the above is a photo of all the stuff i have in new york city, sitting sadly on the morning sidewalk waiting to be placed in summer storage for several months. all this stuff was accumulated over the past two years that i’ve been in college, and has quadrupled in spread since the last time i moved out for summer, which was exactly a year ago. it’s amazing how much junk i’ve amassed in the span of one year, and then two years. all these cases of unused stationery, baking tins and carefully pressed class notes seemed to appear out of nowhere as i was frantically packing. try as i did to grasp at straws, some things simply had no genealogy. but now suddenly they all have to be wrapped and put away in boxes, rolling up an old year and nestling away to await the new one.

so much has changed from a year ago. i’m currently in the foreign eternal city of Rome, where people smoke way too much, as well as make out way too much, sometimes simultaneously. i’ve been sleeping a lot. and skipping across sheer lakes of indescribable certainty. everything is perfect. i’m getting just a little sick of eating pasta, but besides that, yes, everything is wonderful. plus i’ve been having for breakfast some delicious yau char kwai from the chinese restaurant just up the street from the inn i’m staying at – and that’s always a good reason to rejoice.

i’m glad sophomore year is over. it’s been good in so many ways, and so busy, and so full of life, but i’m very ready for it to be gone. in four months i will return to college as a junior. half of my college career will have been over. it seems to me like just yesterday i was writing about how i’d procrastinated over studying for the SATs and surely i must be so screwed! but here i am. in some school, in some city, this many years later, doing way too much math than is necessary for happiness. pah. if i close my eyes i can sometimes bring myself back to that time. but two months ago i found this fork in the road and i picked it up. i’m not sure what’s going to happen but i want to keep staying tuned. i have so many stories but i dont know where to start. maybe i wont cos i’m lazy, and it’s 7am here now, which means it’s time for me to go to bed :) i’m so sleepy. so, goodnight! tanti baci da roma.