Where Does the Time Go?

I posted just a week ago that the bulk of my classwork was behind me, but here I am up to my eyeballs in work that needed to be addressed before the next semester. I've spent the better part of two weeks just updating this and reviewing that; one professor has a reading list of 11--count 'em--11 books. Welcome back to grad school!

Anyway, I'm back in the swing. Resumes are all updated, clips are ready to go, thesis is in the pipeline and we are less than a year from graduation.

Hallelujah!

Can we get some decent Chinese food now?

No loss, no foul

Just submitted my first piece to the New Yorker magazine. I've channeled the writing of Joseph Mitchell, a feature writer of the magazine from days long past, so I felt they should have the first read.

It's a non-fiction narrative about a little town named Evinston that is in danger of losing its post office--and its identity. But more, it's about the disappearing of America's heart and soul; bit by bit; tradition by tradition; small town by small town.

Make no mistake, I love modernity and the conveniences it has wrought, but I also value the timelessness of community and care for one's neighbor. Having lived in large metropolitan areas for most of my life, I was like a fish out of water visiting this town. I had lived in Boca Raton for nearly 20 years and only knew two of the neighbors on my street well, and here was a town where people lived for four and five and six generations and knew their family tree down to the roots. A place where everybody knows everybody, and they look out for each other. Sure, they have to drive 15 miles for a decent-sized grocery store, but the view from the porch on a star-studded night is dynamite.

So now that the bulk of my classwork is behind me, I can focus on my writing again. A thought that makes my little fingers feel like dancing.

See you soon,

MH

Random Thoughts Encountered

"Academics study studies; journalists study people." - author unknown

"I think we are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not." - Joan Didion "On Keeping a Journal"