Kevin called this afternoon. He was still pretty groggy from the transatlantic flight. We're going to talk more next week. And then maybe not for a while after that. We'll see.
I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by people; there are a whole bunch of people who want to see more of me before I leave town, and while I'm flattered, I'm also feeling like -- eep! Too much to schedule! So I asked Cliff if we can put getting together off 'til the next time I'm in town, and I may do similarly elsewhere. A lot of the time all I want to do is read, or watch movies -- just not talk. I'm feeling pretty tired of talking at the moment.
With that said, I *am* looking forward to having dinner with Kam and Jed tomorrow night, and seeing Karen on Saturday, and riding down to L.A. with Jenn on Sunday. Some talking is fine -- just not every single meal!
Back to work -- the rest of today is dealing with finances -- sending out checks both for SH and for my own bills. What joy. What fun. (Actually, it is kind of fun doing the SH checks and contracts. My own bills are far less pleasant...)
4:30 -- M'ris finally updated; I had started worrying that maybe she was more ill than I thought. But no, she seems to be recuperating fine. And she put up a bunch of pictures from the party! Go see! (I don't think I've ever seen so many photos of David in one (public) place :-).
I wonder what it's like for y'all, seeing all these pictures of people you don't know. (I'm talking to those of you who don't know us, y'know. Those who do, well, you do. So you know.) Is it like seeing someone's wedding photos, where you dutifully comment on how lovely everyone looks, even though the only person you know in the photo is the bride (and maybe the groom a little, who you secretly still think isn't good enough for her, or vice versa)? Or is it more interesting than that, because you've been hearing stories of these people for a while? Y'all seem to like photos of me, and you haven't actually met me, except in text. Maybe it's like that? Hmmm...
To be honest, the photos I put up here are more for me than for you. This journal records certain aspects of my life, and I know that I'll remember them better -- more sharply and clearly -- with photos. Like when you're all irritated at someone, maybe you've been irritated with them for years, but then you happen to catch a brief lost look in their eyes, and your heart squeezes, or thumps, and for at least a little while, that irritation just dissolves away. Photos can do that.
Paul is focusing his theory stuff on visual and/or text -- the ways in which we react to visual images, as opposed to textual material. Barthes's Camera Lucida, stuff like that. I'm really looking forward to watching him work through this stuff over the next few years. With any luck, he'll figure it all out and I'll just get to read his book, rather than having to figure any of it out for myself. :-)