The new computer is up and running, and I am ironing out the last few bugs. Things are more complicated than they really need to be.

Since I am quite busy and don’t want my *checks stats page* six readers to be bored, here are a couple of pages full of stuff to read:

http://www.textism.com – the weblog of an expatriate Canadian now living in French wine country. Although I probably would not enjoy his company for long he does write a wonderful web-log.

http://www.mcsweeneys.net – the official site for Timothy McSweeney’s magazine. All of the writing in here is humorous, quirky, and very good. In particular check out the lists page , which can cause a work slowdown of unprecedented proportions.

I also put up the abstract-in-progress of my work on the Project Gutenberg stuff, and I will have a project subdomain up by the end of the week. I have a feeling this project will eventually be huge.

Items offered to me, at a Substantial Discount, in my Amazon.com Gold Box:

An Iron
A Digimon Action Figure
Baby Jockey Light Blue Boxer Short Set
Collector’s Edition Anodized 11-inch Griddle w/ Non-Stick Finish
LabTech Computer Speakers
Cordless Phone with Call Waiting, Ivory
Amelie on DVD
5 1/2 – quart Round French Oven, Blue
3 – quart Cast-Iron Indoor – Outdoor Cooker Combo
Baby Sweet Jacket, Pant, and Hat set

Possible conclusions drawn about myself, based on contents of preceding list:

I have children.
I watch French movies.
I cook.
I will play with something labeled “action figure” when it is clearly a “doll”.
I require call waiting.
I own a computer.
I construct pancakes with a radius less than 5.5 inches.
I require multiple hardware options when making a Grilled Cheese Sandwich.
I collect aluminum cookware.
I cook French children.
I am susceptible to impulse purchases.

Some of these conclusion would be accurate. I’m not telling you which ones.

Just got word that the new computer is on its way. Should be here next week. Intel p4 2.53GHz; 100gig hard drive; 512mB of high-speed RAM; 40x12x48 CDR/W drive; screaming case with a power supply which can be used to jump-start a car.

And I will use it to check my email. But I will check my email faster and better than anyone else on the planet.

What kind of hometown is Springport, you ask? Lets see… Village population ~700; township (36 square miles) population in the neighborhood of 3,000. Pretty much all woods and farms. One golf course (used to be a field), one race track (used to be a field). When neighboring town Eaton Rapids had its homecoming earlier this month, the theme was “Hillbilly Week”, so all of the Eaton Rapids folk dressed up like Springport folk.

Big rivals Concord shut out Springport at the homecoming game on Friday. I stuck around until the end of the third quarter, when it was obvious that Springport couldn’t possibly win. The crowd held some familiar faces, people I hadn’t seen in around fifteen years, who were in town for the same reason I was.

The fifteen-year-class reunion took place at the Hotel Tavern in Springport. Of the original 67 members of the Class of 1987, perhaps eighteen participated. I didn’t mind; everyone who showed up was genuinely interested in the fate and doings of the others, some of whom were in town from as far away as Massachusetts.

To make a long story short, no-one is dead, no-one is in prison, some people are happy, some are sad, and some of the girls I never paid attention to in high school are now stunningly beautiful women. The three men who were at the bar all looked pretty much like they did fifteen years ago. Different hairlines, but the same faces.

As the evening progressed I felt recurring waves of vertigo and deja vu, memories of the same people in the same configuration, sitting at cafeteria tables, eating cafeteria food, talking the same talk at a smaller magnitude. Specific images and conversations stick in my mind: Meredith talking about her six children. Jane talking about her husband. The deep sadness in Keri’s eyes. Rusty’s pony-tail stuck through the back of his baseball cap. The angel in Nikki and the devil in Kelly. After the initial drinking binge a comfortable melancholy settled in, and for the first time in years, or ever, we just sat and talked. I finally let my high-school demons go five years ago, so this was a reunion of old friends.

We plan to get together in five years, same time, same place, and talk about what has gone before, and what is to come. Twenty years is a long time.