Kitty and I have now settled into our apartment is Seattle. It feels good. First time I've truly had my own place and had to deal with all of the associated things (rental screening, lease, internet, etc). Our apartment is rather spartan, but it is very nice. We have the necessties: a large bed, a dining room table, a stereo, computers (that double as DVD players with screens), lots of food, and a backgammon board. Kitty is fast becoming an expert backgammon player. She's fond of risk taking. I'd say too fond, but her style has taught me a few things.

Before I forget. Thanks must go out to Vancouver based sailing Jewish friend, it's nice to know that someone is reading this window into my life. Good also to know that it's someone who has a very good idea of what my life is about and so can actually make some sense of the significance of what appears here. Anyways, if anyone else is reading this, feel free to send me a note (and give me the challenge of a stroked ego). Considering the (at this time... :) ) small audience, I may even take y'all into account while writing. Whoa, what was that! And that! I can't really whine about the proliferation of colloquialisms in the written word if I write stuff like "y'all". Gosh, people might think I'm a southerner or something. That was for the benefit of my beautiful girlfriend, Kitty. I like to give her a hard time (in a friendly manner) about being from the dirty south.

This past week has seen the moving of my stuff and myself from Portland to Seattle. I really did have the sense that I was moving my stuff, as opposed to moving myself and my associated stuff. It's not that I moved that much. One Volvo 240 carload and we were finished. However I didn't really arrive in Seattle until my stuff was unpacked, organized and settled in. I arrived sometime today, probably sometime while I was reorganizing the pantry. If my life were pee wee's playhouse, organization would have been the word of the day. Okay, please excuse me. Other than the aforementioned pantry, I unpacked some boxes, fixed the table, and began the job of deciding on a course of study for the next month. Lot's of reading, or should I say wishful thinking. I'm going to post my reading list, if anyone has any thoughts, please let me know.

Must read:
L'Éducation sentimentale (Gustave Flaubert)
Theory of Film (Siegfried Kracauer)
Camera Lucida (Roland Barthes)
-this one is translated, I should really get the original French
Turning the Mind into an Ally (Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche)
Of Grammatology (Jacques Derrida)
-also translated, I'm not sure whether I'm better off reading the French or the English first
The Art of War (Sun Tzu)
-second read, I've been considering picking up the new translation
Teach Yourself Sanskrit - exactly what the name says
A Macroeconomics reader - probable textbook for my macro course next year, I only intend to read excerpts
Linguistics - a textbook, again I only intend to read excerpts
The Way of the Bodhisattva
The Visual Turn (editor: Angela Dalle Vacche)
S/Z (Roland Barthes)

And that's it. I did bring at least twice that many books with me to Seattle, more because I couldn't decide what to read than because I had delusions that I would actually read them all. I don't even expect to get through all that I've laid out here. But I can try.

Okay, my bed is calling. Good night