here comes the online poetry contest banner ad. here comes the robotgirly literary snob attitude.

poetry for cash? i wasn't so smart as to have chosen my academic pursuit based on fiscal potential.

the countdown has begun in regard to the DC relocation project. mostly my mind can only now comprehend the two-digit numbers that betray my departure.

dnan has most of her range of motion back. still bruised but beguiling.

and i have already spoken for my range of motion. included are several cancelled flights back and forth from ohare- a night in an airport hotel due to a nasty thunderstorm, and an extra pizza evening with 'b'.

a friend called from home to touch base and discuss guys. she was on the bad end of a break-up that was long in the making. i confessed to her that some part of me cringed when i thought about, "moving to another city for a guy." we agreed that the cringe resulted from residual programming from our years at chatham college, our mothers' amplified hopes for us to end up better off than they did, and the ambiguous and abstract notion that our gen-ex counterparts were deficient in everything that we needed or wanted, were to blame.

there was a brief pause.

"that's such bullshit," she said.

"it's that brand of feminism that kept us from being happy all those years we were in college," i said.

"i know," she said.

another pause.

"so DC, eh? i thought this Web thing was just a hobby." (i could hear her smirk on the other end)

"yeah. not so much anymore."

masters. guy. job. same old progression? am i defying the stereotypes i have been programmed to defy? if i get married in a year or so am i a sellout?

less and less are these questions taking precedence in my forebrain. more and more optimism.

a lot of good has come from not insignificant amounts evil, spite, and immaturity (lesser character traits i think) directed toward me.

and now i feel i owe something to the arbiters of that initial pain-- a strange thank-you for opening the channel through which i now pass...

there are two exits aft of the wings. each is equipped with an evacuation slide in the event of an emergency.