Well, it’s all over. After much paper writing, packing, and general stressing out, my junior year of college has finally come to a close. From here on out I promise to be a much more pervasive presence on the internet, hopefully updating here at least two or three times a week.
The transition from academic time to capitalist time has been smooth so far. My girlfriend and I have gotten into the habit of playing cards after dinner and drinking tea if there isn’t anything else that needs to be done. Since we don’t have TV or the internet at this point, and I’m finally done with school, there’s generally little to be done between dinner and the beginning of the next work day. I always miss my free time during the day when switching to a 40 hour work week, but I relish these moments of idleness I so rarely get to have during the school year.
I feel like I have better conversations outside the school year too. For example, this exchange took place after a game of flux. The kitten was curled up on the table, asleep, as she likes to do when we play cards. I looked at her for a long time.
“I’m getting a bit worried about the kitten,” I said.
“Why?” asked the girlfriend.
“Well…I think she might have Stokholm syndrome.”
“Stockholm syndrome?” the girlfriend said in an incredulous tone.
“Yeah,” I said, “I feel so bad for her. She’s an indoor cat. We took her from her family when she was a baby.”
“She’s a domesticated animal, she can’t have Stockholm syndrome.”
“But…I still feel awful. I mean, what if she only loves us because she doesn’t remember what life without us was like?”
Just at that moment, the kitten stood up, arched her back, enjoyed a luxurous stretch accompanied with a yawn worth of MGM studios, and rubbed against my hand, purring.
“Yeah,” said the girlfriend, rolling her eyes, “Stockholm syndrome, all right.”
Ah yes. Summer. When thoughts of various –isms, obscure pre-Revolutionary history, and whether or not it’s worth trying to sneak some hard liquor into my next class turn to honest concerns about the psychological stress my kitten has suffered from being loved by two semi-obsessed humans. It’s going to be a good three and a half months.
