Thursday. To bed last night at nine, to sleep by ten, up this morning at seven. Seems a decent night's sleep. Raining fairly hard out there during breakfast, home now feeling better than I did yesterday, we'll see how this late morning thing evolves. Hi, ho. On and on I go. I need something to get my ass in gear so I don't have the time to dwell on this diddly crap. Life is too short for diddly crap (said the old man on the mountain).

Again, the idea is to get together later with the usual crew at Roy's and then head on for dinner to a place they like in Jack London Square. It is raining and colder this morning, feels both better and worse, darkness and dampness this early a reminder of what a winter is about. Maybe, if I can get my act together, a vacation later this year to somewhere warm?

Of course not. When have I ever followed through on travel? Where somewhere warm might be I have no idea but, although there are many ways to figure that out, I'd bet I'll remain hunkered down here throughout. Although my sister did suggest a photography trip in early November.... Hmm. A photography trip. Ducking out may be less difficult.

Later. I'd noticed the gas prices at the station across the street as I was leaving breakfast this morning and thought, well, had they been $3.81 yesterday or the $3.83 listed today? Since it was raining hard and I didn't want to get the camera wet (yes, the camera was my first thought) I didn't cross the street and take a picture just in case but checked when I returned to see indeed they had gone up by two cents.

So, the sun shining from between threatening clouds, I walked to the gas station and took the requisite picture. As good an excuse as any to get out for a walk I'd think. A short walk, a quick walk, one or two pictures because the light was a bit different just after the rain. Home now to see how the late morning goes and what atrocities I can commit with a guitar.

Later still. No need for a nap it seems. Some more futzing with Photoshop, more idling the wheels than anything else. I need to tune and play the guitar for ten minutes, get the first session out of the way, it's a lot easier to pick it up and play once that first tuning/session has been completed.

Other than that? I may miss my Korean soap this evening, a chapter where everything they're building toward will play itself out. Actually no, they'll string it out for another whatever number of weeks, but not good to consider skipping getting together with friends (whom I see less and less often) over some brain dead thing on TV. New territory to consider, this brain dead on TV, I'd think.

There is such a thing as recording a program when you're out. Don't tell us you don't have a recording device as you seem to have one of everything else.

Hmm. A perceptive remark. I still have a VHS unit. Now, can it be set up to record while I'm gone? Why not? Something to do this afternoon? Hmm. Now, where's the manual on the thing? I don't usually throw them out. Then again I put them in places where they're not so easy to find.

Mid-afternoon. Looking at the VHS player, going through the menu options, I can see it will record on an internal timer, but I'm thinking do I really want to go through the effort to do the tests? (One must test.) Not saying much for my energy and ambition, but then there hasn't been much to say about them now for years. It's been raining pretty hard with brief breaks for sun, not sure how long that's going to go on.

Late-afternoon. A bus downtown because I needed to get out of the apartment. My usual routine, doesn't matter how anything else is going it seems. What the hell, the sun was bright and it didn't look as if it were going to rain any time soon, so a walk through the City Center to the Rotunda building for coffee and one of their chocolate cup cakes. I've been eying their chocolate cupcakes. They look pretty good. All the tables were filled and there was a long waiting line. I'm not good waiting in lines.

So a walk to Peet's, seeing there were tables available on the patio, but again, an even longer line of people waiting to order. A walk then back to the City Center to have a small cup off coffee out in front of the Fountain Café - no lines, an outside table awaiting my arrival - to sit and watch the people pass by until, I realized, the clouds had started moving over the sun. Nasty clouds. Rain clouds.

So a walk then across the street to hang out in the twenty-four hour magazine shop until the bus arrived. A picture of the Tribune building looking, as I walked to the shop, to catch the dramatic clouds (that didn't quite work out). Such is life. A bus and then another bus home, feeling better than I had earlier in the day. My, my. Maybe call the usual suspects and see if we can put our meeting off at Roy's until tomorrow, shoot for noon instead of the evening. (hup, hup)

Evening. I'm in an extremely good mood for some reason. Could be the three Guinness I had with Mr. E and Mr. S, could be the pint of Hagen Daz I had for dinner, could be whatever I might pull out of my, um, ear. Start the day like a wailing hyena, a bitching hyena, feeling like whatever; ending the evening flying at about ten thousand feet. I have no idea why, but life is good at the moment and we'll go with that.