An overcast cool morning, off to breakfast to find the café closed and dark, the person who comes by early to open the thing, turn on the coffee pot and such not in evidence. Well, it's Sunday, no big deal, begin reading the articles on the front page of the Chronicle in the car while I'm waiting, the restaurant people arriving and setting up not too long after. A change of pace for a Sunday morning.

I'm not sure how I feel sitting here now thinking about heading out for a walk. Feel pretty good, but then I tend to feel pretty good in the early mornings, the whatevers arriving later. But what the hell, pretty good is pretty good, let's get a crackin’ before I use some other equally horrible phrase to get started.

Later. OK, I guess we can say we've got the day underway as it approaches two in the afternoon, feeling pretty good, whatever cobwebs there may have been from the morning now long gone.

A walk over by the lake in the mid-morning and then on to the bank ATM located on Lakeshore (I have but two ATM's within a reasonable distance from my apartment, but I'm not going back to a too big to fail bank with convenient ATM's no matter what ! (I may be kidding myself, but if so, it would be too painful to admit.)

There was a small group of people being lead by an instructor practicing with swords just beyond the white columns when I passed and I took a couple of pictures, but from a distance, no need to upset a Stanford University mom wielding a three foot long piece of steel.

Another trip, once I'd returned home (too early to start on the guitar), downtown on the bus checking in at the City Center to see if anyone was open selling coffee (to no avail), continuing on through Old Oakland and then over to the Chinese Cultural Center to buy a small box of Japanese candy I discovered sometime ago now that calls out to me now and again in a tone I can't resist and to then sit for a bit by the fountain to see if there might be a picture I haven't taken too many times in the past. No pictures by the fountain.

Back on the bus this time to the morning café where I had coffee (“Just coffee? No need to pay.” OK.) out on their patio before hopping the passing bus back to the apartment, which places us just where all this started. Guitar? Yes, we'll play the guitar, I have much to make up for yesterday, and we'll see what's on the news. Probably long droning conversations about Romney's choice for a running mate, not something I think I can stand for more than about a minute, so otherwise, well, so otherwise we'll know in the next paragraph.

Later still. So far, so good. We're approaching five, the magic hour that the head has been shorting out these last three days and the world still seems to be holding itself together. This is good. Quite a bit of time on the guitar so far going over the coming lesson, but also going over the various chords I've been practicing and memorizing their names. Takes time, it does, to name them without thinking. You'd think it would be easier doing so many things as I do without thinking.

The day's been nice, up into the low eighties today in Oakland with more of the same coming this week. It is August, summer after all, various quotes by the famous as to how cold it is during our summers aside. Still curious to see what's coming now that it's five, if we'll make it four unpleasant late afternoons in a row, but indeed we'll know in this next section.

Evening. A clear headed evening playing guitar and finding ways to avoid going down the hill for sushi and sake, feeling perhaps getting into the sauce wouldn't be the very best plan for someone who's worried about ocular migraines, weird events in the late afternoons and odd tasting instant dinners. One must suck it up now and again, even in Oakland. To bed early, I'd say, unless there's something of interest on T.V., which, so far today, has not been my experience.