My brain is full.

I turned in both my research papers yesterday before noon, and this morning took the final exam in my postmodernism class. The final was strange, basically a vocabulary test on the key terms introduced throughout the critical texts we discussed. I crammed as many as I could yesterday and this morning, and I think I did okay on the exam. I'm sure to forget what they mean in less than a week, so if you want to know about artifactuality (Derrida) or the horror of naming (Barthes) or the desert of the real (Baudrillard), better ask quick.

Two things left to do -- a revision of my short story "Last Fare" and the final exam in my romanticism class -- and I'm done for the semester. The paper's due on Thursday, and the romanticism final is next Monday, and then I'm done. Not a moment too soon; my neck muscles have bunched up into Gordian knots, and I'm noticing more grey hairs than normal.

Because of my laziness recently and not shaving for almost a week, I've decided to grow a beard. I've never done a full one before, usually preferring a goatee, but it's getting very cold here, and any extra insulation on my face is a good thing. If it starts looking too goofy, I'll shave it off.

There's a bottle of coconut rum that's been in my refrigerator for about two years. Anybody want to come over and help me polish it off?

I've never been to the west coast, but if I ever get out to Los Angeles, I so want to visit the Museum of Jurassic Technology. I was re-reading the introduction to the Norton anthology of Postmodern American Fiction last night while fishing for key terms, and this museum is mentioned at the very beginning. John Kessel and I talked a little about it during our mini-critique session at World Fantasy, and he said it is extremely cool. Hey, there are some west coasters who read this journal, right? Anybody been to see it yet?

I blasted through a bunch of chapbooks recently, and now am working my way through the zines, starting with Intracities and Electric Velocipede (I feel guilty about these two, since I have stories in them, but it's taken me this long to be able to get to them), then Flytrap, Lady Churchill's, and Say...Aren't You Dead? I also have some books about becoming a novelist that I want to read during the semester break (by John Gardner, Milan Kundera, and Mario Vargas Llosa), in addition to the neverending stack of novels and collections.

Since I was squirreled away for the last several days working on papers and studying for finals, I just now read Nick's journal and saw the revised cover art for his new novel Move Under Ground, out from Night Shade in four months. And guess who has a blurb at the top of the front cover...me, baby! How cool is that?

Now Reading:
Intracities edited by Michael Jasper

Stories Out to Publishers:
4

Books Read This Year:
58

Zines/Chapbooks/Fiction Mags Read This Year:
38