ends are always beginnings

weather: sunny, but windy.

today was the final hurrah on a lovely (read: relaxing) weekend. i say this because not only was it the start of yet another work week, but because the next three weekends i will be galavanting around this country (and enjoying being everywhere but in san francisco and at work). ahh! i need the break like i never thought i'd need it. i am giving myself rsi in my wrists from typing emails, writing code & playing games (don't laugh, it's my job). but long before even that, i burned myself - now i'm just a little nub of smoldering embers hoping that a big ol' breeze doesn't blow in & knock me out.

working full time really sucks. no matter how much i enjoy the work, it's a lot crappier when you can't control your schedule. i don't want to be inside working when it's sunny out and outside playing when it's dark and cold. that's totally ridiculous to me. i'd rather bust my ass all evening long just to have my sunny days to go outside and play. now i cherish walking outside to get lunch - just to stretch the legs, rest the eyes, and feel the warmth of the sun on my skin (assuming, of course, that i'm not standing in the cold, dreary shadow of an extremely tall building downtown. of which, there are many).

but alas - today is the start of the last week of humdrummity for a month... thursday i'm off to LA. sunday, bay to breakers. the following weekend, florida (birthday parties & fishing trips & family). then amber rolls into town. then i'm off to WHOI to see brian... and when i finally get back it will be SUMMER! (not that that means anything in this frickin' town, but it's nice to say). ahh mmm yes, to end is just to begin!

rock stars

weather: cool, windy.

first - here's a big shout out to amber for graduating from CU, yestiddy! yeah! she's done up and gotten herself all edumacated, like. fancy shiiite. what a blazin' family i done got. nice work, cuz.

so yeah. let's change tracks. let's talk about making friends. i haven't quite figured out the nuances of dealing with new friends again. i'm getting better of course - 7 times out of 10 i can find some way to entertain myself through socialization with others. yet there always seem to be those empty evenings that sneak up so stealthily... creeping in like those dark shadows late in the afternoon, which bring cold breezes blowing up from the ocean, and you realize you forgot your hoodie, and now your arms are covered in goosebumps, and no one has a jacket to spare...

it's funny to think after all these years i've just come full circle and have to teach myself to make friends again. is it a confidence thing that keeps me from calling my new pals here? or is it just that i'm tired of always doing the calling? am i vain to hope and wish for that day when people take the initiative and call me? or maybe i'm just being a big baby. chicken. scaredy cat. meow.

ok let's change tracks again. i watched ocean's eleven tonight with catfoooo. such lovely men in that movie! mmm. george. matt. brad (do i sound like US weekly?). there was just so much luv-lyness caught on those splices of film!

& good news - i get to go to LA next weekend for work. there's a big games conference (E3) that i am going to catch the tail end of. i can't wait! i've never been to LA, let alone a games conference. i have a feeling i will hate the city. but i'm curious.

like lightning

weather: warm, windy morning. cool, foggy night.

i got my bike fixed this week! i took the ol' track bike into the shop (after many years of neglect, not entirely my own) and got 'er all spiffed up. new tires. had a back wheel built special, with a track bike hub. bolted into place so no one can steal it. won't slip. chain stays nice 'n taught. new brakes and cables. replaced the nasty, corroded shifters with sleek, shimano brake levers. rewrapped the ol' handle bars. oooh yeah. she flies now!

ahhhh the ol' phinney. my third leg. my transport. my vessel.

late night tv

weather: warm & mild.

mad props to allison for passing her test today and becoming a CILSW! (that's a certified independant licensed social worker for those who don't know). boo-yah, she rocks. nice work, sis!

nor cal *

weather: fantastically hot, sunny & dry.

this weekend: went surfing in santa cruz (yesterday) and on a bike ride in marin county (today). it couldn't have been nicer with all the spectacular sunshine. ahhhh. sun!

'twas an awesome day surfing, even after my arms gave out and i couldn't paddle any longer. i noticed, as i waited for the next hint of waves, that i could sit there forever with the sun on my face - my body sprawled out on my board, wearing nothing but a dopey grin, licking the salt off my sun-dried arms for nutrition... blissful.

& a sea otter swam past us all non-chalant

but the waves in santa cruz were much less impressive than i was hoping for, this being california (the mecca of surfing in the u.s. of a). although, i guess they were the perfect size for people of our, um, experience level. lets just say that phil, cynthia, jake & myself don't exactly "shred". it wasn't so much that i was horrible - just that i never felt a need to stand up on my board. catching waves and riding them on my knees had a greater return than wiping out every time i tried to stand. more rides, less wipe-outs. simple math.

at any rate, i also took the beach-going opportunity to restock my flip-flop collection. added blue and pink to the mix.

afterwards, there was a little bbq action in jake's backyard... we bet pretend cash $$$ on the kentucky derby, then trekked our tired bones back to the city to celebrate pete's big three-oh. which is a whole other story involving stripper clowns and the beach boys. perhaps for tomorrow.

because right now, my body feels extremely full - of food, lactic acid, sunshine, drowsiness, agitation, everything except for water. it's a weird sensation because i've noticed in these instances that my body actually becomes a separate self, its own entity, entirely Other. alien. !me.

btw way, separate thread, i really hate when you visit a website (a valid site) and get the 401 page error: "this page not found". i mean, it really irks me! i have no patience. must be my old age.

time to go read the Times from my cozy bed and then fall asleep.