9 May 07

Time:

?

Money:

$28, journal and three canvas bags, The Strand.
$11, large white platter, Filene's.
$10, folding camp chair, Modell's.
$15, dinner, Milano Market.

More interesting things:

Tried to start figuring out our presentation for the party with Anne and Marisa, but in large part thanks to a visit from a friend, this effort did not last long. Anne thought she'd seen a mouse run into Professor Alpha's office, I thought she was seeing things; I had unlocked Alpha's door, answered his call to my cell (asking whether there were any crises, actually - he was thinking in party terms, but he ended up with an answer from the vermin department), and plopped down in one of his chairs to chat for a few minutes, when - zoop! - a little furry gray guy charged from under my feet, zoomed boldly across the hallway, zipped between Anne's sandal-clad feet, and (hooray) lodged himself under my desk, all of which was accompanied by some shrieking that might have been audible in Yonkers even if the phone call had been over by then. (The shrieking on Anne's part was, clearly, nothing but a well-earned expression of rodent-related startledness; on my part, I should be ashamed to say, it was helpless laughter, and I will add here that although it was less shriek and more laugh, the same thing was coming down from up north.)

Celebrated the last actual day of class by parking myself, with several fabulous friends, on an old leather couch at Panchito's. (Whoops. Guess that would be something else for the Money section.) Anyway, in an otherworldly display of gumption I refrained from ordering a margarita, opting instead for what they listed as a "Nutty Screwdriver" but which I list as "the amaretto-and-OJ concoction I cut my drinking teeth on when there was no Smirnoff Ice available" and which turned out to be the exact right choice. The weather was gorgeous; I was essentially sitting outside on a couch, minus the bugs; and I was very much enjoying the feel of graduation, even though (or maybe especially because?) I had no need for a gown. Very cool.

Learned, thanks to a phone call from the lovely Professor Alpha, that I'd passed candidacy. The question, of course, is whether someone in East Lansing or Austin would have bothered to do the same thing, and I think the answer is "no."

Spotted (after Anne pointed him out) Spiderman. He was on a fire escape across from The Strand, and he looked right at home.