Apologies, world out there, for the interruption in belgianwaffle broadcasting. The reason? Well, several - surprise (nice surprise) visitors from The Land of the Fjords, exam preparation, Graduation preparation, Graduation itself.

But to be perfectly honest: an attack of the doldrums - that feeling when nothing seems really worth it, you pass from book to book and nothing holds the attention, no urge to write. The sails hang loose on the mast. ... Acedia? A feeling of being forlorn? Saturnine melancholia? The very antithesis to that spell in late April early May. How to account for this? Nelly used to ascribe it to cosmic energies, bad meteors flying about, negative particles. Perhaps she's right.

I've devised some strategies to cope with this: one of which is to read some Robert Duncan - a poem or (as today) bits of his correspondence quoted by Denise Levertov in that long essay. Somehow Duncan has this ability to reframe negative energy.

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Great find last night with Alan: 'The Chatelaine du Liban', on Place du Chatelaine. Even though the waitress was sniffy about my refusual to order a bottle of Lebanese wine, the food was delicious. Recommended.