The Science of Separation

there is a protocol, an algorithm, a formula
for experiments, so that one need not reinvent the wheel

the assumption being, of course, that what has worked
in the past will continue to work in the future

but what is the difference, really, between reinventing the wheel
and retracing the steps of its original invention?

is this the reason that every time I fall in love with someone else
I find in the end that I have only succeeded in loving you more

Self-Evident

So I'm in Virginia, as previously stated, waiting for the shock to wear off so I can maybe write an entry that isn't full of obvious statements such as "it's hotter down here," and "some people have accents!" Today I walked around the campus, taking pictures, and plopped down under a tree to observe and think.

This university is very different from Case. (again with the obvious statements.) For one, it's a big state university, so a) there are lots of undergrads, b) the undergrads are more your typical college student, which is a kind of person severely underrepresented at Case, c) the campus all matches, architecturally, d) they have this insane hard-on for Jefferson. Now, I can understand putting statues and quotes and things up all over the parts of campus that he actually had a hand in. But when I walked into the aquatic & fitness center I was greeted with foot-high letters telling me that Jefferson would have wanted me to allocate two hours a day for exercise. I feel this is a bit excessive.

The other weird thing is this statue in front of the Rotunda. It's just your standard statue of Jefferson, right, on this plinth thing with angels all around the base, and some writing, and a giant piece of marble. But when you look at it, the angels are all doing funny stuff:

One angel is either waiting to be chained to the statue or has just broken her chains or been let loose. Her right hand appears to be gripping a handhold.

Clockwise around the statue, this angel is ripping up a scroll with a very faint "debt" on it.

Further on, the weirdest angel is blindfolded, with her left fingers in a gun muzzle and something clenched in her right fist. Upon further inspection, she may possibly be testing the theory that all objects fall vertically at the same rate, regardless of their horizontal velocity. This is the only explanation I can think of right now.

The final angel holds a tablet upon which is inscribed "Religious Freedom 1786" and names for God in a number of religions. I find it strange that the angel is holding this tablet, but this one at least makes sense.

I can't find any rhyme or reason to these angels. I could see a pattern for three, maybe: the unchained angel is the United States, because Jefferson was pretty instrumental in securing our freedom, the odd gun-blocking angel is maybe for science (?) and the freedom of religion angel is pretty obvious, actually, because UVa was the first university in the country to be completely secular. But I have no idea about the 'debt' angel, and I'm not sure the gun angel is for science or if she has another meaning. Anyone have any ideas?

A Selection from Various Recent Dreams

- I have dinner in a parking garage with my (real) ex, my ex's current (real) girlfriend, and a fictional woman he dated between us named Fiona. Fiona and I are trying to win him over from his girlfriend. Later, I discover that his girlfriend is actually the grad student assigned to teach me my way around the new lab. She shows me the eel tank. The eels do a synchronized swim for me, and I am a little weirded out. I go to do an experiment and discover that all the equipment is grossly oversized--that I need gallons of solution where usually less than a tenth of a liter will do. The light in the biohazard hoods is very bright.

- I move into my new apartment only to discover that it is absolutely nothing like any of the pictures I have seen or the construction site I viewed. It is, instead, an apartment as imagined by Frank Gehry, full of strange curves, exposed brick, and glass in odd places. I decide to stay because the view from the windows (which are all around twelve inches wide and set insanely about the apartment like tinsel) is gorgeous, and I choose the bedroom with the bed hidden either behind or above some rounded bookcases. My bedroom has no walls, only glass that looks out into the hallway. I find out that we have a surprise third roommate named Stephanie who eats only cereal, which she keeps in a rotating dispenser in the kitchen. It is two o'clock in the morning by the time my parents have finished moving, and I am hungry. There is no time to get food, they say. It is two o'clock in the morning. We are going home. They leave and Stephanie tells me I may have a bowl of her cereal.

- I have a girlfriend who always looks twenty feet tall because I only ever see her onstage. She is redheaded, beautiful, and sings in a band. I watch her perform and later we have sex.

- I live next door to a sixteen year-old Isaac Newton. My parents wish us to marry. I stand outside while he talks to my father about fishing and am overcome with despair at the thought of marrying this repressed boy.

Tell Me

Honey, I need to hear about all the other fish in the sea
tell me there's someone else out there
tell me that someone will love me for me
no doubts, no convincing, no conniving,
someone who won't bore me, or irritate me
or tell me I should quit my job.

Tell me there's someone out there who'll make me smirk
tell me I shouldn't get cynical again.
tell me someone will love me enough to be sure.
to propose without moving in, to love me first.

Tell me I don't need to be so scared, or so sad.
tell me it would never have worked or
tell me we can still make it work, that you have discovered
you are the man I have always dreamed you would be
and all my worries can finally fall away.

Homeward Bound

I'm in Virginia, with internet hooked back up--hurrah!

Two more of my friends are married, my entire life is in boxes, and I'm fighting now an urge to get in the car and drive back to Cleveland.