baby i welcome the pressure

I had a decent day in the pixel mines. I probably should have done more work than I actually did, but the work I did do was good enough to make me feel like something happened, so I'll take it. Also, I'm still feeling slightly uncomfortable and get tired easily, so I feel like I should acknowledge that and not push it too hard this week (before definitely pushing it too hard this upcoming weekend).

Part of why I felt like maybe I should have worked longer was that I snuck out early (does it count as sneaking if you're just leaving your own house?) to meet Tomas for a drink in Louisville. Longtime blog readers may remember Tomas from my previous stint at my company, since he was on the rather epic weekend trip + offsite at a castle in Germany (which was seven years ago! how is that possible?!). We now both work in Boulder and would get together occasionally pre-pandemic, but since we live in opposite directions of the office (and never go to the office), we haven't seen each other in many months. And the late afternoon was perfect for having a drink on a patio and catching up on life - we really didn't talk about work at all, but instead talked about everything related to families and health and pandemics and a variety of related topics.

Then I came home, accidentally fell asleep, ate some takeout, and was generally pretty slothful (in deference to my healing). And now I should go to sleep, since I stupidly signed up for an early meeting tomorrow - goodnight!

everybody wants to rule the world

I have v. little to report today, but today went about as well as it could have considering that I'm still recovering from having a robot dig around my insides. When I woke up, Aunt B was still here, so we hung out in the kitchen and I made some oatmeal in my instant pot. She left around 9:15 or so, but my fridge is still stocked with her memory (namely, vegetable beef soup).

I had about 45mins to myself, and I made good use of it to sign some legal documents despite the fact that several nurses told me not to sign anything or buy anything for a couple of days. I feel pretty good about the legal documents, but maybe I shouldn't given how much stuff I bought from Nordstrom Rack late last night (in my defense, I need a dress for a wedding; but honestly, even though some of it will go back because I ordered two sizes of several things, there were tings in there that definitely weren't for the wedding - so we'll see if my sober self likes any of it!).

Then Katie came over to spend the day - she was ostensibly working and I was ostensibly resting, but we mostly gossiped and caught up on our families' respective lives. I also ate some potato soup (which she insisted on stirring so she could do something to take care of me), talked to Aunt Kathy for a bit, and eventually did take an afternoon nap. I think Katie's coming again tomorrow, which is good distraction for both my mood and my pain levels, so we'll see what happens!

After Katie left, I talked to my parents, messed around on my phone, did a very small load of laundry to wash some stuff that came today, and ate leftover vegetable beef soup. Then I watched the first episode of 'Only Murders in the Building' and also the first episode of 'The Great' - both of which has extremely different vibes. 'Only Murders' stars Steve Martin, Marvin Short, and Selena Gomez, and they're amateurs who love true-crime podcasts and are trying to solve a murder in their apartment building. 'The Great' is a dramedy about Catherine the Great, who is my jam - Russia under the tsars was pretty much batshit crazy, and her rise to power was more batshit than some. I know they took a lot of poetic license with it, but so far so good.

And now, I think I shall sleep so that I can pursue a grand plan of watching TV and reading and talking to friends tomorrow - goodnight!

smoke on the water

If I write this really quickly and go to bed immediately, I can get eight hours of sleep tonight, so that's going to be the priority. My book came out today - too soon to tell how it's doing, especially since I'm 6-9 hours ahead of the US and have scheduled my newsletter to go out shortly, but so far so good. If you're interested, you can find more at sararamsey.com/taking-the-earl. Prego!

So today was good, but I was way too tired to be #inittowinit. I got some good stuff out of the writing exercises this morning (all about talismans and dying worlds), but I wasn't feeling super psyched about staying awake. Then I had lunch with Veronica and Rachael, and then Rachael went off to do her duty to the group (since she's the leader/teacher) and Veronica and I played hooky. We were going to work/write at a cafe, but instead we ate more food and drank half a bottle of wine and talked about writing for two hours. This was probably more important than me actually working since she had some good advice (she writes young adult), but it still felt like I was getting away with something...

Then I came back, took a nap, and did promo stuff for a couple of hours. That's been frustrating only because the wifi here is quite slow and uploading images is like pulling teeth. But I took a break to have a solo dinner - I hit my introvert wall awhile ago, so I wandered to a place I hadn't been before, found a cute, quiet restaurant, and indulged my need for some journaling and some reading. I also tested out the gluten situation by having both spaghetti bolognese (outstanding) and tiramisu (I realized I don't really remember tiramisu anymore - I remember loving it, but it's not something that can easily be made gluten free). I'd heard that some people have less of an issue with the wheat in Italy, so we'll see. I currently have a headache, but that could be the extreme lack of sleep and ongoing slight dehydration...we'll see.

Anyway, the food was great and walking back over the bridges and along the canals at night was magical. Then I did another ninety minutes of work, and now I need to sleep.

Finally, happy birthday Aunt B! Goodnight!

i just want to see some palm trees, i will try and shake away this disease

Today was great, but my wrist is aching and I don't want to waste my precious typing capacity on zee blog. So, I shall give a v. brief recap - I woke up too late to get anything serious done, but early enough to shower and make a frittata, so I had a delicious breakfast this morning + leftovers for all the breakfasts between now and Iowa.

Then, I went to the de Young museum, where I had a glorious writing date with Veronica. I've known her for awhile, and she is also friends with Kathia (in fact, she was the other person who helped move Kathia's stuff last year, which bonded us irrevocably) - but she's also friends with Barbara and Anne and that whole crew, so our paths have been crossing more and more. She lives in the city, and now that her kids are back in school and she's better able to have writing dates, we're trying to get together more.

Today's date was pretty much perfect - we met in the cafe at the de Young, which is spacious and well-lit and not too crowded on a weekday. We chatted for a little bit, and then wrote, and I got five pages, which I was happy(ish) with. Then we took a break and saw the special exhibit on Ed Ruscha - it was the perfect interlude in the midst of writing, since seeing other art can be quite inspirational. I thought it was interesting that he keeps returning to the same themes throughout his career (to the point that pieces that were made thirty years apart sometimes looked like they belonged in the same show) - but some of his pieces are decayed/dying riffs on things he may have done in the 60s, which is rather fascinating in terms of how artists grow/progress/deal with the changing world and their own mortality.

Then, we went back to the cafe, had a late lunch (my salmon salad was delicious), and wrote a tiny bit more before parting ways. I think we're going to do the same date again when I'm back from Iowa - I have a membership to the de Young, which means I can go in free whenever I want and also take a guest in with me. So, while the cafe is open to the public (and there's free four-hour parking on nearby streets, which is a big bonus), it's so nice to stroll through a gallery when we feel like taking a break.

sssanyway. After I left, it was so gorgeous that I took an impromptu drive out to the ocean, where I watched the waves and the passersby for a little bit. Then I came home and spent the evening doing business stuff and daydreaming - I had a BookBub ad today, which seems to have done quite well, so I was tracking sales and messing around with spreadsheets and doing other things that look like productivity but are actually procrastination.

And now that I've typed just as much as usual and way more than I should have, it's time for bed - goodnight!

more than diamonds more than gold

Today was all about recovery mode - I'm still tapped out from the weekend, and I'm going to force myself to go to bed as soon as I finish this so that I can aim for eight hours of sleep before the sun comes up (and hopefully a couple more hours after that). I didn't get moving very effectively this morning, but I eventually showered, made myself some tea, and drove to the Dogpatch to return the audio equipment from Ritu's wedding (success). Then I decided to go to the Marina and have lunch at Tony's, since I hadn't seen him in a couple of months - but unfortunately the most annoying woman ever sat at the bar a few minutes after I did, and she got on my very last nerve. Usually I can humor strangers (especially odd strangers like this one, who showed me the pictures that she carries around of Amma, an Indian guru-type figure who occasionally has events in San Ramon, and said it's the only reason she wasn't harmed by some homeless guy last night), but I was really not in the mood today.

So I scarfed down my huevos rancheros and said goodbye to Tony, and then went to the post office to mail Ritu and Bill's marriage license (success - they're stuck with each other now!). Then I came home to drop stuff off, and I took a twenty-minute nap that turned into a two-hour nap instead. But I finally rallied and went to Philz, where I worked for a couple of hours - no writing, but I spent some quality time figuring out my to-do list and checking in on what I want to get done the rest of the month, so I'm feeling better about all of that.

Then I came home, made supper, and watched more Olympics - I got through the rest of the swimming coverage, so I'm done with all of that. I want to catch up on gymnastics tomorrow - I still, miraculously, have not gotten spoiled on anything in the last three days (except the men's 100m dash, because I was talking to my mom on the phone yesterday when it happened and she said who won - thanks Mom!), so I've been staying off Twitter and Facebook, which has actually been a really nice break from the news and social media.

But that's all for tomorrow - and more importantly, I need to start actually working again, so I have a writing date tomorrow, as well as a whole list of stuff to accomplish. And that means sleep is critical - goodnight!

f*%$ you, julio senior

I had an awesome day. On some intellectual level, I know that I do better (mentally/emotionally, at least) when I'm slightly overscheduled, and yet for the last few months I shied away from overscheduling because of the irrationally opposite belief that I needed wide-open swathes of time in which to get work done. Lol. Past Sara was a trainwreck, I think. But Present Sara owned it today, and I hope Future Sara learns from the last couple of weeks of overly-scheduled time and implements some changes.

sssanyway. Today was one of those overscheduled days. Which is not to say, of course, that it was hard - I got up at 8:30, as opposed to the 5:30am start time I had when I was commuting, and was still working by 9:15. I slogged v. diligently for a couple of hours, and then I ate a quick breakfast, packed my gym bag and my laptop, and drove to San Mateo.

I went to Equinox for the first time in two months, so I'm probably going to be super sore tomorrow - but it was great to go back, and I seem to have outlasted the first three weeks' worth of new years resolutioners, because the gym was the same level of crowded that it was in November. I did some squats and lunges and kettlebell swings, and then I did some cleans/presses and some snatches, and it all felt great even though I realized I'd lost my calluses (they'll come back quickly).

The amusing thing, though, was that I was working out near this super fit-looking girl who was doing some interesting-looking things, interspersed with jumping ropes (which I'm way too uncoordinated to pull off). I was in 'I haven't been to the gym in two months' mode and feeling like a poser, and just kind of assumed she was judging me. But as I was putting away my chalk and putting my shoes back on, she asked me where I learned my kettlebell exercises, and I ended up showing her how to do a clean and press. This is the third time since leaving Alyssa that someone has complimented my form / asked me if I'm certified, so apparently Alyssa did me right. And I got some tips from the girl on other kettlebell exercises to look up on YouTube, so that was kind of fun, in the end, and it teaches me to stop ignoring/judging people at the gym.

sssanyway again. I showered, grabbed lunch in the cafe, and then went to Starbucks and wrote for a couple of hours with Anne and Barbara. I have like five different possible opening scenes going, and so today was about comparing them all and trying to stitch them together into one scene - I didn't finish, but I made good progress.

And then, I met Shedletsky for happy hour in San Carlos, where we drank a lot of pinot noir and discussed tech-related things. Then, we adjourned to an italian restaurant and had dinner with Tina (aka Bride of Shedletsky), and continued to discuss life, and also discussed a possible trip to Macchu Picchu (aka Macho Pikachu, in Shedletsky-speak).

So, that was all great. And then I drove home, and now I need to sleep; tomorrow is more low-key than today, although I have grand lunch plans with Gyre. And low-key is good - while overscheduling myself is good, I think I'm in the mood to be productive, and there are many, many things on my to-do list that I could apply myself to if I feel like getting out of bed. So I'm going to get into bed now and see if that happens - goodnight!

i walked right out of the machinery

I had another wonderful day in New York...while I wouldn't go so far as to say that I want to move here, it has certainly been good for me to get out of SF for a few days (and the thought is certainly percolating, with increasing insistence, that I've said 'it's been good to get out of SF' a bit too frequently and with too much sincerity the last few months to ignore that instinct....). But I don't know what that realization holds, other than that I expect to enjoy the rest of my weekend as much as I've enjoyed my week so far.

Anyway, today was pretty successful in terms of taming my monkey mind (although, as my dad pointed out, he has called me 'Sara Jane Monkey Brain' since I was a small child, so perhaps it's his fault!). I slept for nine or ten hours last night, and I woke up feeling remarkably peaceful. So I successfully avoided my phone and the internet, wandered downstairs, made some tea, and sipped it while looking out the window at the fantastic gorge behind Kathia's house. There's a lot of natural quartz in the area, which means the ground shimmers and sparkles as the sun comes up. And I saw deer in the woods while I was making my tea, which was a far cry from the sirens and screaming crackheads of the city of sin.

So I enjoyed my tea and contemplated life, and eventually Kathia joined me (she had gotten up at five, written, and gone back to bed while I was in hours six through nine of my epic sleep). We sat around for a bit, and then we went to a restaurant near her to have breakfast (delish) and write for a couple of hours. This felt so much like old times, which was really soothing. I didn't write, but I reread a bunch of stuff for the YA book, which I think I'm going to work on through the end of the year, since I'm feeling like romance is a lie (j/k, kind of).

After that, we came back home, walked around outside (I picked up some quartz to take home, since I will eventually turn into my ancestors and hoard rocks), and then returned to the warmth of the house. I worked for another hour or two, and then I took a long, blissful nap. Eventually, though, I woke up, showered, pulled myself together, and Kathia and I went out for a long, extravagant dinner.

The long, extravagant dinner involved sitting at the bar at The Inn at Pound Ridge, which is a Jean-Georges Vongerichten establishment. We started with a glass of champagne each (because champagne is always the right answer), and we split a beet salad (delish) and the crispy sushi with hamachi (which was one of the best bites of food I've had in a really long time -- the sushi rice was crisped up on the outside almost like a tater tot, but had spicy mayo worked into it, and it was out of this world good). Then I had an awesome awesome pork chop wrapped in prosciutto, and Kathia's lamb chops looked equally awesome (although I prefer pork by a mile). We skipped dessert, but I had hot chocolate, which somehow made me feel like a twelve-year-old after two hours of being a decadent adult, and it was somehow the best way to feel.

Then we came back to her house and had a grand old time burning some stuff while drinking a bit of Templeton rye. And then we curled up in her living room and talked until I was yawning too much to keep going.

So, my visit has been great, and I will hopefully meet up with Kathia in Paris or New Orleans (or come back to New York) sometime in the nearish future. But tomorrow, I must say goodbye again (after breakfast/writing/lunch) and go back to Manhattan, where I have more fun planned between now and when my flight leaves on Sunday. That means I should sleep so I can enjoy it - goodnight!

listen to your heart

Today was quite decidedly awesome, thanks for asking! I lazed about like the wench I am until nine, when Terry went for a run and I decided I should shower and pull myself together. Then we went down to Chelsea for a special brunch with an extra special guest appearance from Tammy (aka Tammmmehhhhhh) and Daniel (aka the sad alpaca, although he's looking particularly happy and buoyant these days with his spiffy new hair). Tammy is living in Philadelphia now, but Daniel moved to NYC and she comes up to see him pretty often, and she graciously agreed to come up and hang out with me on my free day in the city.

So we went to Montmartre, a French bistro-y place that was super cute and super delish. I drank sparkling rosé, which makes everything right with the world, and coffee, which makes things even righter. I survived Terry/Tammy/Daniel splitting pancakes as an appetizer in front of me, but it was worth it since my breakfast was super tasty (soft scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, and potatoes). After brunch, we went to Chelsea Market to wander around, and I had vague PTSD flashbacks to my day job since I used to go to Chelsea Market every time I visited the NYC office. We then proceeded up to the High Line for popsicles, since it was a million and thirty degrees today and we were all dying despite our best efforts to dress for the heat.

It was totally awesome to see Tammy, of course; I hadn't seen her and Daniel since Shedletsky's wedding last year, where we were all groomsmen (although clearly Daniel was the most important groomsman of the bunch). So, we caught up on her life in Philly, which seems to involve a lot of poverty and taking of buses (but when she's done with her medical residency eventually, none of that will ever be true again). Hopefully I'll see her again sometime soon, but it will clearly require me coming to NYC since she'll never come to SF again (not that she's the only person lobbying for me to move to New York...).

sssanyway, Terry and I left them around 2:15 and went to midtown, since we had tickets to see 'An Act of God'. It's a ninety-minute one-act play starring Jim Parsons (Sheldon in Big Bang Theory), in which God has taken over Jim Parsons' body and has deigned to spend ninety minutes giving us a new set of ten commandments and answering audience questions. I thought the script was super funny and clever, and Jim Parsons is a great actor - he displayed way more range than you may have thought from the play description, and I was really impressed. It was definitely a great way to spend part of an afternoon, especially since I rarely get around to doing stuff like that in SF.

After the theatre, we went to Central Park and had drinks (cocktails + more rosé) and cheese/charcuterie at Tavern on the Green. Then we came back to Terry's apartment, took a break from the heat while watching tv, and eventually (and perhaps surprisingly) rallied to have dinner at Piccolo, a cute, tiny Italian place a few blocks from Terry's building. We also discussed Rafe and Octavia's story, and I may be switching gears slightly (back to a gear I'd previously been on), but I remain ever hopeful that I'll eventually finish this fucking book.

Once we were done with dinner (and yet more wine), we came back to the apartment again and watched a couple of episodes of 'Parks and Rec' that were perhaps too on the nose for some of my recent angst, but that somehow made them even funnier to me. And now, I shall sleep and hopefully get on east coast time so that I can accomplish all the things tomorrow - I want to write, go to the gym, and have lunch with a writer friend, so we'll see if I make it. Goodnight!

thank you india

My goal today was to socialize, and I would say that I exceeded expectations! Hopefully this refills my extrovert well for the week of writerly solitude ahead (although since I have plans most of tomorrow, maybe I'm not exactly being a hermit at the moment). The day started off relatively early - I met up with John and Jess at 9am (which turned into 9:20am to our mutual benefit, since I was able to walk to the destination and get some steps in before a massive consumption of food) at Caffe Union for breakfast. Don't you dare call this brunch, since Jess abhors brunch. But as you know, Caffe Union is one of my favorite places, and the owner (Tony) gave us mimosas (I would say that mimosas makes it perilously similar to brunch, but don't tell Jess).

Thus properly welcomed to my former neighborhood, we spent a couple of hours catching up on our respective lives over tasty food and beverages. Good things are afoot for all of us, since John and Jess are moving to Berkeley (okay, that's bad for me) to be closer to their respective jobs, and I'm still basking in the glow of my freedom, so we had a lot to celebrate. We continued the celebration by walking down the street, where Jess bought a dress and I bought some eyeliner at Sephora before intending to part ways...

...but then our intentions were dashed upon the rocks of a series of texts and calls from Adit and Priyanka attempting to arrange brunch. We were by no means hungry, and John and Jess were leery of going anywhere in the city due to the traffic shitshow caused by pride weekend, but we ended up rendezvousing with Adit/Priyanka/Chandlord for second breakfast (don't call this brunch either, although it was totally brunch) at Rusty's Southern, which is relatively new and is delightfully close to my current abode. In fact, if they were open for breakfast during the week, they might become my go-to. Despite being totally full, I succumbed to temptation and had another mimosa + the pulled pork and grits with poached eggs, all of which were perfect (and, happily, John ate some of it or I might have exploded). The vegetarians were slightly limited in their options, but their eggs and grits looked good as well, and Priyanka's oatmeal was really tasty. And Jess, in deference to her brunch-hating ways, managed to get the most lunch-y thing available (a piece of fried chicken + an off-menu side salad).

So, family brunch lunch was delightful. We spent a couple of hours catching up, thwarting Chandlord's attempt to make us play Uno, and generally making merry. Eventually, though, it all came to an end, and I came home to do laundry and talk to my parents (who are in fine form, albeit sick or allergic or something from Texas). Then, I left my apartment again (shocking, I know!) to see 'Spy' with Lauren (aka Subz). It was pretty funny, but it was more of an actual spy movie with actual plot than I was expecting. However, all the actors were really good (particularly Jason Statham, whom I adore more than I should), and it was an enjoyable way to spend a Sunday night.

But now, after coming home and messing around with my planner for the week (way to end on a dork note, Sara), it's time for bed - Rafe awaits in the morning, followed by some time in the glorious south bay. Goodnight!

we could be heroes

I'm too tired to blog (although not as tired as last night, when I was completely incoherent). This is probably to be expected, since I got less than five hours of sleep last night. And I had intended to go to bed at nine and sleep for nine or ten or twelve hours, but I accidentally stayed up reading until now.

However, today was just the lowkey day I needed - I ate lunch at the cafe down the street, went down to Fort Mason and read for a couple of hours while drinking tea, came home and messed around on the internet, and then went to Mezes and read for another couple of hours. And now I'm going to go to bed...I unfortunately have to do some day job work tomorrow, and I need to take care of my Christmas shopping before it's too late, but that's all eminently doable. Goodnight!