Saturday, June 14, 2003

I haven't been keeping up with the journal lately. Work has been boring, the weather has been unusually overcast, my eyes have been itchy, and MUNI switched the awful driver away from our route so our bus has been more on time than I normally expect. Consequently I've had essentially nothing to write about. I've been researching new Web hosting for the School but there are too many options and not enough direction above (yet) regarding the future of our information technology structure, so I can't choose an option that will last us several years. I must choose something temporary because it's the only thing that fits in with the current knowns. Last night I dreamt I was at some kind of amusement park attending some event such as a festival or family picnic. I saw Janelle Carey, a friend of mine from high school. She still had her yellow flipped-back hair and attractive smile. I said hello and she did the same. And Laura Dickens was there, too. We chatted a while, and then I decided I wanted an ice cream cone. No one else wanted one, so I said I'd be back and went to find where the ice cream was being sold. I walked a long time past crowds of people eating picnicky foods at umbrellaed tables with curved benches. It was much farther than I had expected, but eventually I found the place and looked up at the sign listing the flavors. There were about 10, mostly the standards: vanilla, chocolate, and so forth. I choose one called berry and that's when the dream ended. Today was the first sunny day in a long time, so Patrick and I spent the day out. We had cereal for breakfast, but then we went to the Castro for brunch. Patrick had wanted pancakes, so we ate at Baghdad Cafe, but he changed his mind at the last minute and got gumbo with a biscuit and iced tea instead. I got fried chicken, corn, a biscuit, and hot tea. After brunch we got some medical tape for my knee at Walgreens, had tea at the new gourmet tea house on 18th, then hopped over to Cafe Flora for coffee and chai. Patrick read from Dream of the Red Chamber by Tsao Hsueh-Chin. I read and edited fiction for Lodestar Quarterly's forthcoming Issue 5. Bought plant fertilizer at the garden shop on Market, browsed for books in Books Inc. A wonderfully casual day in the Castro. Dinner at home with Patrick: braised cow with green onions and steamed rice. I did the dishes, then gave Patrick a back massage. Did some e-paperwork for some eBay auctions that finished tonight. I made $77 selling stuff we didn't need anymore! Hooray!