on
3/16/2002
Greetings all! Enjoying Marboxia 9. The weather's been... well, the food's... hey, whatever. It's great to be out here, finally getting some free time, a bit of relaxation & some nonserious work done. I've read several chapters of "The Odyssey," trimmed my toenails and completely made a mess of the desk they gave me here. My host is nice, and Marboxia 9 is both interesting and sufficiently bland to allow me some free time to make the kind of mental progress one lacks in the busy schedule of everyday life. Did that make sense? I don't really care. Isn't that great? I love it here.
Hey, like the postcard? I stopped there on my way in. (Poor little guys with the metal detector wands in the terminal couldn't reach up high enough to scan me. It's okay -- we figured out it was my Shakespeare book that was setting things off. One mystery dissolves into another...)
Been cold here. A cold snap here means you fall asleep to the snap of tiles on the roof breaking in the cold, and listening to the groans of the walls contracting from heat loss. We were supposed to hit 30 Kelvin last night, but I don't think it got that cold here in the valley.
Running out of room! I hope everyone is well & thinking of you. I'll be home in a week or so. Remind Brooks not to kill the plants. Take care&love-
-ST
Hola citizens! Well and happy in my temporary bungalow on Marboxia. The clutter on the desk continues to grow, and threatens to overgrow the living room. Even the bathroom has a few projects left about for "thinking time."
I remember reading somewhere that the Hindus believe that there are 7 hot hells and 7 cold hells, as well as purgatory, heavens and Earth. So when I say it's cold as hell here, feel free to shuffle cultures about until it makes sense.
Still loving Marboxia 9. Cool snow sculptures form outside the window every night. The city is half underground. The buildings are built like iceburgs--more underneath than above. It's pretty cool to get down into the bowels of some of them. I took a trip downtown today (45 minutes ride, maybe? I don't know. No real clocks, and the sun's a Christmas light.) and tried to avoid the touristy-shopping thing. Had some good local food (but my taste buds may be falling by the wayside). Explored and chatted a bit with locals, then headed home on the transit. Well, "home." Ugly topic to bring up. Don't want to think about it just yet!
So, yeah, this vacation's been good, good new ideas, I'm sleeping like a baby, and waking up early without a headache. Fun times at night, learning peg and chip games with the host and the other visitors staying here. (All the others are from one of the Marboxias -- most from the next city, in fact -- but it's kind of fun being the 5'10" exotic color from distant planetary spheres. I'll be back soon enough, and take care everyone. Love & karma-
-ST
Touch the Toast