Saturday, August 13, 2011

storms are brewing in your eyes

I need to get up in less than six hours, which is criminal, so I shall be as brief as possible. I made it down to Palo Alto just in time for my ten a.m. training session with Alyssa, which was a miracle given how much I didn't want to get out of bed. Alyssa found new and creative ways to torture me, but I left feeling victorious. After I showered, I went to Joanie's and had my usual cobb salad (they know what I want as soon as I walk in), then spent an hour trying to run my errand for the day -- finding bolts for my patio table. I tried to be good and frequent a local non-chain hardware store, but was punished for my do-gooder nature because they only had three bolts in the size I needed, and I needed 24. However, I did get them to make spare keys for our apartment, which we'd been meaning to do for awhile, so it wasn't a total wash. And then I proceeded to Home Depot, where the bolts I needed came in packages of 3 or 4 for $1.15 (nuts included), instead of the $0.55/bolt (not including nuts) at the local place. And we wonder why small businesses struggle...granted, I would have bought from the small place because they actually tried to help me find what I needed, but it ended up being cheaper to go to Home Depot, buy and rip open a couple of bags of bolts to make sure they were the right size, and then procure the rest.

Armed with $8 of bolts, I came back to the city of sin and put together our patio table -- so now (or perhaps after I clean the cobwebs off of it) we can sit on the roof deck and enjoy the fine California weather. Then I spent some quality time chatting with friends online, which I almost never ever do, so that was good. I also made some more notes about zee gargoyle book; I brainstormed at lunch and I've been thinking about it quietly in the background all the time, so I think I'm close to understanding what happens next. That's the danger of going into the book without a clear plot -- sometimes I have to stop and let things percolate, which always feels like laziness even though there really isn't another option at that point.

Eventually, though, I had to get ready and go out. My friend Jenni (whose fiance passed away this spring) just moved to the city with Lauren (not Subz - my old boss from a million years ago who was really more like a friend than a boss), and they invited me, Durand, and two of Lauren's b-school friends to an inaugural dinner party at their new place. They would only be a 10-15min walk from me, but as it's straight uphill, I drove instead and spent as much time looking for parking as I would have walking, but I arrived non-sweaty, so that was worth it. I had a totally fabulous time; it was great to see Lauren, Jenni and Durand, as usual, and Durand and I hit it off with the b-school friends quite well (to the point that I told two people I had just met a few hours earlier that I once baked a cake, decorated it to look like Poland, and then 'partitioned' it at a Germans vs. Austrians theme party, which is usually not something I divulge right off the bat as it makes me look crazy). I didn't get home until 1am, sort of forgetting until I was in my car that I'm supposed to be in Berkeley at 8:15am to meet some people before the monthly romance writers meeting. Ugh. So I should really, really go to bed -- goodnight!

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