the direction of companion mind should stop with a red lamp or a buzzer

I have so much to say that I am somewhat intimidated by the thought of trying to post, because no matter how long I type I know I'll be leaving something out that I want to talk about.

O.K., first things first... I'M. DONE. WITH. MY. M.F.A.

I'M FUCKING DONE!!!

I moved out of my office, I finished my last few credits, I paid my last set of fees, I packed my old man cop car, and I got the motherfuck outta there!!!

I try not to swear on my blog normally, but WHAT THE FUCK!!!

I'M DONE!!!!

Yesterday, it was just so amazing. It was cloudy in the morning and I was kind of sluggishly filling bags with the last few items of junk that for some reason I just keep and keep (I have so much crap, and the truth is that I have practically nothing, but it feels like way too much still), and wishing that I had made my drs. appt for way earlier in the day (it was at 1), and fretting because I was worried that they were going to tell me that my thumb wasn't healing right and that I would need hand surgery, and I finally got everything packed, and got the apartment cleaned, and said goodbye to everybody, and I went to the doctors and Dr. Li told me that my thumb was fine and as long as I continue to wear the brace when I'm lifting heavy things that I'll be o.k., and I got back in the car and started driving north, and the next thing I knew... I had a spiritual experience. It was like a weight lifted off of my shoulders and the top of my head... the sun, incidentally, burst through the clouds... and Thin Lizzy came on the radio... and I sang... and realized fully with every sense available to me (I believe there are more than five) that I was DONE WITH MY MOTHERFUCKING MFA AND THAT I DON'T HAVE TO LIVE IN NORMAL ANYMORE and suddenly the entire car took flight... and... if you remember the last scene of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory... the old school, Gene Wilder version... where they're in the Great Glass Elevator and they SMASH THROUGH THE FUCKING ROOF AND GO FLOATING/FLYING OVER LONDON OR WHEREVER THE HELL??? DO YOU REMEMBER THAT???

BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED! RIGHT NEAR PAW PAW, ILLINOIS MY OLD MAN COP CAR LIFTED OFF THE GROUND AND FLOATED/FLEW THROUGH THE AIR, AND THIN LIZZY STARTED SINGING,

Come with me
And you'll be
In a world of
Pure imagination
Take a look
And you'll see
Into your imagination

We'll begin
With a spin
Traveling in
The world of my creation
What we'll see
Will defy
Explanation

If you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Wanta change the world?
There's nothing
To it

There is no
Life I know
To compare with
Pure imagination
Living there
You'll be free
If you truly wish to be

AND I WAS LIKE, DUDE! BUT THEN MY CAR STARTED FLOATING, SLOWLY BUT INEXORABLY, TOWARD THE FIELD OF WIND TURBINES! YOU KNOW, THE ONE ON 39/51 RIGHT BY PAW PAW!!! WHY, MY CAR AND I WERE GOING TO BE HACKED TO PIECES! NEVER HAVE I BEEN FILLED WITH SUCH EMOTION! I'M SURE, NO DOUBT, THAT THAT'S WHAT GAVE ME THE GAS! I BURPED YOU SEE, AND AS SOON AS I DID, MY CAR SLOWLY STARTED TO DESCEND TOWARD EARTH! SO I CONTINUED, BURPING AND FARTING, RELEASING AS MUCH GAS AS POSSIBLE UNTIL MY OLD MAN COP CAR LANDED GENTLY ON THE HIGHWAY.

You should have been there, it was amazing.

O.K., that said... I have been casting about looking for a place to live for weeks and haven't found anything yet, but I am going tomorrow to see a leopard-print house in Rogers Park and a small place in Bucktown. AND, next week I am going to live at a cooperative on Ashland for a couple of days and get interviewed by those dudes. Hopefully, I'll get in there. I'm so made for co-ops. I'm equal parts responsible and weird, social and independent. And as far as environmental and social justice is concerned, I really want to live a more mindful life than I'm sure I would live if I didn't live in a co-op. The last two years have sucked, I've felt wasteful and degenerate. I dunno, I hope I get in.

Oh, by the by, if you're using craigslist to find a roommate and you want to say that you smoke pot without saying you smoke pot, tell them you're 420 friendly. Then they'll know you're a hep cat, daddy-o.

What's This Sassy Lady Reading?: When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron, it's a reread for me, and very possibly the best ever layperson's book about practical Buddhism ever written.

What's She Listening To On Her Radio Machine?: My Native American flute music thing. It's good to go to sleep to. Last night, I slept like a big old baby! Like a tired dog! Like a somnolent whale at the bottom of the deep, blue sea!

IT WAS THE SLEEP OF THE FREE!!!

HALLELUJAH, MATHAH-FACKAAAAAAHHHHZZZZ!!!!