My days are marked now by a pervasive sense of stillness. It is a stillness in which hard work and frenzied intellectual stimulation have their spaces, one in which stress and loud music and rigorous work schedules are but flags marking the slow and steady passage of time. My afternoons are planned in hour-long chunks; my frees are devoted to various kinds of work; my modest pleasures are efficiently planned.

It is a kind of stress so focused, so academic and so intense that there is no room in my life for the social complications which might prevent efficient work. My life is instantly rendered simple and highly enjoyable as I focus on the tasks at hand an nothing else.

It's a state of constant stimulation. I reward myself by biking to school, taking detours when I walk home, writing through all of my classes, eating lunch with friends and socializing in the hallways or in the library when I have a few free minutes. If I get everything done in time I allow myself a few episodes of Seinfeld and vanilla ice cream with chocolate fudge.

I couldn't live like this for more than a month. But it's lovely for the time being. There's no way to describe it other than still and steady, even though I find myself singing in the streets, snapping my fingers to Meeting House jazz, playing the harmonica and teaching people drinking games on a regular basis. The days cross themselves off of my calendar at a perfect pace and life slips by smoothly.