Friday. Overcast, but not overly cool. I left the balcony sliding glass door open last night to cool the apartment so, overcast or not, the weather's still warm and whatever's coming, it's coming feeling like summer. The weather has always been unpredictable in the Bay Area, I've seen droughts, rain, sun, fog, cold, wildfires and a couple of earthquakes, all in various combinations at times of the year I wouldn't have predicted and now that my memory isn't all that sharp the years have all run together, forty years wrapped into one weird set of seasons, hard to tell them apart. Or something like that. Words on paper, words on a screen.

I see the Veteran's Day Parade is scheduled for Sunday morning from reading the papers, so maybe I'll photograph it and then go to the benefit show later in the afternoon at the Starry Plough. Which means I'm (hup! hup!) planning on attending two events in one day. How many times have I crapped out on the second after making the first? Many times. Still, the Starry Plough, sitting at a table with a Guinness or two, isn't exactly hard work and I've arranged to attend with one or two of the usual crew, so I suspect I'll make the both. I know I'll make the both. I need the photographs. I do.

To bed last night at ten, right to sleep, up at six with the alarm, to breakfast and back by eight. They mentioned a movie or two I suspect are out on DVD by now in the Friday movie section of the Chronicle, so I'll look them up online before I forget. I don't find much I like when I'm looking through Netflix and I suspect it's because I'm not paying attention or understanding how to search. Either that or my obsession with off the wall foreign flicks is making them think that's all I'm interested in and they bend their suggestions to match. But I'll persevere. And forget. And bitch about it. I've had The Green Zone sitting half watched in my player for the last week. OK movie, I guess, but it brings the Iraq war back in ways that are depressing and I find it difficult to watch more than about five minutes before I stop.

Later. A run downtown on the bus to hit the ATM thinking maybe I'd get something to eat. I was surprised at the number of TV trucks and video teams already present (I counted at least a dozen). They were setting up for the demonstration in front of City Hall, that didn't surprise me all that much, I'd read they were planning on starting at four in the afternoon, another four hours, but there were already dozens of police on the surrounding sidewalks and I passed three or four stores that were hit pretty badly during the last demonstration having their windows boarded up. Can't be cheap, but cheaper than window frames and glass.

Home now getting ready to go return and arrive before four. They were saying, depending how things go, the BART stations could be closed down if things got out of hand, but I'm going to assume that won't happen early on while I'm still there. There's a certain ratcheting up of tension as the time approaches. They've announced the sentence, two years time less the one year already served. Many won't like that. I have no idea if it's fair or not, that's not the problem, the problem is how it will be perceived in the community.

The general commentary in the press is that things are cooler now in the ciity and this won't be as violent as the early demonstrations became, but I no longer trust the press. They're doing their civic duty as they see it and trying to keep their readership cool, good solid citizens that they are, but I'm guessing anything can happen depending on how many people turn out. The sun is starting to poke through the overcast at the moment, so there's probably no chance of rain reducing the crowd.

Are you licking your lips? Hoping for excitement?

Not that kind of excitement. Some pictures of people's faces, that's what I'm looking for, what I'm always looking for. Doesn't have to be a demonstration that could get out of hand. I'm too old to go looking for excitement of that kind. A nice hour or so taking pictures, a BART ride to the city, a Guinness or two. Excitement enough.