my large loving family has descended and gone. they rather monopolized the weekend while they were here, constraining talk to the small variety. i must’ve been asked 14 times if i’d seen the wedding movies, monsoon or my big fat greek. sadly no. i’ll get right on it.

my favorite quote came from my cousin e., a film major recent college grad, who’s embarking on a film career. he’s already written a couple full-length screenplays and is working on his next. after i answered a cursory question of his about my pet project, he cut me off. “listen,” he said, “you’re brilliant. i’m brilliant.” and went on to expound about why he thinks he’s going to make it in the Industry. i couldn’t help grinning. you’re brilliant, i’m brilliant — that could be this generation’s i’m okay, you’re okay.

he has confidence. perhaps that’s what convinces my hoardes of relatives to take him seriously when he discusses pitching and contacts and working his way up from across the country. they nod; i follow cautiously behind him, like an anthropologist taking notes, because i might be doing this myself in a couple years. generically, even if i don’t pursue film, like him — and like his mother, whose career as a full-time mom is coming to a pretty concrete close as the twins are heading to college in the fall — perhaps i should have a speech prepared to give people who ask, “what are you going to do now?”

i can answer what i’m doing now much more easily. two things compulsively: scrabble and sex and the city. four games and five episodes in the last few days. oh wait, shit, make that nine episodes? what can i say, i’ve been with liz.

and i’m almost finished with drive. if what e. advises is true and you should never exceed 110 pgs, i only have 20 to go.

my contact launched itself out of my eye this morning with the determination of a suicide. i managed to catch it, and holding it in my hands i wept over it. within moments it had shriveled and lay pathetically, unnaturally twisted in my palm. as i despaired, intern sam walked by. i explained my predicament: i had no solution with which to revive the lens, yet i could hardly simply insert it back into my eye.

sam surveys the area (“like superman” says sam). aha! a beacon of hope in the form of the heritage foundation, an ultra-rightist “think” tank. (their link to “best conservative movies” takes you here. carnal knowledge in the top ten? ghostbusters? animal farm?? come on, someone seriously missed the point of that story… ) i’d always wanted an excuse to go in, sez sam, so shrugging, and still cradling my every-moment-fading contact, we stride into the lobby. through my one working eye i got a very strong impression of gilt and marble. no sambo dolls or wellstone voodoo dolls or ayn rand posters in plain view: that’s a start.

i explained my predicament once more to the man at the desk, who called another fella elsewhere in the building, who arrived with a bottle of solution before you can say “welfare reform.” everyone was as kind as could be. by the time i returned from there also not-visibly-white-supremacist bathroom, a jolly lady had joined the helpful man at the desk, and as sam and i bowed and left she carolled blessings after us: “bye now. have a great day. have a great weekend!”

it was a miracle. i could see clearly again, thanks to our friends at Heritage.

the wonderous liz arrived late last nite, borne of locomotive. i met her and ferried her home, for which bit of niceness she drove me around all today. my usual duties being suspended, i had time to do a xword, and watch the lion in winter in the morning and elizabeth in the evening — a pleasant as well as logical progression: 300 years passed in a matter of hours. both fit well into my recent costume drama motif.

in between liz and i attempted this is spinal tap but wandered away about 2/3 through. albeit clever, it was not what we were in the mood for. instead we talked and talked and met for brief intervals with miss lana and feasted on dairy products and drank diet coke.

liz and i have been friends since we were three years old. our parents knew each other before we were even dreamt of. throughout our growings-up we fixated on how we were opposite: she had art, i had writing; she liked comics, i liked books; she was neat, i was cluttered; arguing frustrated her, i rejoiced in it; she played sports, i watched others play. now i marvel at how remarkably similar we are, and i don’t know whether i’ve changed, or my perspective has.

super-fun workday: we interns took a guided special tour of the capital with the wife of one of our co-workers. as a press-person, she has full-time access to both houses, even (like now) when they’re closed. she let us in and sam, rob and i hopped over banisters to get a better view. she also brought us into the speech-giving room where we took turns playing senators and got our pictures taken (probably quite verboten but how could you resist?) anywhere rob’s digital camera shots are hilarious: i’m partial, of course, to senator ester and the intern senators. hey, that’s a good name for a rock band.

i played scrabble online w/ miss becca, interrupted by a free lunch in honor of rob, intern #2’s, going away. it being a beautiful day, we sat outside and basked.

oh, quiet, i got stuff done too. just less notably.

along with sarah, who sent me this link, i disagree with some of the names on this list. it’s very joyce-heavy, and it neglects margarita from master and, and morgaine from mists of avalon. not to mention both of my childhood crushes, noel airman and rhett butler. apparently as dworkin’s essay illustrates, i wasn’t the only one holed up in my room, hour and hour, rereading those books and lusting my heart out for those scoundrels. but where’s the cultural appreciation?

thrillingly, and in an upset of sorts, the class reacted well to my screenplay this time. the 60 year old woman who’s also writing teenagers and initially objected to mine this time handed it back to me, saying, “it’s good.” i all but danced home. the only strange moment came when evil sci fi woman approached me during break. “did you read about israel?” she asked. i nodded, thinking she meant the escalating, intractable violence. she promptly launched into a tirade against the “breeding program” going on there. they’re using old men, she said, only now they’re discovering that the kids are schizophrenic!

breeding program?, i asked. oh yes, she said. on kibbutzes, to create a new army. i’ve lived on a kibbutz, i said. i didn’t see any evidence of a breeding program.

she just blinked at that. well, anyway, she continued, it’s not working cuz the men are too old. i read it! where, i asked. they tucked it away, she said. in parade.

correction: “Decision Allows Woman’s Abortion By JOANN LOVIGLIO

PHILADELPHIA (AP) � A judge Monday overturned his unusual decision that temporarily barred a woman from having an abortion, allowing her to end her pregnancy.

Luzerne County Common Pleas Judge Michael Conahan dissolved the temporary injunction forbidding Tanya Meyers, 23, from ending her pregnancy. He also dismissed the lawsuit filed by her ex-boyfriend, John Stachokus, who had sought to force her to carry her pregnancy to term.

“Her right to privacy has been restored and she is free to go on with her life,” said Susan Fritchey, an attorney with the Women’s Law Project and co-counsel for Meyers. “It’s a great relief for her.””

considering the number of emails and discussions on this topic i’ve had today, i think it’s a relief to a lot more people, too.

my mother told me about this latest outrage on the metro this morning. amazingly it wasn’t in the post. how can a judge keep a 22 year old woman from having an abortion for the sake of a man she’s not even still dating? jesus.

according to you are where you live, i am demographically likely to shop at nordstrom, visit eastern europe, wear soft contact lenses, use olive oil, and attend the theater. i am guilty of all the above, though not so much some of the other allegations (read wall street week; use an electronic organizer; watch VH1). yesterday i saw a terrific performance of a little night music. you know send in the clowns? the song comes from this show.

i should live in a literary adaption. oscar wilde, jane austen, or shakespeare films always prod the same soft spot in my heart, and i think, shiny-eyed, i could succeed in that world! all one needs, it seems, besides money, is wit, curly hair, and very white breasts. just think how much fun it would be to bow all the time, and read small hardcover books and speak in full, decorous but subtly-loaded sentences. and oh, the men: formal, well-mannered, dry. each one as pointless as the next. no one does anything in these movies – have you noticed? they just get their hearts broken, and then cheer up and get married. and wear those beautiful dresses, which cover everything from the waist down; no one would ever know if you had a stomach or thunder thighs. at least no one until your husband, guaranteed to be the most confident and dashing of your suitors, and by then he’ll have already bought you and committed and ain’t nothing he could do.

ah well, maybe some lifetime.

somewhat allaying my unreasonable fear of next semester, my roommate-to-be offers the following: In terms of appliances/furtniture/other stuff for our room, I’m afraid I don’t bring much to the table. Not even a sexy ass. All I can offer is the excitement that I exude in palpable waves. I cannot wait to be your roommate.

Jocelyn, Ross, Joel, and yes, even Rebecca–none can even contend with the roommate I intend to be. Are you bringing a bed? What, are you too good for Swat-issued furniture? And if you are, can I have your twin? Ooh, I’d love to have a really monstrous bed! And then our entire room will just be two giant islands of sexy bedness, the floor will be merely a river dividing the two!!!!

meanwhile, i’ve been quickly humbled again by the scrabble gods. my opponent today followed my previous opponent’s strategy of using words she didn’t know the meanings of but had seen on previous boards (which, when i reinvent the game, will be an immediate 20 point deduction). she thrashed me. but in such pursuits, i am persistent to the point of obsessiveness: i never stopped playing Minesweeper, jezzball, or hearts until i felt confident i could quite hold my own. as long as i’m the only one to compete with, i’m tireless. it is only in the company of real people that i become self-conscious, timid, and withdrawing, as those of you who know me know well. the internet was made for such as me.