What's going on?

It seems like awhile since I wrote, but I guess it's been only 10 days. A lot happened in those past 10 days, though, so I haven't had much of a chance to update.

Whatever. You didn't come here for excuses. You came here on the promise of riches beyond your wildest dreams and, if you got my recent chain letter, offers of hot, teen girls and various genital enhancement products.

So, to answer Marvin's question, here's what's going on:

TRAVELS

I was in Jacksonville from Sunday to Wednesday of last week. No particular reason; just to get my fix of family and Jacksonville friends. I went to European Street on Sunday night, and many people came out to visit. I was surprised by how many, and it was wonderful to see everyone. It was strange because I haven't been gone long enough to feel out of place in Jacksonville, so it felt almost like I never left; like Boston was a dream.

But, as the week progressed, I started missing Boston; the city, really. Specifically, the public transportation. I had to ride a JTA bus to UNF for my lecture on Monday, and it kind of sucked. The bus was late and they run so infrequently. I'm not faulting JTA — Jacksonville has grown beyond the scope of reliable public transportation. I'm just really happy to have the MBTA, even when it gets in my juice.

The lecture went really well. I brought an exercise for the class: a story that had a bunch of holes in it, and I pretended to be the careless reporter. So as they read the story and spotted something that didn't make sense, they called me over and tried to get the info from me. The exercise promoted good judgment, which is a lot more important for a newspaper copy editor than the ability to chase down errant commas.

After class, some of the students who work for the campus newspaper, the Spinnaker, invited me back to the office, which was a nice trip into the past.

… OK, as I'm writing this, I have to admit, it still feels weird to go back there. No, "weird" is such an inaccurate word. "Old" is actually how I feel. "Out of place" is another. I admit that going from college graduate to a top 10 national newspaper in five years is impressive on paper, but I don't think I can live up to the students' idea of what that should look like. "Work hard and you'll go far" just doesn't sound very sexy. Maybe I'm just being modest. Whatever. I'll have to revisit the issue again (maybe just in my head next time).

Going home was great. It was nice to see my brothers and family … and see the dogs! I've missed them so much. But not as much as I've missed my cats. Travis, the queen, seemed to play coy when she saw me on Sunday. Then, after a few minutes, she was rubbing all over me and it was like I never left. And when Jenn and I went to bed that night, it was finally a full house again, with all four of us snuggled up. THAT was my favorite part of the trip.

The day before I left, my mom and I went for a drive in her new convertible, and we toured Fruit Cove, County Road 210 and Palm Valley. Parts of it are unrecognizable to me, even though I haven't been to that area in a year. There is so much development and this Nocatee thing? Man. I can't believe it's already starting. So long, Old Florida.

Overall, I enjoyed the trip home. I wish I could've stayed longer to see more of Jenn, but I'll see her in a few weeks in Chicago. I can't wait for that!

NOTE ON TRAVELING

I intended to bring Travis to Boston with me this time, but it didn't happen — my landlord intends to work on the apartment soon and I decided Travis didn't need to be around for all that.

In my preparations for bringing her up, however, I researched the protocol for traveling with pets. I was startled by what I read: US Air charges $80 to bring a cat aboard. Let me clarify: US Air wants me to pay $80 to shove my cute, awesome cat in a cage and place her under my seat (where my legs would go) for several hours.

Obviously, they fear the cat will disturb the other passengers. But as I climbed into the seat at 5:30 Sunday morning, I started fuming when a baby started screaming in the seat right in front of me, and didn't stop for hours.

How is this fair, that the baby can fly for free and in the arms of its mother while my cat requires $80 and a cage? I decided to write a letter, and I've included the top:



… and a solution …


Baby's First Kennel®!

I'm going to send it to US Air in hopes of a policy change.

WORK

Work is going splendidly. I received all superiors on my 90-day probation review. "Yes, you can stay," my boss told me. But more importantly, my hours are changing. Now, I'll work from 2:45 to 10:45 p.m., which will give me several hours to work on the cover design. Hoo-ray!

SUNDRY OTHER TOPICS

• THE WEATHER is cool (almost cold), and I love it. I bought Awesome Jacket, a black, double-breasted pea coat that is super warm and quite stylish (I think). The only downside to the upcoming winter is the fact that the sun sets at 4:30 p.m. now. Seriously. It's 4:58 p.m. as I'm finishing this entry, and there's only the slightest trace of light left in the sky and the sun is well below the horizon. Until I get used to this, my body is going to be a little screwy. For instance, last night I was ready for dinner around 5:30 p.m. and ready for bed by 10 p.m.
• MY MOM and Maria are coming to visit next week. Maria is buying my car and the two of them are driving it back to Florida. So long, car.


• HALO 3 is a friggin' awesome game. Tom and I played for hours yesterday.

• OS X Leopard was worth the wait. It's quite an amazing piece of software, and the new Adobe CS3 runs even faster on it. (Side note: I'm going to start freelancing editing and design services again. It's always nice to work on projects that aren't related to newspapers.)