Warm, glowy Saturday afternoon. I'm sitting in the mustard velvet chair pulled up to the windows to catch some more sunlight. The sky was thickly blanketed with clouds most of yesterday and this morning; but it seems to have changed its mind about raining and dissipated, though the entire house is still cooler than it was during the past hot, dry week. The loudest sounds I can hear are the whirring (or should I say "purring"? I'm no great onomatopoeicist, but it is running Jaguar) of Molly's computer and some birds chirping in the background. Phones ringing around the house were bothering Molly and I for a while, until we realized that the only reason we could hear them so clearly is that there is no general hubbub of parties and bass beats and general mayhem to obscure them. Earlier today, Tory was telling us about a hummingbird that flew in through her window, whirred around for a while, and then jetted itself back outside.

It's incredible, really, how we are so close to the center of campus and yet so far away. The contrast was further defined when we went to Toyon for TGIF yesterday evening. It was a little bit startling to see it in full glory, with all of the accoutrements befitting its status as Branner's sophomore-year counterpart: keg, funnel, joints, and scores of people. After that, I went to an Early Music Singers concert of some Josquin des Prez First Book of Masses work. The group sounded pretty good, though the best part about the evening was the evocation of middle school Bel Canto memories. After that, to Wilson's at Mirrielees to bake cookies. When I got back, Chad, Cho, and Hiten were here, having come back with Tory. Strange indeed to see very drunk people at Synergy, where it's the norm, if drinking happens at all, for people to have a glass or two of wine and then continue to function relatively normally (or as normally as Synners can be).

On the other hand, something I'd hate to see happen is for that to become a big deal again... and in general, for the house to be "closemindedly liberal," which sounds oxymoronic but is really not. Ian, Serra, Sean, and I had a conversation about this earlier this summer which brought up the issue but wasn't in the least conclusive.

Another funny thing about this year is that I actually live with my friends—which is a whole lotta fun and much less stress-inducing, but could be a little constricting as well. I almost always know what my drawmates are up to, and, more often than not, wind up meeting them whenever I go out if I weren't heading there with them in the first place. Hmm, maybe they don't want me in their lives so much... Seriously, though I am ultraprotective of my independence, it hasn't been an problem at all—just a funny little phenomenon that we like to remark on.

Threw and caught up on the dish with a handful of Hornettes this morning, ate lunch at the Mirrielees barbecue, then spent the last couple of hours reading and doing homework for linguistics in the hammock and the chair.