Saturday. Fairly early to bed, awake before six and the alarm, to breakfast and back by eight feeling pretty good, raining lightly. The sun poking through now that it's eleven, but they're saying a pretty good storm in the late afternoon clearing up by Monday or Tuesday.

I came very close to heading over to Alameda, some twenty minutes from here, to catch Mr. S and Plahddohg playing at seven last night on High Street. To the point of snapping a strobe on a camera, testing the batteries, putting on a jacket and hat and heading out the door to the apartment stairwell looking out on the street below. Dark, of course, raining, the traffic pretty heavy in the direction I'd be going. I'd had some sake at lunch four hours before, but the effects of that had worn off and the head was clear, but I was thinking, do I really want to drive in the rain at night to a club I haven't been to before? The answer was no because I didn't go.

Anyway, up today, back from breakfast to take what turned out to be an hour's nap (my, my), a walk then down the way heading through the farmer's market. The forecast last night was a break in the storm around noon lasting through the afternoon. I took this one of the geese more to show the clouds to the west and this one coming back home. Some chord practice later day I think and maybe some screwing around with the strobe lights in the living room.

Preparing to head out before crapping out last night I picked up a small strobe to take with me, thinking although I'd been using it with another set up on a tripod in the living room (a bachelor photographer's studio, this living room of mine), the batteries should still be charged as I hadn't used it all that much. And they were, but deciding not to go, I recharged all of the batteries in the two strobes and battery packs in the living room, thinking maybe I'd play with them today.

I suspect one day, before the lights go out, I may actually learn some of the technical underpinnings in getting a decently lighted picture. I do it in spurts, lay it aside and then pick it up again, “it” being any number of projects that have held my interest. I could see, for example, in a different year, at a different place, actually starting a model railroad again. In shuttling aside some large pads of paper in preparation for the arrival of the drapes I found an old plan I'd drawn for a layout. It was good. Well drawn, detailed, nice. Best to put it down, I thought, or it will call old interests in from the dark. And I might one day, but not today, not this week, not this year and probably not in this life.

Later. I suspect the first rainy, overcast weather coupled with it being a bit colder has moved the brain into holiday mode. Not so much “hip hip hooray!” as, you know, hunker down in front of a warm fire with a brandy in hand listening to music on the stereo or to the wind outside in the trees or, you know, whatever amalgam of modern life and ancient genetic brain overtones you've put together to survive the dark days of winter. I'm rationalizing my interest in sake this last week, coming home before dark just now with a couple of bottles of sake, a wedge of sharp cheddar, a wedge of Jarlsberg and packages of English “traditional” crackers. We'll see how this cheese and sake business goes, given repeated warnings by highly paid medical professionals on how they can bring on these ocular migraines.

Some futzing with self portraits playing with an initial setup of strobe lights on stands in the living room. I would like to have more room and mentioned, when the manager was in here trading out the drapes, I'd like to know should a two bedroom unit became available. I'll probably decide I can't afford it, but, should the energy be in place, should I have a project or two up and running, another room would be nice to have. As would one of those live-work condos they continue to offer at lower ever lower prices just south of here.

Sake? We are going to go through an evening with bottles of sake in the kitchen?

Let's not get too carried away. I'm wondering, I'm a bit concerned, but nothing has gotten out of hand with the sake. Just, you know, winter is coming and it's time to stock the cave and light the fires. Happens every year about this time. As you may recall.

How about some Christmas decorations?

How about candles? Lots and lots of candles in cleverly designed little holders like the many I've had scattered most everywhere around here since time immemorial?

Traditional.

Traditional.