Friday. Who knows if the days go better or worse? I feel they seem to be better, but then I'm too close, the head too foggy to tell. Up this morning at the usual time with the alarm, the weight coming in at under one-sixty one on the scale (that's good, the idea is to keep it at one-sixty), to breakfast and back without incident, the sun out, a sunny save the air day ahead.

I did note (of course) the increase in gas prices this last day before the three day holiday weekend, up thirty cents a gallon now in the last two weeks. I was thinking they'd gotten all their increases in place last week so as not to make it too obvious on the day it started, but I guess there's no reason for them to be subtle anymore. We know what they're up to but we're sitting here castrated and taking it as it's delivered.

You do go on.

I know, I know. I'm starting to see why all those hippies in the sixties and seventies tried to run away and live a simple life on an isolated farm out in the woods.

They're still doing it up in Mendocino.

But for the helicopters and the feds.

Later. I think it may have been the breakfast I chose this morning, the dry mouth, the forty-five minutes to lie down and get over it. Then out the door feeling immediately better, a bus downtown to see what the Art Break today at City Hall and other locations in the Bay Area was about, a couple of tables and a few people taking part, a free shuttle bus then to Jack London Square to walk the usual walk, taking a picture or two, a lady with the two dogs setting up Jack nicely for a photograph.

Otherwise a walk back to catch another bus detouring to take a picture of a new mural that I haven't seen before, painted in the last whatever number of days or weeks, home now thinking of driving over to a local Guitar Center to see what one or two guitars look, feel and sound like in the flesh. I'm thinking for my one year guitar lesson anniversary of getting something (I absolutely don't need). Maybe I can avoid it, maybe I won't. Can't.

Later still. A drive over to the local Guitar Center heading up Highway 80. My, my, but there were a lot of people heading out of the city. Is this the norm for a Friday in the very early afternoon or are people getting a leg up on the long weekend? Who cares, really, not sure why I mention it.

I did play two guitars, a Fender Telecaster and a Gibson Les Paul, both of them different in the way they feel and the way they sound. I realize I can't really compare them to my current guitar because I was feeding them through a different amplifier and have no idea how the tone controls and such operate on these guitars, but it was interesting to hear the differences. I suspect there may be a Telecaster in my future, although I also suspect I can put it off indefinitely if only by avoiding that drive. Still, I have the sales guy's business card, he made sure I had what I wanted and let me sit and play in their practice room for as long as I liked. No complaints.

So you did it.

So I did it. Let's see if this guitar fixation continues to simmer or if it begins to boil. This has gotten me thinking of sushi and sake later this evening, not sure why.

You said no sake for a while because it makes you crazy and see strange things.

Well, it does slow me down, but I'm still testing and still willing to screw up. Life should go on. I avoided Beverages & More when I was walking through Jack London Square, managed to avoid buying a guitar at the Guitar Center, a bit of sushi and sake would be a good way to celebrate. The Art Murmur is later this evening, but I suspect I won't go. Been there, done that, and I've had my excitement for the day.

Evening. OK, sushi and sake, back now at the apartment feeling mellow. We'll see if mellow degenerates into something else. We will. No way to avoid finding out.

I spent some time yesterday making prints. Nothing special, a series of 8" x 10" prints of some of the pictures I took at the J-Pop Festival just to see how they'd look. I was thinking then of running some 17" x 24" prints of pictures I might like to frame (I've talked about this forever, I won't repeat the error), but stayed with the 8 x 10"'s, taping them up to unsuspecting open spots on the walls this afternoon now that they're thoroughly dry. We'll see how this goes tomorrow. One day, one day. We'll see. Eventually I do get off the dime, but not today, maybe not tomorrow.