the semester IS over

so the semester is actually over. and i've gone back to the Forward. it's nice to go back to a familiar place, where people know you and you can just sort of pick up where you left off. . . though they put me back with my mac comp and that was very unsettling as i'm still not very good with macs and am constantly getting into trouble with it. it was really empty in the office, i guess due to the holidays and the fact that one of the editors got married in california this week. i love that the building belongs to the "Yiddish Workmen's Circle." and sometimes when I walk through the Forverts (Yiddish Forward) offices i feel like ive gone back to the 1930s . . . old men swearing in yiddish and russian. . . sometimes, on my way in or out of the building, i peek into the classrooms on the building's ground level where i'll often find seniors involved in one or another yiddish-related activity (whether dancing to yiddish tunes or listening to a guest lecturer). i didn't appreciate my linguistics professor very much, but one thing he said is true: yiddish is indeed a very charming language.but i write in english.i wonder if english is the least inspired language that exists. that would be sad.speaking of sad, woody allen's new movie, Match Point, is sad. it made me think of Dreiser's An American Tragedy--which, though i'm loathe to admit it, remains etched in my mind, in my heart. i am loathe to admit this because Dreiser is certainly not among the best American writers. but nonetheless, i suppose the most important element in fiction is 'felt emotion.' which might explain why Dreiser is more compelling than, say, Jonathan Safran Foer. the latter is indeed a creative genius, but what Dreiser speaks of is just real--the real trials and travails of the human spirit. he speaks of the things we all know--of poverty and pain, of love and loss, of temptation and discipline.
it's called life.