I am moved

Tracy and I moved yesterday, with my mother's help, to a new apartment in Iowa City. She has a good job here. With any luck, I'll have one soon. Today we bought a couch and two bar stools for less than we expected the couch alone to cost. The couch is nice and very green. We very nearly had one of those scenarios from the first Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency wherein a couch is somehow placed in a position from which no possible series of maneuvers can remove it, but thankfully the laws of physics intervened. I had a similar situation when I put my thumb in our new elephant toothbrush holder and then for a second I didn't think I could get it back out. The new elephant toothbrush holder is identical to a previous elephant toothbrush holder we had, which I guess made it feel like an old friend, which I guess is why I put my thumb inside it. (I do that to all my old friends.)

This is an auspicious time for Tracy and I: two years ago, on July 11 2009, we were married. So far it's been the best decision of my life. It's a good time to start over again, to free ourselves from the constraints of school (my primary complaint, at this late stage: I had too little time for my own reading) and to start over in what seems like a very nice town. I don't 100% love our new apartment (our old one had more space; I was spoiled) but I do love our new kitchen, and its little bar-style counter, where I am presently typing this post. Tracy is asleep on the green couch. We are on the third floor and there is no elevator. My calves are very sore.

Tracy's new job won't make us rich, but it is enough money that we don't have to worry, that if I want to buy a book or a third pair of pants I can probably afford to do it. This is very new for me. It will be the first time ever, really. I'm more relaxed at the moment than I have been for years, with fleeting exceptions. Tomorrow I will probably not accidentally run out of money. That's a nice feeling. Of course, when I find steady work, I will feel even better.

The writers in this magazine have been working with me on their stories. They have been uniformly lovely. I hope you will submit for our next issue, because I'm sure it will be amazing also.

I don't have a lot else to say for the moment. Certainly nothing very smart. Only a sense of relief, to finally be here, after what feels like an eternity. We'll write more -- and about less us-centric subjects. I have been reading House of Leaves. I have no idea what I could say about it. Maybe I will find something to say, though. Maybe I will talk about the '90s X-Men cartoon, instead.