Drew, I live in San Diego ... the city that is in denial about being on the border. (I wouldn't call it a border town ... LA is really the border town that matches up with Tijuana, but if you ask me to explain I just might launch into a theoretical ramble about transnationalism. But yeah, SD likes to pretend that it isn't on the border. It works except when the Minutemen and politicians are making a stir about it.)

Pete, Emily didn't get a chance to spend much time here, which is probably why she didn't call. But I'll call you soon. Adam, I'll call you too. You know that I'm terribly at using the phone. But I'm just about done with the quarter, at which point I'll force myself to pick up the phone and take initiative.

I speak of American commies, Pete. They are not the totalitarian Russians, but the cock-eyed Hollywood crazies who blame crime on poverty made by a "facist" capitalist system. They want to elimate personal accountability to make us into one communist collective. Those are the commies I refer to. I am really sorry I didn't swing down to Champaign. I didn't know you were down there until my time was almost done, and I was using my Dad's car like always so I was kinda on a short leash. My email is dparson3@mix.wvu.edu, Pete, tell me yours and we will trade emails.

Ben, that's an awesome poem.
Zach, i'm sorry you are working like a dog. College Pro Painters is a pretty cool idea though. How's that going for you?
Rachel, Emily was supposed to call me from your house so i could talk to you, but she didn't so now you'll have to call yourself (815) 922-4738
Lin-Z... ... ... that was the creepiest blog ever, dude. What was the Peter North thing doing in there by the way? And did you actually have a hard time finding me? Why didn't you just ask Emily my phone number, or Adam when you visited Galesburg? Then i called you and left a message, but you never called me back. And now you probably have gone back to Utah without giving me the gift from my beloved Emily! That makes me sad.

Drew, once and for all, what the hell does communism have to do with letting criminals off? Were the Soviets soft on criminals? Where did you get this random-ass connection? And where the heck are you, back in West Virginia? Did you already escape Illinois without coming to visit me?

So the plans are moving ahead. Adam and brother Chris have moved into my apartment and it's a bit crowded because we don't have a bathroom. Due to stupendous timing, we are remodelling our bathroom at the moment, and when i say remodel i mean complete tearout and rebuild. It's pretty fun work, but we are relying on the kindness of our neighbor for bathroom privledges, which will probably get annoying for her very soon.

And yes, i hopped a Greyhound down to Louisville a couple weeks ago and had a good meeting, so i am now officially working as a pro-bono consultant for Genesis Cohousing, a group of hippy Christians in Louisville Kentucky (for my masters project) It's just about the coolest masters project i could have dreamed up, but the problem is that these guys don't have a whole lot of money, so it's not gonna be easy.

Oh, and i bought a bass and learned most of the Hoot Hoots songs... hopefully we can manage to rig up some gigs here in the next couple of months. This summer's gonna be way too short.

This poem tells you everything you need to know about everything:

from Sarah Manguso's Siste Viator published in 2006 by Four Way Books.

Jupiter Has Sixty-One Moons

There's no difference between writing down what you hear and
writing down what you wish you heard.

On Jupiter there are sixty-one colors, one for each moon. Painting
students make moon-studies in their first color lessons.

It's hard to see in the dark, as it is for hours each day. Painters are
taught to paint blindfolded. Talented colorists show themselves
during this exercise.

When they do, they are taken away, as they suffer from a disease
that only light can cure.

One more thing I forgot to mention. The Night Stalker was allowed to court and marry a woman while in prison. I swear that region is goin off the deep end. That lady ought to have her head examined. What part of the West Coast are you at again Rachel? I guess the Minutemen being there make sense but I thought they were concetrated in Texas. I heard about our loss in soccer, bummer. Hope everyone is doing well.

Speaking of sports fans, the USA just got clobbered by the Czech Republic. Yikes. I'm holding my breath for Spain. (I also need to do a poll of the people in my department, to see who is following the World Cup. Between people's fieldwork sites and their countries of origin, I bet we have a good mix of teams people could be rooting for, heh.)

Oh, and Drew, I must be in that part of the West Coast that isn't populated by commies. We have Minutemen recruiting on our campus. And the political ads that people run here! yikes. That's what I get for living in yuppie-town, I guess.

Hold the presses! I have a little news for you sports fans. Some of you have told me how you miss my rhetoric, well here is a goldie oldie message to satisfy your longing. Most of the West Coast is populated by lunatic communists. What is their latest atrocity against the sound mind of America you ask? I shall tell you. The remake of The Omen was the only devilish thing to come out on June 6, 2006. I just saw a report about some lawyers from Berkeley were trying to get the NIGHT STALKER off of death row. This fun little fellow has a 13 counts of murder to his name not to mention 5 attempts at murder, 11 sexual assaults and 14 burglaries. Now I had never heard of this guy before because he was doing his stalking when we were all babes in our pens. That's where the commie lawyers come in. They wait ages until the most brutal and vindictive killers pass from the media lime light and the public's mind then they start to chip away at their convictions. Who are these people trying to fool with their "respect the sancity of life" spiel? The death penalty is so wicked, they reason, that we must try to free the most twisted demons locked up in our above ground hell pits. WTF?! I'd like to see these schmucks spend a night in their beloved client's cell, then if they were to come out and say what a cute and cuddley guy he was I would be inclined to believe them when they say they are in the right. But they never would do that see because at the end of the day, all they are really after is the fame of the case or whatever cock-eyed lame excuse for a "cause" they crusade for. Incidentally, they are not saying he didn't do it, they are saying he had a bad lawyers. Is there any other kind? I don't know, but I intend to become one and when I do I will dedicate my life to going into the ring with every one of these commie lunes and when they get out they're going to feel like that just got out of a match with Muhammed Ali.

so, i've been offered an internship with Kellco, an environmental consulting firm in San Francisco:

It's an internship at first with classes accompanied by the unavoidable studying, followed by licensing and a job if all goes well. I would be snooping for asbestos, lead and mold, taking soil samples, writing reports, working with abatement contractors. The company hires those who successfully complete the training and the salary radically increases thereafter, but i am concerned that i would have trouble living in the Bay area on the low initial salary. I haven't accepted the job which was offered to me just this past Thursday, but i want to give them an answer as soon as possible--and my decision will depend more than anything on whether i find a good cooperative place to call home.

I still have a call-back interview with Americorps Cape Cod later this week. man, i feel so fragmented.

It was good to see a few of you at graduation last weekend. I thought the cd was great, Adam. i'd like to hear a studio recording. pete, are you really in kentucky helping a church group build a cohousing community free of charge? awesome. sam, i told scoop all about your new pups and he cocked his head lots. perhaps someday they will meet. my 9-month old puppy now weighs 63 pounds!!! thanks for the heads up on the cute old couple in salida, rachel. the job ended up falling through, so i will not be living in colorful colorado for now.

all the best,
ben

Guess who I saw today!

Emily!

It's because she loves me more than you. :D And she's coming back to hang out more on Monday, after taking a good romp around Mexico. whee! I'm also done with two of my three classes as of a few hours ago, which makes everything even better! This upcoming week is finals week here, so I'll be all done by Friday. That means I have to pick my master's thesis topic this week, as well, but I suppose I can get that done. I just can't wait to be FREEEEE.