How did it become July without my consent, huh? June felt like three months due to the surreal, hyper-stretched nature of time while at Bennington. No, I haven't completely reconciled that it could be years, or never, that I visit that lovely campus again. People tell me that when the first month rolls around where no packet is due (this one), I'll feel it, but I doubt that. I've got so many things on my agenda to do that I doubt I'll be lamenting the absence of a packet. However, come January, when I should be preparing for a trip to the snowy world of Vermont, I think I will feel it most. Plus, I always suffer post-New Year's depression (though maybe not this time) so there will be a definite hole in my experience at that time. Or maybe not. So much can happen in six months. So much HAS...my god.

So my ipod has slightly begun to consume my world. I've always loved music, but now it has become a priority, and I simply can't bear to listen to the same music twice in a row. I'm listening to cds of mine I haven't played in years simply because now I have them all at my disposal: Suzanne Vega, Crowded House, old Indigo Girls, Cowboy Junkies, David Gray, Gipsy Kings. It's marvelous. And I'm uploading new music that I've caught wind of but never bought the cd for: Black Eyed Peas, Lucinda Williams, The Shins...it's an ecclectic mix. Today I'll probably take the first jog of the season with my new jogging playlist all ready to go featuring upbeat music that will egg my sorry butt on.

Music is such an interesting thing because the kind that I'm attracted to is heavily language-oriented, with smart lyrics. I mean, the music has to be great too, but I notice that what I love tends to have an emphasis on the poetry of the words. This reminds me of a wonderful musician who came to Bennington last June, 2004, David Brouza, who set famous poetry of people like Elizabeth Bishop to music. It was amazing.

I think there is something transcendent and powerful in music (yeah, you're the first to point this out, Jordan) that is becoming evident to me as I listen to it in a much greater way. I feel my own creative energy rising and boiling.

Now Playing: Sinead O'Connor, "Just like you said it would be" from The Lion and the Cobra one of my high school favorites.