Settling In.
It is Monday morning. Breakfast today was two hardboiled eggs already peeled, very well done, almost rubbery, one pat of oleo/butter, four slices of white bread, a serving of SNAP, CRACKLE, AND POP, two milks, and one grapefruit juice. All devoured.
It is a long time between dinner at 4:00 PM and breakfast at 7:30 AM. It will be a little better once I can get some extra food sent in. Then I can eat a little less of their stuff, and supplement it with some fruit, etc.
I was about to lie back down, but thought if I really want to write I ought to spend a little time each morning collecting my thoughts. I slept on and off through the night but without any reference to time. It is tough to figure out how much was sleep and how much I was awake. All I know is I am tired now.
I had some weird dreams with the theme of people who were willing to "speak out." I remember specifically linking into Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King in terms of people that went to prison for their convictions, and that made me feel small.
The Catherine Colter book, Hemlock Bay, has a female character who writes a Doonesbury-style cartoon and talks a lot about how long she works on one strip. That is what certainly seeded my dreams. I felt myself reading news and Federal Register stuff and then developing strips.
The thing that I have learned so far is that if I am to write it will not be as logical as my database programming was. But I liked the way I was having dreams of dueling subconscious. One side saying, Pete, you can do it and you even have the talent; the other side saying "Hell, roll over, no one cares and besides, you will never carry through! You never finish anything you start!" Yeah, it was a busy night in my head.
I figure that if I do the current event reading, and maybe eventually the Federal Register and even the Congressional Record, I would have so much information there would be no choice but to put some of it down on paper. Sort of like the way I have been writing to you.
I was going to lie down, but all of a sudden I have a full page to send you. True, this is not top notch, riveting reading, but I am thinking this is certainly the first step. Get the thoughts on paper, then go back, revise, edit and polish.
Besides the goal of this current letter writing is to enable to capture the startup of my NY State sentence, and hopefully give you some background on my current day-to-day stuff. It does feel pretty good to be able to write it out and take some of the pressure off the old gray matter.
I will have Rec in the afternoon today. I had to close my window last night as not only was it raining, but the temperature really dropped. I played more Spades during last nights Rec but towards the end, the other team was getting bored and started screwing up the cards.
Could you see if you can find me a free Linux magazine? Maybe one of the blog readers can recommend one.
There may not be any restrictions here in terms of publications I can receive. Maybe I could even get programming books? I am not sure yet, but I do not want to load up with too much stuff to transfer.
I cannot imagine how cool it would be to have my own room with a typewriter, music, and munchies. In NY State they can only double-bunk you for a period of sixty days without your consent. Of course you can choose a double bunk, but if it is not your choice, then it is not a permanent solution.
Boy, that is not at all like the Feds. It appears that the double standard is alive and living. The Feds make the rules, the states have to follow them, and the Feds get to break them!
I just got done putting my initials on all my clothes. They do the wash right here on the tier, six cells at a time; greens (that is the color of pants and shirts) one day, and whites another. So I have now marked five sets of whites (boxers, T-shirts, socks) three sets of greens, and one sweatshirt.
I also scored a third blanket. This one is wool and large enough to fold in half. So I should be able to sleep well tonight. The other blankets are of questionable fabric, six feet square, and in half did not provide full coverage. So now I will use those two single-ply, and the wool one double. Yeah, the simple joys of prison life.
I remember you lamenting when your mailbox was not leaning over from the weight of my mail. Well, let me see if I can get back on schedule. I certainly have enough to write about and will try to recap all questions on a single page so that if you scan my letters, you can just leave them till I get my typewriter.
As always, please do not feel the need to match my word count; all I ask is that you frequently drop me a line even if it is just to say "Hello, I am busy as a one-armed paper hanger, I will write more later." The silence is the hardest part.
I think I will take a break and read a bit. I have signed up for my Tuesday razor and do not think they will need me till lunch.
It is now after dinner, and it was almost filling. I am waiting for my 6:00 PM Rec time. I finished Hemlock Bays and slept most of the afternoon away. I still have some bags under my eyes.
I will probably write some more after 8:00 PM. I will not bother mailing this out since I mailed two letters yesterday and I am only allowed to send out five (for free). I will mail this Tuesday or Wednesday and then have two letters at the end of the week, one to you and one for Mom and Dad.
So for now, that is all from NY State prison.
