I really need an office. And inspiration. And Zack.

I'm on campus today for the first time in over half a year. I really do love my alma mater, especially now that there isn't a constant haze of construction noise in the background.

I printed out my draft from NaNoWriMo. I'm going to read it over the next few days and begin the highlighting and marking out process. Try to figure out what the basic plot is that I've sketched out and what holes need to be filled in, what few passages are actually salvageable. It'll be interesting to see how many words out of 50,000 I'll end up keeping. It felt really good to print out 79 pages of something that I wrote.

I've been feeling a lot less grown up than I did in Japan lately, the main reason being my lack of transportation. I am still not able to drive because my car won't go into Drive. We think it's old gas or something; I'm hoping to remedy this problem by the end of the week.

I've discovered the secret to me having clear skin: drink lots and lots of water, get plenty of sleep, moisturize every night, and avoid alcohol. Alcohol is definitely a cause of acne for me. Which sucks because I drank two nights this weekend. It shows.
I feel like an idiot for sabotaging my skin right before I go to visit old friends on campus. My skin was the clearest it has been in probably a year and I woke up today to find a constellation charted across my jawline. I won't give up my quest for beautiful skin so easily though. I'm going to keep taking care of myself and see what works.

So my life has been very open and carefree since I got back to the States. I finally mailed off the paperwork to get started on getting a work visa. I can't wait to have the ticket back to Japan, and back to my regular life, in my hand.

melt

I've been home for about two weeks now. It's weird that I finally think of Statesboro as "home" in a way.

My goal for tomorrow is to get my 1988 Nissan Pulsar legal to drive again. I haven't driven a car in half a year.

All I did today was hang out with Erica's dog, Bear, who is half bloodhound, half black lab.

I wrote a little but I feel like all the creativity in my brain has melted away since I last crossed the ocean. I'm not sure what it is about the Western Hemisphere that makes it harder for me; maybe it's the water. Yeah, that's it. I'll blame it on the fluoride.
But the real truth is that I'm just really good at making excuses for myself. I can come up with an excuse a lot faster than I can come up with an idea for my novel.
I have to get out of this house. And go somewhere that isn't a store or restaurant.
I am dreaming of having car insurance, and the fact that it isn't so hot that my black un-air conditioned car will feel like a death trap, and the way it will feel to drive without being sticky. The way it will feel to walk into the library and find a quiet corner and write. It's the best home place that I've ever found.
I have to find my jump drive, get off my ass, and get writing.

so long

Well, it happened again. Today I watched Zack get on a plane for Japan while I tried not to cry.

It was better than the last time we said good bye. Things are different between us in a really wonderful way. It's hard to describe but I think it's something that happens as two people work towards understanding each other. It was our four year anniversary a few days ago. I knew that I would be joining him in March and that I would be able to stay for a whole year. Our lives are becoming more joined and I am comforted.

Besides, my life has proven before that three months isn't really so long. It's barely a blink.

Here are a couple pictures of some of our last adventures in Japan for a while:



Here's to a new year, new pages filled with new words, and new discoveries. I can't wait to get started on it all.