So here’s what I have learned in the last few days…

1. It’s amazing how radically your view of a situation can change. Sometimes pain is self-inflicted, and very often I think the effects of emotional pain of this type can be overcome far more easily than one imagines.

2. It’s amazing how quickly back pain can result from improperly executing the head motions in the butterfly stroke. We’ve just begun learning to do it. I made a joke in Korean about how our classs used to look like a bunch of retarded frogs, but now we look like retarded eels. My friend in the class got it and thought it was pretty funny, anyway. But my back hurt like HELL, because I was just bending at the waist, not properly undulating like a fish. So anyway I have started sleeping on the floor, which is better for my back. I’ll see if I cannot put my flat-assigned bed into storage in the apartment of someone who’s not living with a roommate, so that will free up some space in my room. I will also probably want to buy a nice yo, a padded quilt to sleep on on the floor. They do make a slight difference, and some are really nice.

3. Transcoding files (say, from MPC format to MP3 format, which is playable on my MP3 discman) can be a real pain in the ass, but anyway if you do it right it’s worth it. A pile of Yo La Tengo, Pixies, Talvin Singh, and Mahler await me. It’s good news! I am grooving to Talvin Singh as I write this and multitask chatting with my good friend Charlie.