you look smashing this evening, darling.

boxes have become my life. i’m less than a week away from moving into my own place, and life has changed. instead of waking up to a bedroom full of books, i instead see boxes. boxes lined up in stacks — filled with books, papers, dishes — all the stuff that makes my space mine. the computer, the stereo, they have their own boxes, but the rest of the debris in my life is filled to the brim in xerox boxes that in a former life held copier paper and now hold mystical, mysterious objects. my three large bookcases have filled over fifteen of these puppies. people are coming to help me move, but i look at it as my own personal obligation to move the books. and so i will.

it’s a short week. fours days of work mostly — well, it’s finals week, so things are a little different — but then on friday i get to close the deal. the seller will sign on the dotted line — “give this thing to daniel, i say!” — and then i’ll take that paper and the keys and the garage door opener and whatever else they want to hand off to me and then i’m free to move in. my own place! it has a ring to it. speaking of free, did i mention? i’m free and clear of my apartment. i got a fellow here — a grad student in marketing — to rent my apartment. the landlords are cutting me free of the lease i signed, god bless them. no sublets. no nastiness. in fact, s. stopped by to wish me luck and gave me a bottle of christmas wine from the amana colonies. a nice gesture.

i saw a beauty at the grocer’s tonight. i had some shopping to do and there she was. beautiful as always. deep, dark skin. artistic hair. something to behold. “have you finished your degree?” i asked. “yes, in may.” we talked for a while, holding up the line. she is perfect.

and having said that i realize there are many perfect people in my life. many wonderful personalities and visages. some are beautiful on the outside, some are beautiful on the inside, but most of them are both. i speak of j. and a. and s. and c. and h. and c. and j. and t. and t. and many others. love is beautiful.

so it’s getting time to wrap this up. another entry from the journal of jean-paul xtasy. i hope you’ve enjoyed your stay at manufacturedenvironments.com. there’s much more here than is apparent at first glance. take care. ds.