  Woke up at 7:15 am to finish editing a final presentation for my Revelation to John class, a New Testament course that pairs more typical textual analysis with artistic interpretation. Changed my view of seminary education and of my own learning. My presentation compiled some of the thoughts of my journal entries this semester about my study of apocalypic literature and the presence and role of apocalypse as a trope in contemporary American culture.
9:30 - finish editing, make copies of my work for profs and students - the piece is performative and participatory so I am a bit nervous. Just coffee and a power bar to keep me totally filled with both real nurished energy and my morning drug of choisetype energy. 10:15 - watching the presentations of other students in the class doing their final interpretations of Revelation, like Lois, who designed a beautiful quilt representing different images in the biblical text.
Amazing, the power of visual imagery to infuse meaning into written verse and make it timeless with artifact. 10:50 - I am on. I go. It is over. So much work and then, boom, done. 11:30 - I am in someone else's performance, performing as the Bride of Jerusalem opposite Nicole, who wrote the place based on her reading of the relationship between the Bride and the Whore of Babylon. When I was studying Political Science at Swarthmore, I never imagined I'd dress up and wear a mask to class for a final presentation.
Shit. 2:00 - presentations over. It is a fucking gorgeous day. I feel good but tired. Sit out in the courtyard sun, a sanctuary in the middle of NYC, anticipating the feeling I will have in a few weeks of no more classwork. 3:00 - in the library with Neil working on my Jewish-Christian relations paper which is 30 pages and counting (only needs to be 15) and somehow has become both a release of many emotions/observations of my experience as a Jew in this Christian environment as well as a place to synthesize my thoughts. But, god.dammit. this must stop. Hence the blog, where maybe I can funnel all that shit instead. 4:00- Neil convinces me to watch Oprah. He watches Oprah and I read Essence, the magazine for men that is entirely about women and sometimes I interrupt Oprah to read outloud, probably pissing off Neil who actually wanted to watch Cameron Diaz talk dumbly about very little.
5:00 - Back in the library writing. Isn't this exciting. 6:00 - Neil and I walk starting up at Riverside Church at 122nd down into Riverside park to the peer at 70-something and back up to some great salad joint on 114th and Amsterdam. It was five mile walk at sunset. Beautiful river light, fresh(er) air, happy-looking people, not the library, good conversation, expending stress, great salad. 8:30 - in library, baby... And off I go, onward in my quest to write thoughtfully about the most non-verbally expressable experience I have ever had. Yee-haw. -Turtle 
