So one dear friend gives me a copy of the movie poster for Gigantic (a documentary about They Might Be Giants, New York band extraordinaire) as a housewarming gift. And I realize that it needs to go on the side of the fridge, a very visible spot in my new digs. Now, how to affix it there? Oh, how ‘bout with the handcrafted New York subway magnets that another dear friend gave me for Christmas last year? Perfect!

It’s interesting how various possessions are playing entirely new roles here at the new digs. Magnets that never before had an important function now have one; a bedroom bookshelf moves out of the bedroom; a phone that has not been used for years suddenly comes in handy because it fits where others will not, and I realize for the first time how pleasing its real-bell ring is compared to modern electronic chirps. Anything is possible when even an object as mundane as a lamp suddenly takes on a whole new and exciting and fantastic function.

There is rebirth all around me, everywhere I look. I am living in easterland, and I feel it warming me from within.