five-sense friday

The sky is sort of gray today, but the sun is making its way through. I have been looking up articles all morning and trying to make sense of a 33-novel list: themes? Continuity hiding somewhere in there? Oh, life.

In the meantime, I am...

smelling: leave-in conditioner in my hair; frozen pizza baked for lunch (real food is for people with Time)

hearing: a leaf blower? lawn mower? vacuum cleaner? somewhere outside or in another apartment; the fan-hum of my laptop; Josh turning pages across the room (they are thick pages and make a very satisfying ssshhh when he turns them)

tasting: bridge mix, a birthday gift saved for this moment of academic crisis; and earlier this week, an utterly phenomenal meal at Cafe Bernard for Josh's birthday (pan-seared pork tenderloin with carmelized onions and a dried cherry sauce, intensely garliced-up mashed potatoes, vibrantly steamed vegetables ...)

touching: a pen Tom gave me, and the notebook I carry around everywhere, full of exam notes and questions and thoughts that seem brilliant at the moment of scribbling and then two weeks later are utter mysteries. I love the notebook. I love the process.

seeing: bright screen; tottering stack of books; cards on the wall from friends; light at the end of the tunnel.