that was then and this is now

I had a perfectly lovely day, despite the heat; summer has suddenly shown up in San Francisco, and while I have no doubt that it will disappear again and not make another appearance until autumn, it looks like the heat will be here for a few days. I woke up at 8:15 and actually got out of bed, which I know is terribly shocking. And I actually ate breakfast right then and there, rather than spending three hours online - double shock. So I had bacon and oatmeal, and made some coffee, and cleaned the kitchen, and then came upstairs to work...

...and ended up playing around on social media, which, oddly, is work for me, albeit a more fun form of work than anything else I could have been doing. Finally, sometime after noon, I dragged myself out of the house and schlepped sixteen books over to the Marina post office to mail to various contest winners, etc. These were the books that I labeled yesterday, and as it turns out, I'm glad I didn't stand in line at the Mountain View post office; the line at the Marina was oddly only three people deep, which is nearly unheard of, and I took a nice walk as a result. After the post office, I went to the Marina library and finally got a San Francisco library card, which I should have done ages ago as it only took five minutes. I browsed the stacks and checked out a couple of books (one fantasy novel, one historical treatise called "Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe" - yes, gargoyle research). Post library, I walked to Fort Mason to check on my beloved cafe there (status: still closed), then sat on a bench overlooking the water and brainstormed gargoyles for awhile.

Eventually the odd combination of hot sun and cold sea breeze (not an alcoholic beverage, fyi) got to me, so I packed up my notebook and came home, with a stop at Safeway (where I bought more groceries than I could comfortably carry home, as is my wont). When I got home, I showered, made and ate supper (hamburger and corn on the cob, v. Iowan of me), talked to [censored] for a bit, and then worked until now. The storylines for the gargoyle series are really taking shape, which is exciting; there's still a lot left to figure out, but I think I can write the second half of the first book (or second 3/5s - it's unclear how much is left vs. how much I already have) in relatively straightforward fashion once I figure out a few more plot details. And yes, I know I'm being wildly overly optimistic - let me labor under my delusions for a bit longer. And now, I think I shall throw open the windows, strip the blankets from my bed, and hope that it cools down enough to sleep -- goodnight!