An Update

This seemed like an appropriate time for a general update given all that's been going on in my life. Isn't that always the way with me, though?

Crises and golden moments abound, although most of what's happened lately has been on the good side of things.

To start with, my place of residence has changed.



At the commencement of the spring semester I started commuting five days a week from Mountain Town to Major University. That drive, an hour and a half each way, is an arduous one, and before the first week was out I was wondering how I'd done it all of Junior Year.

Up until last Wednesday, my entire schedule revolved around a ridiculous daily hike.

In order to make a nine o'clock morning class on Mondays and Wednesdays I had to rise by seven (at the latest), which in turn entailed going to bed at ten or eleven the night before. Any college student will tell you that retiring early is difficult (staying up is literally ingrained into our neurological makeup), and, unable to make myself turn in before my tenth-grade brother, I soon began suffering sleep deprivation and found myself constantly tired.

Coming home each night was also ponderous; the Goldlands, known for its hellish traffic, turns into a gridlocked nexus of metal around five in the evening and stays that way for hours. Rather than sit in the mess, I would withdraw to the computer lab each day after class and stay there until seven, at which point I would leave school (with the roads still moderately full) and arrive home at around nine.

All of this was taking its toll on me, so you can imagine my relief when, two Fridays ago, I was offered a spot on campus.

It was with glee that I packed my things and moved back into the Student Town complex last Wednesday.

The young man sharing my room, Short Roommate, has thus far proven himself amiable, and has further worked himself into my good graces by undertaking a certain athletic venture with me. That, of course, brings me to the next development.



The above picture, by the way, is (likely) the closest that I will ever come to participating in anything resembling Jo(e)'s naked photo sessions, so enjoy.

The photograph is a representation of what I look like right now; tall and thin but with no muscle definition nor anything to keep me from looking, as Thomas recently said, like "a twig with a mane."

To remedy that situation, I've signed up with Short Roommate for the Major University Running Team. I did so for several reasons.

To begin with, I've been of the opinion for quite some time that the track and cross country athletes at my school are some of the most beautiful male specimens on campus. Furthermore I'm not sure, given my build, of a sport that I could possibly be better suited to than track, so track it is.

"With running you don't really want to bulk up a lot," one of the team coaches (who are also students) told me. "The goal is to build lean muscle."

Since lean muscle is the only type I'm ever likely to acquire, this seems like a good deal to me, and after an abortive attempt at athletic running this summer I'm eager to embrace the structure the team will provide.

The club, a recreational group that is separate from the official Major University track team, only meets twice a week for now, so to supplement Short Roommate (who did track in high school) and I are tacking on an additional three days a week.

I'll have to let you know how this goes.

Though I've not yet actually started, I think I'm doing the best thing for my body type.

In another bit of news, Beautiful Cousin has returned to us.



"Whore Bag!" I exclaimed happily as I climbed the stairs for breakfast on Sunday morning.

This girl, who turned twenty yesterday, moved back in with us on Friday after three months of living with her boyfriend. Her commute proved a bit too much for her, so she's returned, to my approbation (if not Thomas's).

It's just nice to have another person around my own age living under our roof. There are now seven of us in the Our Family house: my father, who is 47; my mother, who is 37; Powell, who is 21; Beautiful Cousin, who is 20; Thomas, who is 15; Pie, who is 7; and me, age 22.

A full house is much more fun.

This weekend, though, an empty house promises more in the way of pleasurable diversions; my parents are headed with Thomas and Pie to Mountain Resort, and I'm thinking about going home to enjoy their absence.