I was in Akron for some days visiting my dear dear Alex, and it was lovely in so many different ways! We did lots of autumn things, like eat apples and wear scarves and traipse around in woods after drinking pitchers of pumpkin ale. I liked some things about Akron: the castle-like apartment buildings, the friendly cats, the hills and winding roads, the abundance of tucked-away coffee shops, and ABSOLUTELY the record store. I also really liked the bus station, which is futuristic in design and made me feel like I was waiting inside an airplane hangar for something sinister to happen, and the grocery store called ACME, which reminded me of Acme deli and charmed me with it's extensive and impressive selection of domestic and imported, craft and commercial beers. Number three in my top-five Akron Moments: seeing a man vogue up and down the dance floor in happening queer nightspot Square with a half-full Corona balanced perfectly on his head. That's talent, grace, coordination, and chutzpah that I can only dream of.

Akron felt strange because there is no river or lake winding its way through downtown, and anywhere where there are hipsters, they make you feel like how DARE you enter this bar smiling and laughing, this is a serious occasion, and ps, your pants aren't tight enough. Oppressively hip hipsters are never really my cup of tea, but when they shoot laser beams of angst and superiority out of their eyes, and they all hide in the same places, they are especially odious.

Alex and I also acquainted ourselves with Cassavetes and re-acquainted ourselves with Spike Lee, ate a lot of delicious things, made good use of the Hippie Handbook, and sang along to Alanis Morisette songs. She watched while I chopped all my hair off one night and while a "professional" fixed my hack job two days later. We talked about a lot of important stuff, and fun stuff. I like her.

In other news, I am leaving the country soon! Only from Halloween to Christmas, so I don't have to dismantle my lovely little Buffalife, and can nurture it through the long hard winter. But a nice thick trip around a beloved continent (Europe) will do me wonders, I think, and help me get my head at least to a different place, if not precisely "on straight."

I've heard rumors, via facebook and text message, that there is snow on the ground in Minnesota. I miss that.