shy away

No blog tonight - it's 1am and I've stayed up too late reading a book in not particularly enjoying, but that is useful as a comp to what I'm writing. I had a good day though - I wrote a bit this morning, and then had Hannah over for a v extended lunch. Then I ran an errand for [censored], did some cleaning up, wrote a bit, ate dinner, wrote a bit more, and then read until now. And now I really must sleep - goodnight!

not enough and you're gonna die

I had a lovely day - it's amazing what 85 degrees and sun will do for me, even if 1) my bedroom will now be too hot until October, 2) the fact that it's 85 degrees probably doesn't bode well for the summer, 3) the fact that we aren't getting any rain doesn't bode well for the crops. But my most selfish inner sun worshipper is delighted to have summer here, and to have a balcony that is shaded most of the day so that I can enjoy it. Of course, my allergies would insist that I not enjoy the outdoors at all, but I will suffer through regardless.

I spent most of the morning outside reading a book about writing as an intuitive thinker - my intuitive nature is always predominant on all the personality/skill tests I take, and this book was by the woman who taught the coaching class I took earlier in the year, so I found it pretty interesting. I took a break in the afternoon to eat lunch, run some errands, and do some cleaning around the house, which felt good even though I don't particularly like cleaning. And I said farewell to [censored], who had to go back to [censored] tonight.

Then, I had a long chat with my friend Barbara (California Barbara, not Colorado/Oregon Barbara) - we hadn't chatted in a couple of months, so we were overdue for a catch-up. After I talked to her, I ate some leftover Mexican food and then sat on my balcony and finished the book I was reading - it was almost fully dark by the time I was done, but it was worth reading, and I'm looking forward to trying to integrate some of the concepts into my writing practice.

After that, I did some random online stuff, painted my toenails, and generally wound down. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

you get too much you get too high

My day was good, thanks for asking. I slept in (thanks to my new curtains), and then I drank some cold brew and wrote for most of the morning (among other tings). Then, I had a cobb salad, relaxed a bit, and spent the remainder of the afternoon doing outdoor activities. This included potting some flowers in containers (which required finding the containers in my shed and cleaning them off first), cutting back a couple of shrubs that I should have cut back ages ago, and using my leaf blower to clean off my front stoop and my driveway / back door entrance. This enabled me to put down the new door mats I bought - I decided it was time for my reindeer doormat to go to the basement for the season, and I never loved the front doormat that Marvin left behind, so those have both been replaced.

While I was doing that, [censored] made a major contribution by string trimming (perhaps I should have censored that, but I feel [censored] deserves some credit). Then, we went out to the parents' house for dinner - my dad smoked some ribs, which I thought were delicious (although they were spicier than usual). We had leftover potato salad, which was still excellent, and my mom made brownies, which were also excellent. So, it was a nice end to the main part of the weekend, even if most people have tomorrow off too.

Then [censored] and I came back to town, and now I should probably consider going to bed (or at least reading a book). Goodnight!

i can't shake off my city blues

I had a pretty good day. I attempted to write (in several spurts) throughout the day, and I was moderately successful - I got six or eight pages, which I'll take. I also played the assistant while [censored] hung the drapes over the sliding door in my bedroom - I'd had them for quite awhile, but they weren't really a priority, although they were steadily rising on the priority list as the sun started rising earlier. However, the bug catastrophe earlier this week was the final straw, so [censored] graciously hung them. They look really great, although my short t-rex arms aren't good at pulling them open/closed without screwing up the rings (I'm trying these c-shaped rings to go over the center support) - so I ordered some rods to put on them that will hopefully help with the opening / closing. Regardless, I'm delighted that they're up, so I look forward to not getting woken up briefly at 5:45am tomorrow morning.

After [censored] did that, I did a bit of tidying up, a bit of procrastinating, and then took a shower. And then I wrote for another chunk of time before dinner. We went out to mom and dad's; Mom made potato salad and baked beans, which were as delish as always, and Dad grilled brats. While we were out there, [censored] had to take care of [censored] and [censored], thus hopefully filling his quota of unpleasant tasks to do this weekend (yes, I'm including my drapes in that list of unpleasant tasks).

And now, I should really go to bed - goodnight!

fox on the run

I left the county today, which is a big deal. I had a dentist appointment in the next county over, which went totally fine (I haven't had a cavity in over twenty years and that trend continues). I grabbed lunch at Lucile's, and then I stocked up on a wide variety of tings at Walmart and Fareway.

When I got home, I unloaded the car, did a few house tasks, and took a nap. I also watered [censored]'s [censored]. And then, [censored] and I went to Garden Grove for supper, since I didn't want to cook - my burger was excellent, and [censored]'s burger quite unnecessarily included two waffles and an egg, but it looked great (and the maple habanero sauce it came with was excellent).

Then we came home and ended up watching some comedy stuff on TV. And now, I really need to sleep so I can do a million things tomorrow - goodnight!

destroy the world that we took so long to make

I was pretty focused on the book today - that doesn't mean that I avoided all procrastinating, since I can't focus on the book nonstop for hours when I'm in plotting/decision mode. But I wrote in the morning, and I wrote in the afternoon, and I wrote in the early evening. I'm slowly piecing together what's becoming the plot for the second first draft (first second draft?), so I'm generally excited, even if it's slow going.

In between writing bursts, I had lunch (leftover spaghetti amatriciana), a snack (apple and peanut butter), dinner (leftover pad thai), copious quantities of caffeine (cold brew and cherry coke zero), and less copious quantities of white wine (sauvignon blanc). I also watered [censored]'s [censored], washed my sheets and quilt, and cooked some chicken to turn into cobb salads.

So, all in all, it was a pretty good day. It took a severe turn around 11pm, when I realized that I had a bug infestation building in my bedroom - there must be something off about the seal on my slider door, because I suddenly had dozens of little flying insects swarming around my light, which was most unwelcome. I got a bunch of them with my vacuum cleaner, but this lured [censored] upstairs to see why I was vacuuming at 11pm. [Censored] got his [censored] from the basement, which is much more powerful than my vacuum cleaner, and he also removed the shade from my overhead light so that we could vacuum out the bugs that were trapped in there. I've now taped over the opening in my vacuum cleaner since there are a bunch of live bugs crawling around in there looking for a way out, but that's a problem for Future Sara.

That was all a little more exciting than I wanted my evening winddown to be, but at least I only see a couple of bugs still in my room, which is manageable to go to sleep with. On that ominous note, I think it's time for bed - goodnight!

i know that we'll have a ball if we get down and go out and just lose it all

I had a pretty good day, although I didn't get enough sleep last night and so made things harder for myself than they needed to be (which should probably be the title of my memoir). I wrote a tiny bit when I woke up, and then I showered, had a call with someone about a grant, and spent a couple of hours doing stuff for the mural festival. Then I had our biweekly mural festival meeting, which went as smoothly as it could have gone. And then I came home, did a bit of house stuff, and procrastinated very diligently (when I should have just admitted defeat and taken a nap).

Eventually, I watered [censored]'s [censored], and then I took a walk while listening to the audiobook that I started on my drive across Kansas. It was a little too warm and I was a little too thirsty, but otherwise the walk was great. Then I came home, did a bit more writing, and eventually made dinner. I tried pad thai again with some rice noodles that I picked up at H Mart in Denver, as well as with some frozen shrimp and some tofu that I had bought ages ago and needed to use. I think I've finally nailed the pad thai recipe - I was a bit worried because I wasn't sure the sauce was right, and I never cook with tofu, but it turned out excellently. I'm really pleased that I can add it to my rotation, since sometimes I'm craving pad thai and there is nowhere to get it here. And I have leftovers for tomorrow, so theoretically I don't have to cook (although I thawed out some chicken, so I'll have to do something with that).

After dinner, I cleaned the kitchen, fed the sourdough starter that Aunt B sent home with me, and thought about writing, but instead installed some major updates on my desktop. And now I'm going to go to bed (after perhaps checking in on my ongoing outline / plot development one more time) - goodnight!

we don't talk anymore

I had a pretty good day, but I'm bleary-eyed and should have gone to bed an hour ago (although the ten minutes of brainstorming I just got at the end of that staying-up-too-late period was excellent). I spent the morning and part of the afternoon doing some writing tasks - mostly reminding myself how I used to plot / replot when I reached the point where I was ready to begin the second first draft. That means I've written 150-200 pages and now actually know what's going on, and so I'm ready to plot it and start over. It never feels like an accomplishment at the time, but this is how all my books went down, so I guess this one is following the usual pattern.

At some point, I ate leftover pasta for lunch, and I did some stuff for the mural festival. I also ran to the grocery store and watered some [censored] for [censored] (and sadly didn't see any foxes while doing it). And I did some more writing in the afternoon before prepping some food to take out to the parents' house.

I was going to make them shrimp tacos, because I wanted shrimp tacos - but shrimp tacos take longer (due to prepping accoutrements like pickled onions and crema and slaw and guac), and also my parents aren't in love with tacos like I am. So I made shrimp alfredo instead, which is less healthy, but it's certainly delicious - and much faster, which is also a bonus. We had dinner and I hung out with them for a couple of hours, which was v. nice.

And now, I really need to sleep since I have too many tings to do tomorrow - goodnight!

the center of attention, back for the winter

I'm back in ye olde Iowa after an entirely uneventful (but too long) drive across Kansas. I usually go across Nebraska, as long time readers know, but Aunt B lives south of Denver, and so I-70 is oh so slightly quicker. The only time I did this route before was during a snowstorm, so I didn't remember any of the scenery. Parts of it are just as boring as Nebraska, but I thought the southeast part of Colorado was prettier than the northeast corner, and some of Kansas (namely the Flint Hills) was interesting. I would probably stick to Nebraska because I know where all the Starbucks are, but this was a good change.

So, I left Aunt B's around 8:30, grabbed a gigantic cold brew on the way out of town, and then drove all day. I made more stops than most of my family does (prob bc of that gigantic coffee), and I also stopped to eat Qdoba in Hays for lunch and a salad from a convenience store in Bethany for dinner - this added 45min combined, but a was worth it because I didn't gluten myself with chicken nuggets like I usually do.

So I got home at 9:30 pm CDT, which meant my stops cost me an hour and a half, but I didn't fall asleep driving or eat gluten or urinate in my newly detailed car, so I'll take it. I talked to [censored] when I got here and admired his vacuuming (should I have censored that?), and also said hi to all my plants. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

Just under the upper hand

I had a lovely day for my last day in Colorado. I picked up cold brew at Starbucks, and then I wrote in my room for a little bit. Then I packed, checked out, and did a bit of stocking up. Since it won't be too hot this weekend, I felt pretty good about buying food and transporting it.

So I went to HMart to stock up on a variety of Asian products, and it was a delight. I also bought some wooden turners that match my kitchen and also the one I already have. And I got a boba tea as I left, so that was all perfectly sorted.

Then I drove to Platte Street, where I got a perfect pole bowl that I could eat all week. Then I swung by Katie's and picked up the peace lily that they graciously watched after I moved to Iowa and didn't have room in my car for it.:

And now, I'm at Aunt Becky's house, where __ had dinner at a tasty Mexican place, and she made me some gluten free crackers and gave me sourdough starter. And now I desperately need to sleep if I'm going to get home tomorrow - goodnight!

promiscuous boy

I didn't sleep well last night, which I blame on the altitude. But today was quite lovely despite that. I grabbed some coffee at Starbucks and got some writing done, and then I hastily showered and met Caroline for coffee at Boxcar. She's coming to visit in a month, so we mostly talked about that, and I'm excited to see how it goes and whether she'll give a positive review to anyone else who's thinking of visiting.

Then I had lunch with Morganne and her new baby at Postino (which is an offshoot of the one in Denver, and also they're surprisingly good for gluten free). Morganne and I have known each other for fifteen years and I adore her, and we've been on the same team a couple of different times. She decided to have a baby on her own and I was aware of her process, so I was happy to see that she's delighted by it (and her baby is adorable). We caught up for a couple of hours, and I ate some v tasty bruschetta, and it was perfect.

Then I met up with Alisha - I hadn't scheduled time with her initially bc I was prioritizing people I've befriended outside of work, but I always liked her, and she happened to message me a couple of days ago. She had a lot of updates, so it was great to see her.

Then I took a v brief nap before dinner, which was supposed to be a tiki bar - but there was a flash flood warning north of here and the restaurant cancelled our reservation, so that was the end. Instead, Sara, JM, Caroline and I went to Avery Brewing, where I could only drink the single flavor of hard seltzer they had, but it was great. And now, I'm flagging the need to go to bed -- goodnight!

gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight

I'm very tired and need to go to bed, but I want to record for posterity that I had a nice day in Boulder. I purposefully kept most of it to myself, so I grabbed a coffee, did some work in my hotel, and eventually mosied over to Pizzeria Alberico (formerly Pizzeria Locale). The menu hasn't changed much, and their wine and cocktails all looked v high end.

So, I sat there and wrote for a couple of hours. Then I came back to my hotel and took a nap, which is one of my favorite things. I did a bit more writing before dinner, but it wasn't too compelling....

Then I had dinner with my friend Nicole, which was delish. It was great to catch up properly, even if all our stories could have been solo meetup topics in their own right. When I got back to the hotel, I sat at the hotel bar and forced myself to crank through some stuff that I hadn't done recently, and I'm glad I was able to motivate myself (even if getting a second wind at ten p.m. is not helpful in the grand scheme of things).

But now, I need to sleep since tomorrow is much more hectic - goodnight!

a desolate city where it hurts to smile

I had what felt like a migraine today, if I get migraines - I felt headachy and out of sorts most of the day, which really cramped my style since I had intended to get a lot done and also treat myself to some fun. So, even though I slept for nine hours last night and woke up initially feeling #inittowinit, I had to take it easy this morning. I did get a cold brew, which made it a little better. And eventually I checked out of my hotel in Denver and drove to Boulder.

I arrived just in time to pick up Tomas for lunch at Torchy's Tacos. I met him in the parking lot of my old office, which is as close as I care to get to the office - while I intend to see several former coworkers this week, I'm exclusively seeing people whom I am friends with closely enough to talk about life and not just the latest workplace drama. I feel good about how much I've let go of the mess of my last stint at work, but I don't feel recovered enough to feel excited to see people who might remind me of what I left behind. However, Tomas and I have known each other for fifteen years (which feels impossible), so he barely counts as a work friend - and we barely touched on work, and instead spent an hour and a half talking about life and kids and parents and Iowa/Ohio vs Colorado vs California and all sorts of other topics. It was really nice to see him, and hopefully I'll make it back sometime (or maybe I'll convince him to stop in Iowa on his next trip to Ohio).

Then, I did a bit of shopping at the mall for old times' sake. This did not kill enough time, since my room still wasn't ready to check into, which was annoying because my headache was back with a vengeance and all I wanted to do was lie down. So I killed some time driving around, sitting in my car, and eventually getting another cold brew at Boxcar while journaling for a bit. Luckily, when my room was ready, I was pretty happy with it - I'm staying at a Residence Inn, and I have a couch and a desk in addition to a bed, so this is all great.

For dinner, I met up with Alice, whom I've also known for fifteen years - I managed the first team she joined in 2008, and managed her again in 2018, but we're solidly friends now and I was thrilled to see her. We went to River and Woods, which was one of my old haunts, and we had a really nice conversation about life and art and parents and Iowa/Florida vs Colorado and all sorts of other topics. I left feeling happy and less headachy, so I'm glad we were able to find time to get together.

And finally - happy birthday to [censored], who is [censored] years old today! And now, I'm going to go to bed early and hope that my headache subsides by tomorrow - goodnight!

run for the hills because the end is near

I'm back in Denver and sad that my weekend with Katie is over, but it's probably time to get back to work. We had a final soak in the hot springs this morning, which was divine - there weren't many people there, and the weather was perfect. And then we cleaned up, grabbed lunch (at the same place we ate twice before... But I had the Cobb salad with trout for lunch and it was excellent), and drove back to Denver.

When we got here, we parted ways abruptly so that Katie could say hi to her kids, and I checked into my hotel. I've stayed here before and I don't love it, but it was relatively cheaper and I'm only here for a night, so c'est la vie. 

After I checked in, I drove to my old neighborhood to see Kelly at El Camino. We were supposed to get together Wednesday but moved to tonight, and I'm glad we did - we had more time together tonight, and I got to eat my beloved El Camino nachos. We caught up on a lot of stuff, and it made me nostalgic for my (non-covid) life here.

Then I came back to the hotel (after a drive by my old house, which I don't miss) and intended to have a drink and write at the bar, but a drink seemed even less appealing than writing (possibly because I only want nice wine and this place doesn't qualify). So, I'm going to go to bed early instead - goodnight!

i ain't worried bout it right now

Katie and I had another gorgeous day in Glenwood Springs - I've probably lightly cooked my internal organs, but I hope they have another round in them for some last minute soaking tomorrow morning. I got up this morning and wrote in the lobby for an hour before meeting Katie for breakfast - we went around the corner to Local, which was excellent. Then, we went to Iron Mountain (the same hot springs we went to yesterday) for a three-hour stint. It was pretty perfect - we alternated between the 98-100 degree pools, sitting in lounge chairs, and the 103-106 degree pools (which Katie mostly skipped due to some unfortunate sunburn from yesterday). It was v relaxing and also early enough in the day to avoid the drunken masses, so we enjoyed it.

Then we grabbed sushi for lunch, freshened up, and walked to Yampah, where we were supposed to spend two hours in their natural "vapor caves" (basically an undergo sauna). This sounded cool...but Katie and I both found it claustrophobia-inducing and also disgusting, so we left after approximately three minutes in the caves. If the amenities around the caves had been better, the caves might not have been so bad - but it didn't feel very hygienic, and breathing in sulfur also isn't all that relaxing.

So, it was actually pretty hilarious after we decided to leave, and it was also cheap (probably why the space hasn't been updated in decades), so no real harm done (unless Doc Holliday's tuberculosis is still marinating down there, but it probably isn't). We walked back to our side of town, and I called my mom to wish her a happy mother's day (happy mother's day, Mom!).

Then we grabbed a drink on the patio of the place we ate two nights ago, and we ended up just staying there and having an early dinner - the burger was excellent, and the people watching was fun. Then we said goodnight to each other by 8 so that we could unwind and hopefully sleep better than we did last night. And now, I should sleep - goodnight!

mama said knock you out

Katie and I had one of our perfect days together.... objectively it was much nicer/fancier than our old days at the lake, but it had the same vibe. I wrote a bit this morning because I woke up too early, and then we had breakfast at the cafe in our hotel. Then, we spent the day at Iron Mountain - it's a series of hot springs pools that overlook the Colorado River, and they're a delight. We sat in a bunch of the pools, and ate lunch, and talked, and tried not to get sunburned, and it was great.

Then we came back to the hotel and had nachos and drinks to revive ourselves before taking showers and grabbing dinner. And now, I'm bizarrely going to bed at 10:15pm - I blame the time change, the sun exposure, and the fact I haven't been sleeping enough. Goodnight!

I get high like Colorado

I have nothing to report - Nebraska is still the same bleak cesspool as always, so I was unenthused about that. But my drive was uneventful, and I made it to Denver in time to pick up Katie. We got up to hell

Glenwood Springs sometime around 7:30, changed, and had a lovely dinner down the street. And I'm eager for more of the same this weekend - but right now I'm desperate for sleep. Goodnight!

i'll be living that good life

I should have gone to bed two hours ago, but that's a common refrain. Today was a rush to get out the door. I spent the morning doing a variety of tings, as well as prepping for a writing talk I had to give this afternoon - my former teacher, who is now a Methodist minister, asked me to give a talk at her church, and I had said yes a long time ago. I didn't have to prep really hard, but I did outline what I wanted to say and made a handout for the group, so that all went well.

I also did some other tings, showered, and made lunch (another citrus salad with tuna, which is so delish). Then I went to my talk - happily, 10 or 12 people were there, which was quite a good turnout. I told [censored] later that all the teachers who liked him better in school told me to tell him hi, which was not a lie; two teachers liked [censored] better than me, and they were both there. They clearly liked me well enough to show up, but I know they preferred [censored]...but to each their own, I guess.

sssanyway. My talk went well, and it was fun to do, so I'm glad I got through it. Then I sped home and packed for my Colorado trip. I had hoped to be ready to leave as soon as my talk was done, but that clearly didn't happen. Also, there have been a lot of storms in Denver that were headed across Nebraska, and I was nervous about driving into them. So I purposefully left relatively late (after 6pm) and drove only as far as Lincoln, where I had a hotel where I could park my car in the garage in case of hail. This will make for a long day tomorrow, but it is preferable to driving through a thunderstorm at night.

I drove the whole 3.5 hours without stopping, and I checked into my hotel without incident (the only incident being I had a different hotel in my head and so was v. surprised to see the lobby looking so different from expectations...but this is actually nicer). Then I had a late snack of a salad and some wine at the restaurant, which I enjoyed while writing for the last couple of hours. And now I really desperately need to sleep - goodnight!

it's hard to control myself

I don't have the energy to blog tonight - I was pretty productive all day, and I need to be equally productive tomorrow before hitting the road. I wrote this morning, which went well. I also talked to my friend Tanya, which was a delight. I made a late lunch - a version of the citrus salad that I had at Tartine in SF and recreated here a few weeks ago. I couldn't get radicchio, so I just used spring green mix, and I made a slightly less tasty vinaigrette. But it was still delish to mix the greens with grapefruit and oranges and candied walnuts and bleu cheese - and I made tuna salad to eat with it, so I was quite happy with all of that.

I spent the afternoon doing some more work - prepping for a talk I'm giving tomorrow (nbd) and also writing some more. I had some leftover steak and a fresh baked potato for dinner, and then I had a meeting of my local secret society. I got home shortly before [censored], so I talked to him for awhile before coming upstairs and doing a wee bit more work.

And now I need to sleep - I'm heading to Colorado after I give my talk tomorrow, so I need to pack and do a million tings in the morning. Goodnight!

forgot about dre

I'm v sleep deprived, so this will be brief. I wrote a lot at my desk this morning and some on my balcony as the sun was setting, so I'll take it. I also had a long meeting for the mural event. Then I came home, talked to my friend Barbara, and then did some tings: mostly random stuff, but the aforementioned mural stuff requires a lot of follow up.

For dinner, I cooked a steak and a baked potato and called it a day. Then I read part of a novel, which I'll consider sharing if it picks up enough to be recommended. And now, I must go to bed - goodnight!

we can remember swimming in december

Apologies for not blogging yesterday - I made an uncharacteristic error and burned my burrito bowls, which took the wind out of my sails. Or, driving for six hours took the wind out of my sails - my niece, Allie, is getting married next month, and we had a bridal shower for her near Cedar Rapids. I helped host it with the groom's brother's girlfriend, and she did 98% of the work (I brought an easel) - she's much craftier than I am and also had leftover stuff from previous showers, and also had access to more stores. So I let her run with the decor, and she made the private room at a local restaurant look amazing. I did throw cash at the problem by paying for the stuff she bought, as is my habit, so I didn't feel like a total deadbeat.

So the shower was really lovely and Allie was very happy, but it was a long day. My mom picked me up at seven and I drove her car up to Cedar Rapids, where we set up for the shower and then hung out waiting for an hour for it to start (we set up very early and everyone else was on time). Then we had brunch, which was v. tasty (and $1 mimosas, which do not exist in California). And then Allie opened her presents and we took some photos - so when it was all done, it was 2:30pm and I still had to drive me and my mom three hours to get home.

However, we made it, and I recuperated just a bit before making dinner. The burrito bowls somehow got the burn notice on the instant pot, which hasn't happened in several dozen iterations, so I was annoyed. They were actually done and totally edible (except the burned rice bits on the bottom), but they weren't quite as delicious as they should have been. [censored] still ate them for dinner last night and lunch today, though, and I have a bit leftover for tomorrow, so at least there's that.

Today was comprised of a variety of attempts to be productive. I got up early to drop my car off to get detailed (thanks for the ride, [censored]), and then I made some cold brew and wrote off and on all morning. It's still v. slow going, but I did some plotting stuff that I'm happy with. At some point, [censored] and I had lunch. Then, I unpacked some replacement parts for my kitchen/bath to replace a couple of items that we thought were wonky (they were ordered months ago, but I finally picked them up in the last couple of weeks). This turned out to be a hilarious activity because 1) the mirrors we were replacing have somehow self-corrected and stopped being warped in the last three months, which was unexpected, 2) one of the drawer boxes is just as screwed up, if not more, than the box it's supposed to replace, which was a surprise since it was ordered specifically to replace a quality issued. You would think they would have checked it better.

sssanyway, we dealt with that stuff, and then I spent the afternoon doing various tings - cleaning / tidying, taking care of some mural festival stuff, etc. When [censored] left, I had him drop me off to get my car, which looks fantastic - I'd forgotten that the interior was black instead of grey, so I'd say the guy did a great job with it. Then I took out my trash, ate a ham sandwich, and sat on my balcony brainstorming characters.

And now, I need to stop regaling you with minutiae and go to bed - goodnight!

I pull up in my green Honda

No blog tonight bc I'm exhausted and have to get up at six - but I got home and did some tings, and watched the Kentucky Derby, and ate leftovers, and watched for tornadoes (which never came). And now I must sleep immediately - goodnight!

five o clock tired eight ball wired, i'm a buddy when you need

I had a bizarrely busy and unusual day. First I had to go to a community coffee meeting at 7:30am, which is definitely not my speed - but I am glad I went despite the fact that I took my own bougie cold brew and couldn't partake of the donuts. Then, I ran home and ate some yogurt before going to my parents' house to set up my dad's new phone. Since I've purposefully kept him in the Google hardware hegemony, it was pretty easy - the update from one Pixel to another is incredibly smooth, and I was able to do it without needing to sit in the phone company's office for an hour, so this was a win for everyone involved. 

Then I ran to [censored]'s garage to help with the counting of some [censored]. After, I ate a cobb salad, did a couple of tings, washed my car, took a twenty minute nap, and threw some stuff in a bag....

And then [censored] and I drove to Des Moines, where we met up with Drewbaby and his girlfriend. We first inspected Drewbaby's new house, which [censored] had already seen. Then, we had dinner at a pizza place near their house (Felix and Oscar's, I think), where the gluten free pizza was pretty good but made better by Graziano's Italian sausage (a local specialty).

After, the main event was a show at a bar - we went to Doc's to see The Barlow, who are a country band from Colorado. [Censored] and I saw them in Denver when they opened for Micky and the Motorcars, who [censored] visited Denver to see (and then did a thousand house projects for me, as he tends to do). I really enjoyed them at that show, and [censored] followed them enough to know that they were coming to Des Moines.

So, we hung out at the bar for their whole show, which was over three hours, which was pretty cool. They were really good, and the ambience entertained me... And they dedicated a song to [censored] because he was clearly one of the only people who knew most of their songs, and the lead singer had a nice convo with [censored] during the break to see how [censored] had found out about them.

So, that was a v fun way to spend an evening. But now I need to sleep so I can get up in six or seven hours and drop [censored] off at an all day [censored] class, which I'm v glad I don't have to take. Goodnight!

the moon is on my side, i have no reason to run

And just like that, it feels like summer, and my room is now too hot instead of too cold. I really appreciate Marvin's foresight in putting the master bedroom over the garage, where it is exposed to the most temperature fluctuations. Clearly he didn't read any medieval romances which explained how to put the lord's main room in the most temperature-friendly part of the castle.

sssanyway, today was good - and I'm happy that it felt like summer, since I am in a 100x better mood when it's sunny and warm. I did some writing this morning, which was fine. I had a chat with a friend, then took care of some tings, and then had lunch (a jarred cobb salad, which is always tasty). Then, I went for a walk, partially to snoop -- [censored] ran an errand and reported back that the city council meeting had changed dates, which was tres interesante because I was planning to go to the city council meeting to bring up an ordinance issue (more on that in a sec).

So, I went for a walk and chatted with the city clerk to verify the timing of the meeting. Then I walked some more, and headed out toward the town cemetery; on the way, I ran into Ross, who was driving back from either his farm or the cemetery, and we chatted in the middle of the road until someone finally (many minutes later) needed to get through. Then I ran into the town mayor, which was illuminating. Then I came home, did some writing, and showered.

I did go to the city council meeting, and I won't go into detail here, other than to say that I expected to live here for more than nine months before going to a council meeting to ask them to enforce their ordinances against livestock in town. It seemed to go fine, although we'll see what actually happens - I'm guessing it's not the end of this story, but who knows!

Then, [censored] and I grabbed Mexican for dinner (we went into the restaurant, and the server brought us cheese dip before she even took our order, so I'd say they know us). And then I came home and did some internet procrastination. And now I need to sleep, since I have early mornings the next few days - goodnight!

Hollywood baby

I'm very tired and fading fast, but today was great. I did some work in the morning, then met Nancy about mural festival stuff. Then I came home, ate a cobb salad, tidied up, and welcomed my eighth grade English teacher, who asked me to give a talk next week. She's now a Methodist minister (so the audience should be adults, yay), and I said yes to her request, so she came over to talk about the details.

After that talk, I did some tings, took a drive to see things, grabbed some groceries, and came home. At some point [censored] got here, she we talked for a bit. And now I need to sleep - goodnight,

can you remember and humanize?

I had a pretty productive day overall, although my morning was a bit of a waste because I was sitting around waiting for the flooring guy to show up and put in a trim piece that I'd been waiting for for months. He did come around 11, and the installation took less than ten minutes, so I'm glad it's done. And I did get a little bit of writing done while I was waiting, so it wasn't a complete loss.

Then, I put together a cobb salad for lunch, and also put together several jars of cobb salads for future lunches the rest of the week. I did some more procrastinating in the afternoon, I think, but I also wrote for three hours or so, which I'll definitely take. Then, I made fried rice for dinner - technically, I was trying to make nasi goreng (the Indonesian fried rice that I lived on in Bali). I'd say I was partially successful - I don't think my skillet was hot enough, and maybe I had too much oil, but overall it was pretty tasty. It was different from the nasi goreng that I ate all the time at Roam - judging from some pictures I took, they cooked some veg (carrot, cabbage?, green onion) into the rice, while the recipe I used only added onion. And mine ended up darker than theirs, probably because of the sweet soy sauce, and I thought this turned out slightly too sweet. Mine also had chicken in it, while theirs was veg. But still, it was a tasty first effort, and I'm glad to have leftovers so I don't have to cook tomorrow.

After dinner, I cleaned up, and then I listened to a few podcasts while printing a ton of envelopes (one at a time due to a feed issue with small envelopes), stamped a ton of envelopes, stuffed them into bigger envelopes, and stamped those envelopes too. It was a tedious effort, but I was pretty efficient, and I enjoyed the podcasts I listened to, so at least there's that.

And now, I really need to sleep - goodnight!

hold back the river

I'm sleepy tonight, but I'm also looking forward to taking my first dose of Claritin in a week. I spent the morning doing a variety of minor but necessary tasks, and then I had a v. boring lunch (a turkey sandwich, albeit with pepperjack cheese) since I hadn't cooked anything ahead of time. And then I had an appointment with an allergist - I'm pretty happy that an allergist comes to the local hospital once a month, and that I was able to get in today so that I can figure out what's going on with my allergy situation.

tl;dr: I'm allergic to a lot of things! I already knew this, since I'm not a dummy, and also I did a full skin test back in 2008 and did a couple of years of allergy shots then. They were supremely helpful, but my allergen tolerance is slowly wearing off, and I've been low-grade miserable at various points in the last year.

The doctor gave me a new skin test, which revealed that my reactions aren't quite as bad as before, but are definitely bad enough to treat. And I decided to go ahead and do shots - you have to be available pretty much twice a week for four months or more, and this seems like the easiest time in my life to do them. That's especially true because the hospital is 8min away, and they will administer the shots, so that's about as convenient as allergy shots can be.

Of course, the skin test made my back supremely itchy (even after he sprayed copious amounts of benadryl spray on it and gave me oral benadryl to go), so I spent the rest of the day doing stuff while trying to ignore my back. I prepped the ingredients for cobb salads for the week, and I said goodbye to [censored], and I took my trash out for the week. I also ate leftover Mexican and talked to my parents. And then I procrastinated a bit too much (fashion photos from the Met Gala are always a lure), but I managed to write for 45min or so and so salvaged the night.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!