9.10.2005

Hardly Davidson

Georgia Bulldawgs. We won tonight. We beat USC. 2 and 0. I watched the game on ESPN. When the cable people came to hook up our Internet we told them we didn't want cable TV. We shot the shat with them for a few minutes. I told then I loved to watch golf. MaryJo said we don't need the distraction. When they left they called MaryJo and said, "Tell your husband to put golf on… Welcome to Athens." Free basic cable just like that. ESPN comes in fuzzy so there's no sound but we just turn on the local radio station and watch the game on mute. The radio tells us what will happen on TV a half second before it happens. It's Preemptively American.

Harper is keeping MaryJo and I both entertained. He is a bundle of joy during the day, especially in the morning. He has learned to roll himself over onto his stomach and he's working on making his way back to his back. He's so close. He's old enough to do this to his neck, "Who's my little goof ball?" and nestle your nose right in between his chin line and chest and he laughs and laughs. You have to be cleanly shaven of course. I don't get to see him much Tuesday through Thursday but by Friday we get to spend a lot of time together.

School is going very well. I am completely busy as expected. When I'm not in class or in the studio or at a lecture or at an opening (three in three weeks), I’m home reading or drawing or writing. It's absolutely heavenly. I don't want to look back three years from now and wish I had done more. I've spent my entire life doing that.

MaryJo is staying home with Harper and working part time. Her job couldn't be better. She works only when they need her and even then it is only about 15 hours of work a week, which doesn't sound like a lot but is. That's three hours a day, but if you only get in an hour and a half one day then it's four and a half the next. It adds up very quickly. She is enjoying the weather thoroughly, taking Harper for walks all over the place. We live about 2 tenths of a mile from downtown Athens and about a Mile from Campus. We are 1.6 miles from the Cedar Street Studios (where I paint). Our apartment is perfectly located. There is a very pretty coffee/bakery just down the road from us that I can see us frequenting.

I haven't golfed since I left Ithaca. It hurts. It hurts bad. I just keep telling myself that if I work hard enough I'll be able to get a job at a college that gives incredible faculty discounts on season passes.

Also, I bought a moped. Gas was $3.40 a week ago and a parking permit, which would not permit me to park anywhere near the studios, was three hundred dollars. Add that up over three years it’s $900 plus whatever I spend in gas. This moped gets over one hundred miles to the gallon. Yes, I deal with a modicum of pointed fingers and smirks but it's worth it. I smile back and usually try to do a pop-a-wheelie. This makes the smirks down right laughs.

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