5/9/23: The final countdown... we won't be as dramatic as we were when we left NYC for Nairobi, but 15 days + counting til we leave DC for NYC. There's not many things to do or places to go in DC, that we feel we need to for the last time. And this is the 4th time we've moved to Gotham, so it's more like we're just returning home, "Nostos" in Odysseyan terms. We keep trying to leave + it keeps sucking us back, maybe this time's for good?

Yesterday walked to the 2^nd district station way out in Cathedral Heights to get the no parking signs for the moving trucks, then walked back through Glover Archbold > Whitehaven > Dunbarton Oaks, some of the nicer parks in DC that get overshadowed by Rock Creek. Spose we'll miss that, but we'll be living on Central Park, up by the North Woods, the best part of the park. And also just a few blocks from Riverside Park... but we're getting ahead of ourselves, this is sposed to be about appreciating DC this last fortnight here. Crazy we've been living in DC since 2015... granted there was a year in Rome + another 6 month stint in Bologna to break it up. 11 or 12 miles of walking on the day + 7 the day before, walking down past the mall (won't miss that shit 1 bit) + back up the SW Waterfront. Came back + dealt w/ moving arrangements, Columbia asking for "certificates of insurance" for moving when they haven't even confirmed moving dates. Today is appraisal.

5/11: Posted Sai Pradhan's "Composition" on Sleepingfish.

5/12: Got a Uhaul van and moved all the stuff from our bedder-½'s office, ~70 boxes of books + other office stuff. No place to park out front so parked in alley + unloaded into backyard then moved it down into basement after we returned the van. As we were driving the Uhaul, the appraisal came in at the price we were asking, so nothing to worry about there. Now there's just 5 more days until the buyer's financial contingency expires. So just packing the house up, got 12 days to do that, no worries.

5/15> 9 days til lift off. This weekend packed up most of the living room + "library" (what was our dining room). While we're packing, we've been writing a piece called "Lettera 22: Prototype for the Useless Machine that Uses Us," unpacking a bunch of stuff related to cybernetics + ghosts. Had an excerpt from U/X—bit 010-000—published in BlazeVox.

5/17: 1 week til lift off. Today the financial contingency expires... no backing out after that. Not sure when exactly, 5 PM? Last night went to the Black Cat for probably the last time, saw Come, Thalia Zedek still going strong, always thought Live Skull was best during her years. Baltimore's Quattrocenta opened up, we dig their stuff, but not much to see live. We'll miss the Black Cat, nice to have a block away, especially as we can just get tix straight from the box office + not pay those ridiculous "service" fees.

Haven't mentioned movies in a while, evenings been zoning out, increasingly surrounded by boxes, waiting for time to pass. Been watching Succession of course + Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Started to watch White House Plumbers, which is ok, at least DC relevant. Binged the Belgian series Rough Diamonds, which was interesting. And now starting in on the Polish High Water... Europeans are making some of the better shows these days. Also watching Chimp Empire, which has some great footage. Movies we've watched in the past few weeks (probably more we're forgetting):

• Clean + Sober (★★)
• Elephant Man (★★)—for 2nd time, bad as we remembered
• Heat (★★★)—for 2nd time
• Air (★★)—like the idea that the main character in this is a shoe, but disappointing
• White Tiger (★★★★)
• Syndecoche, New York (★★)—for 2nd time... didn't like it 1st time, but w/ such a star-studded cast + written by Charlie Kaufmann, wanted to see if we missed something the 1st time
• I am Mother (★★)—dig the idea of this, but pretty dull
• Easy Riders, Raging Bulls (★★★★)—documentary about '70s filmmakers.

+ lots of false starts w/ others, that we only watch 10 minutes of, not worth mentioning.