First off: I started writing a new story today. I'll be posting this one online, just for fun.
For all I know, today was the best day of my life. It was confrontation-less. It followed a manageable schedule. It had no stressful encounters. It featured fantastic weather--hot, but with a strong breeze. The autumn leaves are beautiful. A cooperative attitude about the city, the kind of day where no one plans on doing any harm to one another. People smile and nod back when you pass them on the street. Cashiers are friendly. Friends are cheerful. It was, in the end, of the best days of recent memory.
You have to appreciate days like this, no matter where you are in life. They're rare. Generally, things can't all go your way, no matter how careful you are. I've had days like that. I've probably written about a dozen days like that in the past few months. I think I'm just still coming down from a strange weekend, like how the first day of school seems like it's a bad dream until you come back the second day and realize it's real.
Any day when I don't have to work behind the counter at Old Soul, however, can be considered a good day, no matter how stressful Sacramento Press can be. Work is basically an eight-hour block of my day when I'm unable to make progress. It keeps me from writing, it keeps me from Sacramento Press. It's my cement shoes. So today was already better than usual because it's a day of freedom from the oppression of capitalism. That and I don't have any articles to write.
So I took a walk to look at the trees.
I had a mocha at Old Soul and asked Meredith if she'd want to go to the opera with me on Friday. She's going in to the doctor tomorrow to see her test results, however, so depending on how that goes for her... But she does want to go. I think she'd be fun to go with. I'm excited to go, nonetheless.
Walked to Sac Press around 1:00 after taking all of these pictures. Colleen has a way of seeming incredibly annoyed in her e-mails, but is completely friendly in person. I tend to go into the office expecting her to tell me I've done something wrong. But no. She's always pleasant. Gave me some assignments today and put some pressure on the week--but that's what make life interesting, I guess. Tomorrow I have to go to a city council meeting to hear an argument to allow chicken farming in Sacramento. The organization who supports this is called CLUCK, and that's not a joke. Not to mention I have to write an article about the opera I'm seeing on Friday, which means I shouldn't--but probably will--partake in Meredith's pre-party ritual, if she's able to go, that is. I can't think of who else I'd want to invite. Kirsten doesn't seem the opera type.
I met Max's girlfriend today, Kat, who is ten weeks pregnant and beautiful. Max invited me over to smoke a joint and, after a quick stop in his small apartment (general stoner's decor: movie posters, tons of books, a Wii), we still ended up walking back to my house to smoke in the yard. Kat's become sensitive to the smell and I only live two blocks away, so it wasn't a big deal. It was a quick visit. I'd made plans with Aly to go see Fair Game at the Tower, and I didn't want to be high when she came over, so he was gone by 5:15. It's crazy to meet him at Week 10 of the biggest event of his life. I'm curious to watch that storyline unfold.
So then Aly and I saw the movie Fair Game at the Tower. It was about Valerie Plame's little CIA incident when the government released her name to the public and destroyed her career. A fantastic film, no doubt. Today was the first day of mine and Aly's friendship, I felt, and it went well. She's taken a new job and is fervently looking for a place to live closer to Midtown. I wasn't too high by the time she arrived, either, after spending a half hour in my car listening to the Forest Gump soundtrack on tape. It was either that or a Bush tape, but I've been in an oldies mood since playing Black Ops.
I've also got a hole in my jeans. Perhaps the one bad mark on the day.
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