2010.09.10
Days Remaining: 263

1. I've been here for 2 weeks as of tomorrow afternoon at 330pm, and I spent an hour tonight unpacking my kitchen stuff. I've got some more to do tomorrow (there is not a lot of cabinet space, so I'm going to have to be creative in how I arrange what I've got to make it fit and be accessible). Why the 2-week delay? To be honest, because a lot of what I've got I didn't need right away. I didn't take much of anything with me when I packed up my things in Providence in late June and early July, and I'm trying to make lemonade with the tight constraints of this apartment, seeing how much, or how little, I actually need. The day-to-day answer, so far, is "precious little."

2. The unpacking also cleared up some space (2 big and 3 little boxes/bins out of the way, with more to go tomorrow), which makes the apartment a bit less crowded. I may buy another folding table to use as a staging area, since the one I've got now has my computer on it and so its surface is not really useful for spreading out stuff. And the kitchen, sadly, doesn't have much counter space, either.

3. Last year I read Peter S. Beagle's lovely and unsettling short story, "Uncle Chaim, Aunt Rifke and the Angel," which I highly recommend. I was reminded of it because I just read a review of Joseph Skibell's A Curable Romantic, which also included themes and ideas from Mittel-European Jewish culture, and now am remembering a book currently buried in a box somewhere in this room, The Angel of Forgetfulness, which I bought but have never had the time/chance to read. So many books unread. So much to do.