Over the last month or so I've experienced a feeling I've never had before in my life: wanting to get out of the city. In Madison I wanted the opposite so badly. But a couple weeks ago I went down to Urbana, and I found myself thinking "it's nice to be out of the city." I talk to some of my friends who are living abroad or in remote locations, and imagine getting away from the constant stimulation and having endless time to read, write, reflect, create... I imagine that after the first few days of going stir crazy, it would be very nice for a little while. And then I would go stir crazy again and demand to go back to civilization.

I like this feeling though, because something is complete here in a way that it's never been before in my life. And I feel it even now when I'm having a totally miserable week and want nothing more than to crawl under a rock and hide for a while. So that's promising. But so is a week of vacation in Minnesota...