cleaned the shit out of the new apt w/ jay and pete yesterday. after things were mopped and clean(er)-smelling we went around with a tambourine and pot lids and incense and scared the old bad spirits away (the upstairs kitty looking on from the fire escape in bewilderment), then went back to pete's and had sub-par burritos and beer. i'm looking forward to living with those guys.

and then riding back to alison's on the subway, looking at the outer edges of the map where it wanders off into long island, i remembered myself 5 years ago riding the subway looking at the same map. a lot of it has become so much more familiar - i wonder what i would have thought if i'd known how far from manhattan i'd end up. those outer edges used to make me feel twinges of envy of the people whose childhood homes were just on the other side of brooklyn and now i'm making my first "real" home of my own right there, and the longing has diminished to a little pebble. i guess i'm feeling the happy effects of finally settling down after so many years of having my stuff(myself?) scattered all over the place. (although god only knows how long i'll really be anywhere anyway.)