Thursday. Lights out before ten, but another Oakland spotty (what I'm calling spotty) night's sleep. Still, awake a good half hour before the alarm to head off to breakfast feeling pretty good, no complaints. Nice to have breakfast and read the papers at the old place, the gas prices having continued to drop in my absence. Not a surprise.

Rained, last night, but sunny at nine in the morning as I write. We'll wander over to the construction site, they seem to be delivering more pallets of lumber, offloading trucks with that crane. My, my. They'll be up another floor before we know it and then what will we do for photographs?

Go out and shoot some on the streets of Oakland of the kind you say you like?

Might.

Later. Whatever the sleep last night, a walk over to the construction site to take a small set of pictures, just enough to get a sense of what was up (no, I have no idea what's up other than they're building an apartment house and look to be competent). Walking back a bus came along and so downtown to pick up the pain meds at the pharmacy (that I'd run out of yesterday morning, but felt no real discomfort not having this morning, other than what I always feel with or without the meds) and a second needed prescription refill. A walk over to pick up (and eat) an ice cream bar in the City Center after getting the prescriptions and then catching the bus home.

As I was sitting in the back seat by the window of the homeward bus with the camera resting on my lap in hand and not carrying it on the strap over the shoulder, an older (but not as old as I) woman sitting one seat over next to me asked me if the camera was on. I said, well, yes, technically yes, but I wasn't pressing the shutter taking pictures and she asked that I not point it in her direction. Fine, no problem, but interesting.

The camera, if it were taking a picture (or a video) wouldn't have shown her face, it was sitting across my lap, but interesting that she was at all concerned. You're never sure what people are thinking, what world they're living in, what they perceived to be important, so be careful Mr. Photographer. He said. Do remember. Just seeing the camera had caused her discomfort enough to speak.

Back home to lie down, but no interest it turned out in going to sleep, up to futz with this and process more photographs. It's been cloudy, some light rain and intermittent sun and they're saying the weekend (and the Oakland Holiday Parade) will be clear.

Later still. A good afternoon, clear headed, decent energy, looking forward to whatever might come up next. I did receive the Fantagraphics The Complete Zap Comix opus the day before I returned home and it does have one of my pictures of Gilbert Shelton taken in 1973 at the Rip Off Press. The collection is a real monster in the best sense of the word. Good for Fantagraphics.

Evening. Nothing on television until Elementary at ten. Do I want to stay up until ten? For Elementary? When I can watch it on the computer tomorrow? I guess I'll know later, no need to think about it now.