fandamily

naaah, i actually really like them. but there're lots of them and they're complicated :P

i began the day with the orthopaedic specialist, who informed me that i need to get soft insteps and that i should probably consider reflexology / foot massage, but also that unless the cramping in my feet impairs their function that it's not really an issue.

that was quick, from there i hopped a couple of buses to campus (worrying about the weird tufts of white stuff all over my shirt until i realized that it was the back of my wired magazine that had been moistened during the ride back from jerusalem... at first i'd suspected that it was something creepy or icky from somebody else). i finished reading the thesis a short while back, and had intended to return it soon; when i took it out of the library i set a reminder on my phone, and had assumed that it hadn't gone off because the book wasn't due back yet. this morning i discovered that the reminder had magically disappeared; i was quite relieved when i handed it over the counter and the guy assured me it was fine.

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on the way back home i saw a body under a sheet on the side-walk, and automatically assumed from the sprawled figure that it had belonged to a jumper. then i realized that it could just as easily have been the victim of a shooting or stabbing, or even a heart attack (although the last seems unlikely). just a stranger, dead, that i have no narrative for.

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i had a good roast beef sandwich at coffeeholic, then came home to sort a couple of things out before putting myself to bed for an hour. the crash was deep and dark, and it took three or four snoozes for me to get up, make a phone call, then drop out for another half an hour or so. i cannot quantify how much better that last half an hour made me feel.

pg and i ventured out for a useless mall experience - in particular for me, because there's no more gaming store close to home and i'm desperate to get hold of thunderstone and i can't find a reasonably-priced copy online that ships to israel :S

from there we went to bleecker's, where we'd agreed to meet with my aunt and uncle and cousin. a looooooong wait. we decided to have a quick snack in the meanwhile; soon after we finished they got in touch to tell us they'd misinterpreted my instructions and parked in completely the wrong place. it was a mission to get there, then a mission to get to a backup kosher coffee shop, that had closed down and become an unkosher one, then a mission (although less than expected) to find another one.

dinner was nice, i really enjoyed spending time with them and catching up, and the only dampers on the conversation were a short bit on politics and discussing my brother and his inconceivably disgusting behaviour since our father died.

it was tough being asked to promise to come and visit them in durban; i promised to make every effort, but it's really tough to go to a place that's so dangerous and uninviting that i can't figure out why they're still there.

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i had a long chat with my mother on skype; and of all the things we discussed (such as a forthcoming family reunion) one thing sticks out in particular: the reminder that the life i'm leading right now, as a student, is my holiday from my big plans and my momentary breath of fresh air before heading back into the muck for at least another decade of grown-up stuff.

whatever decisions i make regarding the current "temporary" jobs i'm doing are really only sandbox stories... whatever i do, i really need to be as happy as possible doing it.