My week started off most wonderfully. Yesterday my dear friend Emily called me from Boston. Although she woke the entire family ( i guess it was 2.30am in Ma, about 7.30 here), it was that moment i needed; you know that incident to make you smile, to lift the world from your shoulders and and let you say "yeah, everything'll be okay". I met Emily in Cape Cod when i stayed there for three months last summer. We worked together. After she discovered that she and i would never be a couple our friendship really took off. We went to dinner together; we listened to the latest music (gone are the days when one can afford every release in any given week of the music industry's year); she tried to teach me to like coffee (sorry, that'll never happen- if a job in starbucks won't convert me, i don't think anything ever will); we picniced; we talked life; we gave each other advice about guys and this list goes on. She introduced me to the work of Jim Carroll, I introduced her to the work of Joni. I have really missed Em since i left the states. Although three months may seem a short time to some, a true and fine friendship did develop ( hell, the girl even brought me to a *piercing* party! and yes, i did submit and undergo piercing myself, hehe, i played it safe though and had my lip done:-) Emails, letters, and phone calls were exchanged regularly until May 2001. At this point i got very caught up in exam fever ( i must admit it really paid off, when i got my results i was speechless, i thought they were someone elses results- two firsts and a second:-) and correspondence slackened a little. Then, i went to London for three months (that's where i worked in Starbucks, for anyone interested). During this time we only swapped e-mail twice if i remember correctly. Em moved from the Cape in recent weeks to begin her big college adventure in Boston. It is, for her, a truly exciting time- a little lonely, but exciting nonetheless. She turned 18 on september 10th, the day her classes officially began. Yesterday morning, as i said, Em called to say Hi, to say thanks for the birthday wishes, to say she's fine after the tragedy which struck her country. So, my week began in a lovely way. Today being the first day of university for me was at the same time full of merriment and laughter and fear and realisation and resolution . We swapped tales of the summer; scandalous and remarkable. Deflated, we sat in the canteen reviewing faculty and departmental regulations many of us (including myself) had never noticed. We probed through time tables, flicked through leaflets, and interrogated staff members in order to find out what we, as the student body, felt we had a right to know. We attempted to finalise our course selections; as the typical collegiate stress mounted a course convenor tried to convince my friend and i not to take his course. Why? Am i too stupid? Do i not fulfill all requirements? Did i not prove my abilities in the last set of exams? His course, he told us, is hard. I would have assumed that each and every ccourse in third year science would be "hard". Although not my ideal choice of course, his course- Evolutionary Biology- is one of very few options that fits my timetable, and i do believe that the course description in the handbook sounds genuinely interesting. Why, then, did he make it sound awful and refuse to sign my form? Well, he will sign it if i rethink it and still decide it is the best option for me!!???!? Attempting to find another course convenor had me on a wild goose chase, to use a cliche i am most fond of. That was to sign up for "the history and philosophy of science". So, i was getting a little stressed. We were fed false information by other students and by *many* staff members. Now, i know that it wasn't some conspiracy against us, but it sure felt bad to be running around campus trying to please the various convenors. To compound my mood, i was overcome with an intense and sudden tiredness. I really couldn't move; all i wanted to do was sleep. Or at least lie down and curl up. My body stopped responding, and i couln't find my voice. A little Patti Smith on the discman woke me. So i gave up my futile endeavours around UCD and came home. I listened to Court and Spark. I listened to Mingus. I listened to Shadows and Light, Turbulent Indigo, Miles of Aisles, The Hissing of Summer Lawns, and of course i listened to Hejira. I am now sat here with LOTC ringing beautifully in my ears. This is the first time in quite a while that i've listened to Joni other than S&L or LOTC. This has been an uplifting experience. I feel like i've been reacquainted with an old and dear friend, and that regardless of how long it is since we've last "met" i can always come back and things are just great:-) So, in conclusion (or something like that) i'll repeat Azeem's recent words: > Keep listening to music you love>. GARRET NP- Blue Boy "bring her boots of leather, she will dance for him"
