I think it’s Thursday. …

I think it's Thursday. Frankly, I'm not sure -- the week has blurred a bit, and Kevin doesn't have a calendar in his apartment. (Yet.) Travelling messes up my time sense, and I've been working such insane hours for the last few days (tech writing crunch deadline) and getting so little sleep that I don't know if I'm coming or going. (What a neat phrase; I always wanted to use that phrase. :-) Mostly I've been not doing either; I've been sitting at Kevin's desk with two computers cheerfully whirring away in front of me (Mac and IBM), feeling like a total geek. Which is pleasant in some ways but boy, I need to get out a little. I can't imagine doing this 60-80 hours a week, as some of my friends do. *And* my arms were definitely hurting after the 14-hour day I pulled on Tuesday.

Now we will invoke the anti-RSI beneficent spirits. All hail!

Okay, I'm feeling slightly goofy this morning. Maybe it's just exhilaration from having time to write journal entries again. Maybe it's the satisfaction of having gotten a lot of work done. Maybe it's knowing that Clean Sheets will be up soon (I think we're aiming for updating every Monday). Maybe it's just the higher altitude.

One nice benefit of not having time to do anything, including cook, is that Kevin took me out for dinner the last two nights. Last night was an Indian place, which was fine, though the Aloo Gobi (potatoes and cauliflowers and stuff) and Saag Paneer (spinach curry with cubes of cheese-like stuff) were neither as hot as we'd requested. Not even very close. And everything was a little too oily. Tuesday night was the prize -- Bangkok Thai, out east in Foothill Village, where we got the level 4 heat (Authentic) (not being foolish enough to go for the top level (5, Challenging)), and very happily ate a lot of rice to counteract the burning. Kevin's dish, a curry with potatoes and carrots and onions, had a more pervasive heat, while mine, a stir-fry with chicken and beans and hot pepper, was more biting. Both excellent, and we'll definitely be going back. They also gave us something like twice as much food as the Indian place -- why *are* Indian restaurants so chintzy with their portions? Kevin theorizes that it has something to do with those oval metal serving dishes they all use -- but then the question becomes *why* do they use them? (Note that we are gracefully skipping over the question of why we like having the roof of our mouths seared off...)

Today I plan to take it mildly easy. We went to Borders last night and I picked up a few classic sf books, and I hope to read at least one of them today. I do want to get started on another tech writing project which involves transcribing an interview tape to start out -- which reminds me that I need to write the web page designer and find out what platform she's on. Right. And I'm going to walk to the grocery store (I don't think I've walked more than two blocks at a time in the last three days, ick) and I'm going to cook dinner later. Not sure what, but something. And I might make hoppers for breakfast. Or maybe I'll do that Saturday morning, since Kev teaches tomorrow morning. Anyway, should be fun -- cooking is therapeutic.

And it's October. I like October -- somehow it has a lot of character as a month. A definite shift from September, a holiday to give it spice -- but not so big a holiday as to overwhelm it -- a bite to the air. In Connecticut, the leaves should be turning now, turning and falling and being raked up in huge red-orange-gold-brown piles, perfect for jumping. Faces are getting a little ruddier from the chill in the air, and warmer clothes are coming out. The air is crisper in October.

Funny how distinct it feels, when I haven't actually lived in a New England autumn in nine years.

October Song

and the ants go stomping, thump thump thump
and the people go scurrying, rush rush rush
and the wind is blowing
the leaves are falling
the sky is clear and sharp and blue

and the windows are closing, thump thump thump
and the birds are flying, rush rush rush
and the blood is flowing
the woods are calling
I'd like to walk in the woods with you.

*****

A bit of silliness to start your month. :-)

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