Now that the party's over and the proverbial cat is out of the bag, I can now say that Jeff's graduation present was a DVD player. I was one of the last of our group of friends to be let in on the present-giving scheme.

Call it a night to share a secret or two. Some things are better left not unsaid.

My thoughts about Rustina (see 'No Antecedent Necessary') have put a different spin on thoughts I deal with every year—the death of my grandfather. But, in this case, not so much about the death itself, but about the reinforcement of life that came with it.

Today, an oddly complete circle. Geof telling me about his relationship with a friend, a relationship that is rapidly approaching a point that will require him to make some major decisions soon. Brad, flush with a bit of domesticat-esque giddiness over a new girlfriend. John, dealing with his girlfriend's probable upcoming conversion to Catholicism and the effects that will have on their relationship.

But now, it's just me—and my thoughts—again. They won't settle down. I tried to write—but I can't clear my mind into abstraction, the way I need it to be in order for the words to flow properly. The voices, the questions, the comments are all too strong in my head, elbowing for room. There are lots of rhapsodical comments that could be made about seeing both ends of a relationship at once. Forget it, eh—you can come up with those yourself, and you're not interested in hearing me yap about them.

"I ponder the endlessness of the stars,

Few things compare to the sudden burst of pleasure you get when someone you care about comes to understand something you care about.

Thus, once again, we turn to one of my favorite subjects: music. Since my teenage years I've been something of a closet fan of Steely Dan. Why? I couldn't really say; when I first began listening to them, I wasn't quite clear on what I liked.

Welcome home, Amy, I say to myself. Look around. This is where you belong, whether or not you want to admit it.

Obviously, I stayed home from work today. My fever dipped to 99.x for a while today, but it's gone back up to 100.3 again. That weird queasydizzy feeling is back again, so I'll keep this short. Same symptoms—sore throat, tiredness, stiff and sore neck, headaches, lightheadedness, fever.

I'm having trouble concentrating on things for more than a minute or two at a time. I have to point out, though, that some of my friends would probably say that this is beneficial for a worrywart like me, and not something that could be classified as a symptom of something wrong.

I'm trying to decide what to do about work tomorrow. If I'm still running this fever I have no business sitting in the middle of a cube farm. But I'm desperately needed there right now, and no kidding on the desperately part. (I have two major deadlines looming on the 29th that must be met.)