6/07/2005 02:00:00 AM|||David M. F. Schankula|||

The summer of 2001 I was living in Brooklyn, in a neigborhood called Greenpoint. Greenpoint was not a very green place at the time. Mostly just concrete and brick and, because the streets weren't paved all summer, lots and lots of dust. Only the tumbleweed was missing.

I lived on Green Street. Nearby, out my window, was a sanitation plant. There are moments to treasure in life and moments to forget. I wish I could forget the feeling of lying awake at 4AM, too hot to sleep, with the smell of 8 million people's waste wafting in the window, but sadly I cannot.

I watched Dog Day Afternoon for the first time yesterday. It was the greatest movie Woody Allen could have made but never did. It's about a Vietnam veteran (Al Pacino) who robs a Brooklyn bank with two idiot friends so he can pay for the sex-change operation of his man-wife. I can finally see why we outlawed that sort of thing in this state. If you haven't seen it, you should.

Sunday was the hottest day in Lexington since August 2003. Today--the hottest day in Lexington since Sunday--I felt like I was at the beach. My room was so hot I was sweating just sitting still. When that happens, you have to go outside. No matter what.

The sign in front of Republic Bank on Euclid said it was 96F. They were certainly right about the F.

Shaun and I played tennis in the sun for an hour and a half. For dinner Marcie, Pilar and I had an improvised picnic at UK. Pad Thai from Bangkok House. We fought off the mosquitos and spent a while lying in the grass. Then we climbed trees.

Back home I knew I wouldn't be productive with my room as hot as it was and so I set out to cool it off and reaarange it. I cleaned out a corner for my desk and then squeezed myself into it. I just wanted to see order in front of me instead of chaos.

I now face a wall and a window unit. The mess that is the rest of my room goes unnoticed behind me.

As you can see, the website is redesigned. That's what I've been doing, tucked away in my corner. It's 2AM. It feels like it's 85 in the room and 80 in the corner.

It may be hot here, now, but at least the air smells fresh. In fact, it smells downright promising.

There will be much more in the coming days and weeks. We have an exciting summer planned. And we'll be telling you all about it very, very soon.

Good night, sweet Lexington.

|||111812514479318153|||Dog Day Afternoon