...and amidst a flurry of firefox tabs...

...i emerge unscathed and ready to apply my laser-like concentration to yet another blog entry! please make sure you are in a seated position, as this is sure to be a wild ride!

berkeley. town of bicycles, raggedy beggars, vegetarian cuisine, gardens thriving with succulents, and a nearly textbook example of gentrification. i live on the unfortunately named "bonar" street, which trails off from university avenue, the road that leads to berkeley university, a magic garden with little bridges over bubbling streams and big concrete structures of learning nestled within the thick canopy cover of massive trees. aparna works there on her philosophiae doctor, and so does becca, although in different buildings.

bonar street is a humble stretch of pavement that miraculously enough betrays nothing phallic. the people who live along bonar street are of many different backgrounds. there are hispanics, indians, asians, blacks, whites. in particular, our building is of the black/white/hispanic persuasion -- an appropriate mix of the most populous demographics in our nation. oh, and my roommate "man" is chinese.

recently, some of the black people in our neighborhood are often noisy, blasting music from their cars, hanging out in our parking lot smoking weed and yelling. but i think our landlord, a middle-aged apprehensive white man, talked to them, and that may have something to do with the peace and quiet we at apartment C have been blessed with the past few days. i really hate singling out a particular race before i blame people, but it is true. i give everyone the benefit of the doubt, regardless of how much melanin their skin holds. and further, this is not a "cultural difference", because whatever culture people come from, disrupting the peace is not acceptable. i only write this defense because i must assume the reader is a scrutinizing judge of my character.

i bought a road-bike from a pothead shaggy-haired dude who i found on craigslist. the frame is yellow-green, the wheels thin, the handlebars jutting out like the horns of a water buffalo, the seat an original brooks. the ultimate hipster bike. refitted with a kryptonite lock and a sleek cat's eye LED light. i rode it to work this morning and experienced firsthand the bumpy adventure of riding a road-bike on a cracked street. it's like riding a mountain-bike over the craters of the moon.

i am a seasonal cashier at elephant pharmacy on shattuck street in berkeley. elephant pharmacy is a hip natural pharmacy that sells both over-the-counter medications and preventative herbal remedies. everyone there is pretty much happy, a lot like everywhere in northern california. i mean, how can you not smile when your commute passes colorfully painted houses with huge cacti and flowering trees bursting out from their yards?

i plan to do many things. among them:
-finally create that creative work of art i've been dreaming about
-read lots of books that will make me more well-read
-improve my japanese by working through my textbook from my school in hokkaido
-get real good at cooking japanese food
-make some friends outside of the duke group, however much i love them
-make a name for myself as an off-kilter eccentric writer who posts his stuff for free around town and reads strange poetry at open-mics

the last has been my dream for the past six or so years. everyone needs to dream. it's healthy for the soul.
-

berkeley

i was worried about chuchki. she was understandably terrified on the plane, keeping up a steady yowl while staring into my eyes through the black mesh of the cat carrier, the darkness below the seat inducing eye-shine that looked all too similar to tears of betrayal. on the flight from the delta hub in atlanta to san francisco, i would occasionally squeeze a hand through a small opening in the zipped door and stroke her head to reassure her, and this would always put her to peace for the time being. but on the whole, the affair was quite stressful and, i was worrying, perhaps traumatic. but my fear was abated each time she leaned into my strokes and closed her eyes: a definite sign of unchanging affection and lasting trust.

when we first arrived into the new apartment, chuchki began wildly searching all the rooms, but i made an effort to restrict her to mine, as my roommates had been painting and paint chips were scattered here and there across the carpet of the living room. this room was an odd shape and was afflicted that night, and the following morning, by a group of black men having boisterous conversations right outside my window in the parking lot. throughout the day chuchki remained camped in the corner of the open closet, unsleeping. even when i finally fed her and made her a new litterbox out of a cardboard box and some plastic wrap, she did not budge. i eventually moved to a different room, one with a larger window and a more uniform square shape. this room did not overlook the parking lot, so i was not at the complete mercy of the parking lot revelers. chuchki immediately took to the corner of the room behind my big luggage bag and stared out at me. i figured she was simply uneasy with the new surroundings and left her be, sometimes going over and petting her, which she responded to warmly.

i then had the idea of creating for her a hiding place, somewhere dark and warm in case she felt the need to be hidden and safe. i cut a small hole out from another cardboard box, just big enough for her to enter, and laid out her orange air france blanket inside. chuchki had officially acquired this blanket after she had coated its surface with another of her fur. i had always laid it beside my computer in grandma's house, and she would often sprawl out upon it and fall asleep as i clacked away on the keyboard. this i brought with me because it had her fur and smell upon it; i also brought an owl finger puppet named fukurou-chan that was her favorite toy. i kept fukurou-chan in her carrier for the duration of the trip - this most certainly added to her cute factor, and i had to politely deflect more than one advance by a middle-aged woman whose aim it was to demonstrate their love for my "kitty".

chuchki took to her little house almost immediately, and slept in there the remainder of the day, often waking up and gazing out lazily at me, who sat upon a mattress on the floor facing my laptop. this morning i opened the blinds for her and she is now perched upon the windowsill, viewing the side of another apartment building and the distant street with its subtropical trees and unfamiliar avian life, its large reddish squirrels and passing students on bikes. i cannot wait until the living room is clear so i can give chuchki free reign of the apartment while i am gone, but for now she will be locked in my room to prevent any ingestion of poisons. i am lenient while in the apartment with her, to let her get a feel for the place.

today i shall drop off some resumes at cafes and send off more to other local businesses. i really need some income. and furniture.

fifteenth of october

this is when i depart. my feelings will be mixed until i finally arrive in my new apartment. once there they will congeal and offer an image from which something may be able to be divined. i hope chuchki likes her new home.