november 6

Friday dawned and Eleanor was really feeling the physical effects of her Wednesday moshing. Her back ached and she just couldn’t wake up – more than usual, that is. But she had two classes to get through that morning before she could relax again. Might as well get up then.

Biology was nothing really new. They finally got to evolution, which the professor was constantly pointing out was “just a theory”. She was working hard to avoid any uncomfortable confrontations regarding the origin of man and the world. Eleanor felt slightly more prepared for that class having studied part of Darwin’s The Origin of Species in English the week before. She tried not to zone out completely.

During her break she checked her grade for the test Wednesday morning. She was excited to learn she had finally swung a B and resolved to continue with those caffeine pills. She knew she’d have to take the cumulative final, if only to get rid of that horrible D, but right then she was glad something was going well in her life. Her back twinged.

English brought the introduction of a new unit: Modernism. For every new section the professor would draw the participants’ ‘world view’: the Enlightenment had been a circle filled with dots (we’re all part of the same universe), Romanticism had been a circle with a single dot in the center (each person is the center of their own universe), Realism/Naturalism had been a circle with dots around the edge and a few inside (we are both within and without the universe). Modernism, on the other hand, didn’t really have a circle. It was more of an amoeba with what might be a circle in a large space. “It’s all in your head” had been the professor’s explanation. Frankly, the drawing confused Eleanor, but she figured the actual lecture would sort everything out.

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The rest of the day passed in relative boredom. She sat in bed on her laptop, still in her pajamas (having not gotten dressed that morning), secretly hoping someone would suggest something interesting to do. When she went upstairs to make herself some dinner, Cesley found her. There was a Zine Fest going on that night at Gallery 5, a few blocks away from them. Without really knowing what it was Eleanor readily agreed.

Going out meant getting dressed. The roommates met up again upstairs at 8:30 and sat down to wait for Nicole to show up. It was a cold night, in the 40s, and Eleanor didn’t have a heavy coat. She hoped her corduroy jacket would be enough. While she was sitting, she noticed that she had managed to put on all her corduroy: jacket and pants. At least I’ll be warm. Nicole arrived in a thin hoodie, having nothing remotely warm with her, and they headed out.

The fest was not exactly what Eleanor had been expecting – though, she wasn’t really sure what she was expecting in the first place. The first floor was lined with tables, each occupied by a different self-publishing mini-company selling their zines. There was a small stage where a band was setting up and a bar in the far corner. Eleanor and Nicole wandered a bit, not really sure what they were supposed to be doing. Ces was picking up zines, looking at all the printed weirdness Richmond had to offer.

When it became clear that was all that was happening downstairs the three went to the second floor. This space was set up more like a gallery, with graphic and typographic art pinned to the walls. There were several limited (and fancier) print zines on pedestals with cotton gloves for handling them. Being such a ‘fine art’ nerd, Eleanor enjoyed the gallery more than the hectic strangeness of the first floor. It reminded her of the artist talk she went to earlier in the week (gosh, it was still the same week? It felt so long ago), and mentioned it to Ces.

They wandered around for a bit more then decided to call it quits and head back. Nicole hadn’t actually eaten that day, so she and Ces ended up going to Five Guys for a late dinner while Eleanor went back home.

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Finally broke 10,000 words! In word the whole document is 19 pages.