lately

1. friday: return from paris vers 17h to the states, one large valise m.i.a. with all of my clothes, sauf my beautiful graduation dress and button necklace that matches it perfectly. chinese takeout (string beans and kung pao chicken, 2 of my all-time favorites) and then dropping a few old things in my small suitcase (vide of all the books and music) before hitting the road for pennsylvania.

2. saturday: arrival by car vers midi to oberlin, oh, for the conservatory luncheon. i think many were surprised to see my cropped hair/open smiling face...i dashed down the chicken salad (still quite jetlagged and on a weird meal schedule) before going to meet up with my friends alex and darcy in tappan square.

we did nothing, sauf bavarder et relaxer, in wilder bowl on benches before heading out to clio's for a little reception at the old apartment (316 w. college). everyone was there, all the old dinner party crew - gwen, solon, elisa, stephanie, lilly - plus wendy, of course, and affiliated family members. lots of clio's clan. yummy warm pasta salad with cherry tomatoes and cheese; double gingerbread with crystallized ginger (a personal favorite of mine that clio makes so well); raw veggies and plenty of delicious fresh fruit and juices.

after, the commencement recital part I (meh); swing dance at wilder bowl (free, live band, fun to see and dance w/ brandon ramos and daniel who lives in nyc); dorm room with darcy, chatting about life, just like barcelona/fez!

3. sunday: leisurely morning, breakfast at oberlin market (soundtrack: stevie wonder!!) - chili/ cumin bagel with strawberry jam, chai with milk and honey; shuffling around with kitchen stuff that clio and i decided i would take for my place in new york...

wobc open house for a t-shirt and 2 stickers (one with an old design to replace the one i lost on my green nalgene before leaving for france); chem open house to see all the kids that i missed (zany mia casale and david smith, eben lichtman, rishana cohen, manasi bhate, all my old profs -- ackermann, whelan, elrod, craig)...

then i wandered around a bit before finding (trouver! god, my franglais) some friends to sing with at nuernberger's house. the crew ended up being steve lind (bass), noah horn (tenor), sarah allen (soprano), and zoe weiss (alto/tenor) and me (alto/soprano). we really needed another tenor, but i think he was truly thrilled to have us sing in his living room. it was intimate. i liked it.

caught a ride with noah and relaxed a little in front of gibsons before doing some shopping in town (earrings from the bead store, cards from ginko gallery, another green nalgene [how could i resist?] from dave's army/navy) and grabbing a feve burger (grilled onions and avocado), great lakes beer (local to cleveland), side salad with mango-lime dressing and a side of tots. i didn't finish everything, but it was delicious!!

i was somewhat courted while drinking my beer by these 2 musicians from new york city in town to see their bandmate graduate (they play klezmer music)? i got the business card of the mexican violinist, he sometimes plays gigs on broadway, i thought he might be a good contact? because really that's what it's all about, i think...

met up with the parents for the second part of the commencement recital, in which solon, clio and johanna played the lovely slow movement from the symphony concertante, alice/jon a great xenakis duet (flute/percussion) and stephanie washington sang a stunning rachmaninov set.

4. monday morning: graduation!! i was right behind the lovely sarah allen (who got high honors in neuroscience, p.s.) and received an envelope with nothing in it, sauf a little thing that said "your diplomas will be in the mail" once we receive the appropriate things, blah. but i got to walk anyway, and shake people's hands, and feel like college was actually over. which it is, and that's a little frightening.

back to france?