your eyes keep on shifting to the boys that don't matter

Today was pretty great, all in all. I totally didn't hold to the plan I'd made for myself for today, mostly because it involved getting up at 6:30am and I instead turned off my alarm and slept until almost nine. Oops.

But I eventually got up, showered, went downstairs, spent some leisurely time making tea in the kitchen while talking to Michelle and Jenn, and eventually got to work. I took a very long break at noon, though, to talk to Sarah (the friend I made in Bali) - we had a video chat for almost two hours, thus confirming that we're more than just summer friends. We're making tentative plans to hang out and work someplace together for a month this summer, which would be awesome - it would give me a chance to go someplace where I don't necessarily know anyone, since I would have some social outlet with her built in. So, we'll see if that happens, but I'm crossing my fingers...my summer could be quite delightful if some of the things that are currently in the works fall into place.

Then I was going to write some more, but it was a gorgeous day today, so I decided to go for a walk. I ended up going to the Temple Church, which I've been to before; it was the home of the Knights Templar way back in the day, before they were disbanded in the 1300s for heresy (aka getting too rich and powerful), and is now the main chapel of a couple of the Inns of Court. I wasn't planning to go in since I'd been there before, but there was an exhibit on the contribution of various Inns of Court members during World War I (spoiler: a whole bunch of them died, which was true of so much of England). So I went in, and it was all pretty fascinating stuff.

Then I walked back along the Thames for awhile, although I eventually decided that I would be better served by writing my fucking book than I would be by exploring more. So I headed back to my neighborhood, with a stop at lululemon to buy a sweatshirt (I should have brought a hoodie with me, and I'm tired of regretting almost every day that I don't have one) and a stop at a tea shop to buy more loose leaf tea, since I'm drinking tea like a fiend here. Then I went to Good Life and had a cappuccino and a muffin, thinking that would fuel me for writing...

But then I talked to Katie for an hour, which was way better than writing. She'd gone to Mexico for a few days on vacation, so we talked about that + how hard the reentry to work is after a trip to Mexico. After we got off the phone, I messed around online, then went downstairs to reheat last night's Lebanese food for dinner - but the only other person in the kitchen was someone I'm quickly growing to dislike excessively, so I only ate half my dinner since I didn't want to sit around and heat up/eat the other half while she was there. Yes, going to bed hangry is only punishing myself, but you know how I roll.

However, despite that setback, I still managed to get some good writing done tonight to make up for my afternoon break. And now I'm going to sleep, and aim toward making tomorrow fit my intended schedule better - goodnight!

looking for clues at the scene of the crime

IMPORTANT PROGRAMMING NOTE: there will be no further blog posts until Friday evening, 17 February (Bali time - that's approximately Friday morning in the US). I am leaving for a silent retreat tomorrow and will be offline for three days, which is the longest I'll be without internet since the day I got my smartphone (and possibly since somewhere around 1996). I am excited and ready to disconnect, but I'm sorry that you won't hear the minutiae of each day until I get back.

I spent the day mostly working - nothing too exciting, although I spent some time doing some personality stuff and talking to Lisa about it (Lisa is certified to coach on some of this stuff and has some great insights, especially since it turned out that four of my top five strengths on the assessment I did overlap with hers). No more on that yet - I need to do some meditating on it while I'm off being silent in the jungle.

I then spent the evening having a solo dinner with Sarah - I'm leaving for my retreat tomorrow and she's leaving to go back to the US before I get back, so we had to say our goodbyes tonight. We went to Naughty Nuri's first and had barbecue - it was a v. different experience than most of the places we've been going, since a) it was almost entirely meat, and b) it was more open to the elements, more rustic/old school, and full of meaty smoke from the barbecue set up out front. But it was super tasty - I had a hot dog, of all things, and my fries were great, and the margarita was surprisingly wonderful.

Then we went next door to Room4Dessert, which we hadn't remembered was there - Sarah had wanted to try it, and we realized by accident that we were right next to it. That turned out to be incredible - the space is really cool, and their dessert menu is decadent and interesting, and they have a fantastic-looking cocktail list. We had wine instead, but that was also tasty, and our two desserts (a chocolate creme brulee and something called 'Whisky, Torture, Turgenev', which I ordered solely for the name bc I like Russian authors and whisky and torture) were both outstanding. There was an American woman working there, which was also interesting, and so we chatted her up when we weren't busy talking to each other.

Then we came home, which was an experience - the motorbike guys who had taken us there came back to pick us up, but at that point the rains had arrived, so I put on the poncho one of them handed me (which was more heavy duty than my jacket) and we set off. I don't know how they see anything, since the rain was driving into my eyes and blinding me, but it was an exciting adventure and I made it back in one piece. Then Sarah and I sat on the roof and talked for a couple more hours and generally tried to make peace with the fact that we're about to part ways and go back to our regularly scheduled other lives. This is the downside of summer friends.

But now I need to sleep - I have a bunch of stuff I want to do tomorrow before I go offline, and I also need to pack and eat something before I go. Goodnight!

don't want to fall in love with you

After a sweltering day with no rain, the winds are beginning to howl outside and it feels like a storm is moving in. Yes, I've been complaining about the rain, but when it's not raining, steam rises from the ground and turns the world into a sauna. With the heat and humidity, I had an odd moment today where I could almost feel corn silk in my hands, like it was summer back home and I was shucking corn (not that I ever had to do that, since my parents usually took care of it).

But I'm not at home - I'm still in Bali, which continues to delight. I had breakfast and a long conversation with Sarah; Yellow Flower has rice pancakes, which are basically a big, thin crepe covered in bananas, coconut, and syrup, and they were completely delicious (and an odd departure for me, since I rarely have sweet things for breakfast). And Sarah and I had a lot of interesting parallels in our respective lives, so we've gotten pretty deep into our summer camp friendship.

After breakfast (which basically became brunch), I came back here and did some work, although I wasn't satisfied with what I got done. Then I got a massage, which I was v. satisfied with - it was better than either of the other massages I've had here, and was a three minute walk from the hotel (made perilous only by roosters in the rice paddies and angry dogs that seem to belong to the spa and are doing nothing for their business). Then I came home, rinsed the oil off, and took my laptop and snuck out to have a solo dinner at Element. As mentioned yesterday, I haven't been getting enough alone-time, so dinner and a glass of wine and my journal and some work on my laptop were like balm to my soul.

Then I came back and did a bit more work upstairs, but the wind kicked up and I'm feeling tired, so I think it's time to sleep. Goodnight!

i stopped an old man along the way, hoping to find some long forgotten words or ancient melodies

Tonight took an unexpected turn. I blame the rain, which has fallen throughout the day, alternating between calming drizzle and apocalyptic downpour. I woke up relatively early this morning, showered, made myself some eggs, and then went upstairs to drink tea/work for awhile. As I was working, the first great wave of rain arrived - the wind picked up, and suddenly it was driving rain into the coworking space more aggressively than I've seen it so far. We all scattered, pulling up laptop and power cords and papers, and pulling tables and cushions away from the west 'wall' so that we could escape the rain.

But once we were all away from the open areas, work resumed. However, I took a long break to talk to Ritu - it was the first official friend chat I've had since I've been here, and it was delightful. Bill joined us, which is fine since he claims he can distill alcohol during the apocalypse for us (I'll believe it when I see it). So we caught up, and I quite enjoyed it, and they seemed to be able to hear me despite the sound of driving rain the background, so that's all good.

Then I ate some nasi goreng (the rice dish I eat all the time here), and then I worked for the rest of the afternoon. But in the evening, I took a break to have dinner with Clayton and Sarah - we went to Pacha Mama (again) because I was desperate to get out of the property, and so we skipped the community dinner. The food was delish, as usual. But I also had two glasses of wine - and then, when it suddenly started pouring and we had to switch tables to avoid getting wet, we all had a third drink. We also ordered the bananas flambe, and I was drunk enough (or social enough) to get the owner/chef to show me how to make them, which meant I got to cook them for us tableside with his oversight. I didn't set any of us on fire, so that was #winning.

Then we tried to leave and come home, but halfway here it was so wet that Sarah and I dashed into Element (abandoning Clayton) and had another drink there while we continued our conversation. Just after we dried off, we finished our drink and it was time to leave, so we ran the rest of the way. But I'm sufficiently dry now, and I need to sleep if I have any hope of being productive tomorrow. Goodnight!