In winter, he used to hear all kinds of small sounds on his way to school. He was trying to make friends with them for the past few months. They were so small. Small and quiet. They’d swing from tree to tree, or drip from roof shingles and quickly dissipate into the brisk air of December. For one time he even heard them giggle over his head. He tried to say hello once or twice, and secretly wished they’d hear. But they didn’t. All of a sudden he started to miss them.

Last night he heard his records having a party on the shelf. They pulled out his dusty turntable and jumped on it one by one, so they could dance to themselves. He pretended he was sleeping. They didn’t notice and bitched about various artists he liked. In the morning, he found his records were back in place, with a few new scratches here and there. But where did these sounds go? He seriously thought there maybe is a sound collector.

昨天去看Xiu Xiu演出的人很多，在寒风中排队。Xiu Xiu 用的乐器很新奇，比方锣和木鱼，硕大无比的镲片，风琴和口风琴，以及没有琴身只有琴头但比人还高的低音贝斯。晓雷说现场没有录音室唱片来得怪，我想大概是因为他们没有带电子设备的缘故，大多音色都是吉他效果器调出来的，所以变化有限。另外他们的音色在我听来调整得过于尖锐，因为他们用的本来就是音色偏亮的乐器像锣和电子琴之类，吉他失真时候的高频又那么猛，层次再均匀些听着应该可以更带劲。

其他没什么说的，在中国城吃饭，发现大家推荐的菜馆是同一家。在酒馆被严重怀疑是否有二十一岁。回来还是一样晓雷开车穿过伊利诺黑沉沉的荒郊野外。第N次讲到开车穿越美国的事，心想是要有点实际行动才对。

今早收信被提醒晚上要 rebuttal 了。我对自己的文章没信心，如果分数低呢，也就用不着再唧唧歪歪跟评审员死磕证明我们的文章很好很强大了。当然，分数高的效果也一样。最后在洗漱时发现昨晚盖在手背上的酒馆印章还没褪去，整个人猛地恍了一下。

周日和晓雷同学去看了 God is an Astronaut。三个乐队演出，先是芝加哥的本地乐队，中间是器乐金属 Scale the Summit，最后是God is an Astronaut。晓雷说要支持一下金属乐队，买件T恤。买音像制品并不能在经济上帮乐队多少，但看演出买T恤应该可以。这种说法我也曾经在Luna乐队的访谈里听说过。上帝是宇航员的现场比录音效果好，更加生动。背景一直播放着录像片段和蒙太奇，主题是战乱、用于宇航实验的动物、大规模杀伤性武器、宗教、云海和闪电。

演出后晓雷买了纪念衫，我也买了。是绿色的熊猫T恤。回来的路上一直聊天，谈及开车横穿美国的时候我到家了。胃不舒服，大概是咖啡喝多。演出前多出三杯咖啡的时间，有些浪费。

今天醒来，慢吞吞收拾周六洗完没收拾的大筐衣服。然后就意识到自己错过了下午的seminar。再然后就干脆赖在家里烧饭看电视。意外发现我订购唱片的网站需要签收了，尽管还是美国邮政。四点多我背着一叠唱片去了学校，心想如果今天赶上了seminar，那就收不到CD了。