12 August 2011

really raring to go.

Today is delicious. The weather in Philly is absolutely perfect- sunny, 84 degrees. gentle breezes, no humidity. Earlier I found myself power-grading and reading in Rittenhouse Square, drunk on sunshine and iced coffee. It made me happy to realize that at 26 I am still doing the thing I prized most during the summers of my youth-- reading outside. To be able to do that in the middle of a Friday afternoon is bliss. It is exactly what I want my life to be.


I'm reading Erica Jong's classic Fear of Flying (because why haven't I read it already?). There are so many poignant and pithy passages, but this one sums up how I feel today:
"...I'm really happy with my work for the moment and I don't want any more fulfillment just now. It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the solitude and the terror of failure, and the godawful silence and the white paper. And now that I can take it... now that I can finally do it... I'm really raring to go. I don't want anything to interfere right now. Jesus Christ! It took me so long to get to this point."

Jesus Christ! It took me so long to get to this point.

5 comments:

Matt in Tacoma said...

Who took this picture??!

melanie said...

that was the illustrious Ruby, who left me and fair Philly to return to Oakland. The Ice Creambulance in FDR Park is forever, as are the memories of the Crown Victoria Club meetup that we also saw that day.

Bunny said...

Fun times!!!

jillian said...

That Ice Creambulance is cool! In my neighborhood, the ice cream trucks are in rather poor condition; the drivers always look like serial killers. I get a little creeped out whenever I hear the digital tones of "Jimmy Crack Corn" echoing down the street.

jana said...

love Erica Jong. Fear of Flying was a landmark read for me, on a summer in Paris about 5 years ago.