What A Piece of Work Is Man

I've been moody the last two days. I suspect work stress and the weather are, in equal parts, involved.  Neither Friday or Saturday were productive days. Both of them involved long naps.  It may be that is just what I needed to try and recharge my batteries which we partly exhausted by the business travel. I do feel a little better as I slide into the evening here.

I watched the opening ceremonies for the Sochi Olympic Games - very impressive, very beautiful and, for me at least, very moving.  The Russian people have a deep and rich history that, if you are a fan of history, you can easily get lost in it.  The heights they have achieved and the tragedies they have suffered bear witness to the full sweep of humanity (and inhumanity).  I'm already enjoying the games this year.  I am not terribly impressed with NBC's coverage, but so far, for the most part, I can ignore the preening.

I didn't do much today.  I had breakfast with Bob and Tony, then stopped by Bob's house to visit for a while, then went wandering.  I made a short stop at the Barnes & Noble on Stevens Creek and San Tomas Expressway but I was only there for twenty minutes so I didn't pick anything up.  There is no way that I can make that kind of decision in a book store in that short of time.  There are way too many tempting things!

From there, I headed up to Outback Steakhouse at the Great Mall and had lunch with Don, then took a walk through that vast Temple of Mammon.  Afterwards, I came home and laid down and took a longish nap.  I didn't really get to sleep, but I did rest and zone for a while.  Dinner was a bowl of cream of chicken soup while I watched the last of the Olympic ceremony.  Now, I have settled in to watch a couple of episodes of America Unearthed, one of my favorite guilty pleasures.

TR is on travel, so I have missed her, even though she has only be gone for two days.  We human beings are amazing things.  We contain within us Walt Whitman's multitude, which is pretty amazing.  We are creatures of such complexity and yet at the same time we are also creatures of simplicity.  What did Shakespeare say..."Oh, what a piece of work is Man...".

The Day After Christmas

I closed out the day with a great little conversation with TR.  It was an excellent capstone on an otherwise beautiful day.  I started the day by sleeping late - I slept until 7:30 AM, which, for me, is late. There was no particular reason for it, other than, well, it felt like the right thing. I may have to do it again tomorrow. 

After I woke up I had a bowl of cereal, a cup of coffee, some wheat toast with jam and I eased into the day with the continuation of my Castle Christmas.  I alternated between watching items off the DVR and cleaning the house. I met Don for lunch at Outback at 12:30, up at the Great Mall, then spent an hour or so walking around the Temple of Mammon and people watching.

From there, I wandered home, stopping for a long walk at the San Tomas Aquino Park, then winding my way home.  Here at home, I took a short nap, then settled in to watch some more DVR, including a couple of Christmas specials. It was right in here that I have that great conversation with TR.  Which brings me right into this moment, here, now - where I am going to watch a little more DVR and then call it a night.

The Map of the Day

Today was a good day here.  I woke to the sound of a crow, outside my window, calling loudly into the pre-dawn.  Knowing how smart crows are, I have not doubt that he flew by, saw me sleeping there, and thought he would amuse himself by startling me awake.  He was quite successful!

I rolled out, made a cup of coffee and a bowl of Special K and settled down in front of the TV where I ended up watching "Hildalgo" on cable.  That is a truly enjoyable movie.  When the movie wrapped, I headed over to the Hickory Pit and met Tony for breakfast.  From there, I ran a couple of errands and then reached out to my friend Don to see if he wanted to shoot some pool.

He did, and we headed up to the California Billiards Club - where it turned out they were having some sort of corporate event and the entire place was packed.  So, we switched directions and headed over to Edgies.  We played five games and Don won four of the five.  The changed I have made in my game are starting to settle in. Though I lost four games, I never lost by more than a shot or two.  The changes in style and the additional practice are paying off.  I am starting to zero back in.  I predict that, after another five or six hours of practice, I will be back to the level I was before and then I will begin to advance beyond that.

(While I was waiting at California Billiards, TR called to tell me a very amusing story that I won't repeat here, but I did want to bookmark in in my online journal here so I would remember it.)

After we shot pool, we went over to the Outback at the Great Mall and met Tony for lunch.  It was a good lunch - I opted for the rib-eye steak and the loaded backed potato.  After dinner we took a walk through the great mall, then I headed home for a quiet evening and nice little goodnight conversation with TR.   Tonight, my plan is to read into the evening and alternate with watching episodes of Continuum, Warehouse 13, and perhaps Longmire.