot to mention: yesterday, around six o'clock, a group of us walked down to The Blue Note, a coffeehouse on Grand River that plays jazz and its many derivatives over the speakers, and has posters of many jazz greats on the walls. Neat place, and it was nice to get out of Owen for a while.