goodbye you crazy week.

I have waited 3/4 of my life to see The Shins. It happened, tonight, at Terminal 5 at roughly 9pm. They didn't disappoint. The perfect mix of old/new; pop/acoustic; story-telling;jamming. Berloody great. This reaffirms my long-standing desire to know James Mercer and one day, one day, this shizzle'll be true. For the moment though, I immensely appreciate his lyrics, like ever. And, capping off a big, fat, 'arena spectacular on ice' week like no other.

I'm back in Stony Brook after spending a week in Australia. My grandfather died and I decided to head over for the whirlwind that was. The key things that stood out about home:

- the AIR! crisp, full of eucalypt and autumn rain and sunshine and grass. It fills you right up.
- Cows. Weird, but I haven't seen animals bigger than squirrels for like 4 months now. Just so crazy to see these huge creatures everywhere
- Stars. Boy, we do good stars in the country.
- the view. Woke up to a window-full of gently sloping dewy paddock, with blue gum trees dotted around. The sun was shining through the autumn burn-off smoke, sending 'God's fingers' (or 'aaaahhhs' as we call them in the family- like a perfect chord shining on the promised land-) across the farm.
- space. So few people. Mostly family.
- coffee. I have missed thee. 

Food was abundant, as always. Baths, many pots of tea, sleeping. I spent a lot of time raking through old photo albums compining a photo montage of grandpa's life. Struggled with a dust allergy, aggravated by the sorting of my clothes which i hastily shoved into bags back in December. Chats, wine, wine, wine. Back to the wicked McGowan sense of humour, bluntness, and love of a good story (and anti-communist child singalong).
After 30 hours of transit (Albury>Sydney (running through Sydney airport, seeing my 'final call' announcement for my flight, after my Albury leg was delayed due to ''''''''fog''''''''') > LA > JFK > Jamaica to catch the LIRR > Stony Brook. Long bloody time. I slept almost the whole trip, and then slept another 12 hours last night.

And now begins the final week of class. I have 11 pieces of assessment due before the week is over. Yoiks. Lots of library time, coffee and yoga. As you can tell from my writing I am still scattered, and in need of bed. Until later, mis amigos. xo