--Norman Mailer

Sorry about the recent lack of entries. I'd like to say that I'll be back to posting daily updates again soon, but that seems distinctly unlikely. Things are just stressful all over, and I'm rapidly approaching "meltdown" point. Wish me luck.

(Incidentally, this is the third time I've started writing an entry since my last one. With any luck, I'll make it all the way through to the end this time around.)

I visited my mother on the 10th, along with most of the family. She's still getting better, but it's still a really slow process. I've been getting more concerned about her as time goes on, but the long-term prognosis is still good. Basically, she can talk, and she's still pretty upbeat. She can move her arms and hands also, but it's not particularly easy. As I understand it, she still has no sensation in, or control over, her fingers, nor anything below the waist.

Her left leg was shifting around when I went to visit, though. Not that she was controlling it, or even necessarily aware of it, but something's going on there, at least, which is presumably good.

From what I understand, the game plan is for her to stay at the rehab center in New Jersey until she's able to use her hands well enough to get around in a wheelchair, after which she'll be returning to the family home in Far Rockaway. Last I heard, the guesstimated time of arrival is in another month or two. She'll then continue her therapy at home, with somebody coming in from the outside to work with her.

So goes the game plan, anyway. I'll keep y'all posted.

Needless to say, getting said loan is now my top priority.

The catch is that it turns out that I need the tax information for myself and my parents, and due to a somewhat convoluted chain of events, neither I nor my parents have actually filed our taxes yet. That should be remedied shortly, though. Should've been done around now, in fact, but a death in the family has my uncle the accountant sidelined for the next week or so.

This is a major leap up from my previous primary hard drive, which was about 500 meg. My secondary drive is about 850 meg, but I haven't used it much, it being reserved for my on-again, off-again attempts to achieve a suitable Linux installation. In any event, the new drive leaves 'em both in the dust.

The game plan is to arrange matters so that I can choose between DOS, Windoze 95, or Linux on bootup, with Win95 being called upon only on special occasions when I simply have to use a piece of software that doesn't work with anything else. Such as Microsoft Publisher, which is what I use for the Campers' Paradise newsletter. As it stands, I can only use it on my father's computer, which partly explains why I still haven't written the Post-Camp issue yet.

Anyway, so this drive should actually be quite helpful in the future, and the price was right, so this was actually quite the sensible purchase... as long as you ignore the annoying little detail that I can't actually afford it just now.

That a Subway Series now seems not entirely implausible is even better. Not to harp on this, but the Yankees beating the Red Sox for the American League title and then going on to beat the Mets in the World Series would simply be the perfect postseason. Here's hoping.

Happiness is having your very own phone listing.

• I have a slightly overdue paper to write for Women's Studies 201 by Wednesday.

• I have lots of catchup reading to do for both 20th Century Literature and Indian History.

• I have a poem to write for my Poetry Workshop by Thursday.

• I have a midterm in Indian History on Friday, and a midterm in 20th Century Literature on Monday. (Both are actually scheduled for Monday, but the History professor is kindly letting me take it a bit earlier, so that I can tackle them one at a time.)

• I have a term paper prospectus to write for my Women's Studies class by Monday.

• I have a column to write for the school paper by Monday.

• I'll be seeing my eye doctor on Sunday, as it's been irritated lately, and I want to make sure it's nothing serious.

• squeeze in some proofreading for Clean Sheets,

• answer my e-mail backlog (thanks for the Angel synopsis, Marcus!),

• and write some updates for this journal, perhaps even finally regaling y'all with the story of my night out with Kymm. Although you could just read her version here.

"Give me a poetic form," I said.

"You mean, like a sonnet--" he began replying.

"A sonnet. Fine, that'll do. Now, a subject?"

He thought for a moment. "Catnip."

"No problem," I said.

"And elephant dung," he added.

"No, sorry; just one subject. Now, what kind of sonnet? Shakespearean? Or... no, actually Petrarchan would be better..." I trailed off, a suitable conceit already forming in my mind's eye as I spoke.

"No, make it a Spenserian sonnet," he said.

"Okay, deal."

So, you heard it here first. This week, I'll be writing a Spenserian sonnet involving catnip. I don't know what it's going to be like yet, but I'll probably post the thing here once it's done.