10/22, no. 58

Everything seems much clearer and sharper outside. Backpacking and camping gives me really vivid dreams, and little is complicated when it comes to the outdoors. I'm going to save up and invest in a pair of stereotypical liberal arts attire (backpacking backpack and Tevas) and go out to Mt. Rainier or the Olympics more often, because a) I need to start taking advantage of PSO (Puget Sound Outdoors, the second most popular club on campus that goes on multiple trips - including kayaking, canoeing, hiking, backpacking, camping, rock climbing, etc - every weekend) and b) I love campus, I think it's beautiful, but a small vacation would be really nice.
Go outside. Things are better there.

9/28, no. 47

For a long time, I was into things like Boston and crappy old cars. And then I was distracted, which was fun, and then I was sad, which was not fun, but now I feel so free because I'm looking at all the things from which I was distracted! Boston is so beautiful, and I'm feeling an immense desire to walk through Boston Commons and the North End right now...it's the perfect antidote to life. Plus the air is so fresh in Boston, especially in the spring, which is a huge contrast to the nostalgic smokey thick air in the underground city of Boston, that which is the T (subway system), which I also love so much. God I miss Boston.
And for a long time I wanted to drive an old crappy cozy car, one with cloth seats and not a high-tech GPS and media screen for an auxiliary ipod but a drive for a tape, with warm couch-like seats in the back perfect for cozying up with friends after a bonfire or something with tons of food and blankets and music.
When I was distracted, I shifted from wanting to go to Boston to being comfortable with the idea of living in LA (although I never gave up on Boston entirely), and while I wouldn't mind LA, I still don't feel like that's where I belong. When I was distracted I also shifted from a vague desire for junky '98 Corollas to learning about top of the line specs, rims, tires, bodies for cars, and I had an interest for minimalism, the modern look of coupes, a 6-cylinder engine...but that's just not me. I am back to where I was. I am at an equilibrium. Being distracted can be fun. But I'm getting better, and it makes me feel so free from a phase of myself.