Friday. Lights out after eleven, but then awakening at seven-thirty feeling reasonably well rested this Christmas morning. This bright winter sun Christmas morning. Not a bad way to start a day.

Spent most of the morning reading the papers and fiddling about trying to find something I wanted to listen to on the radio without success (no, I can't both listen to the radio and read, don't even try) before eventually getting up to check yesterday's entry. Needed way too much work. On Christmas Day. We'll break the rule and let the revisions come together when they will and skip feeling guilty about not posting right away.

Again, bright sun. Time to get outside if only to see if I'd be the only one out there as it approached noon. A walk to the ATM on Lakeshore, the Starbucks and (I think) a small liquor store were the only businesses open, all of the restaurants closed for the day. I thought about getting something at KFC on the way back, but it too was closed. Civilized, was the thought. Christmas off in Oakland.

I'd been carrying a camera in hand all this time, but hadn't taken a single picture. Approaching the Grand Lake theater there was a long line waiting on what I assumed was Tarantino's The Hateful Eight to open, either it or the Star Wars iteration (that's been getting good press, not to mention box office). I may check out Tarantino's new opus later this weekend when the lines go away and probably won't watch Star Wars in a theater, but that's just me changing with age.

The thing that surprised me was in not taking a picture when I passed the theater. Nothing staring at me of great aesthetic interest, but a picture of the line waiting to see The Hateful Eight opening would have been just fine for linking here and it didn't occur to me until I sat down just now and started writing.

Spacey? Distracted?

Maybe. In a good enough mood - thinking, not thinking - the day is going well with or without pictures. Then again, a bit strange.

Later. Latham Square is now done and posted to HereInOakland and artandlife. The trick for me is to start, one page, one piece, and then automatic pilot as I zone right out and it's done. Up to a point. Two, three hours, fine. More than that starts to require effort.

Evening. Watched (or rather listened to in the background) Democracy Now and then a New Tricks that started at seven. Not sure if I'd seen it before, maybe not, doesn't seem to matter. The Miss Marple that followed, a three part episode that ran well into the evening, kept me for about ten minutes before I gave up and, tired, went to bed. A good Christmas Day. No, really. A good Christmas Day, here in Oakland.