A Sort of Urban Silence

Okay, I am winding down at the end of the day. I’m sitting in the living room with the patio doors wide open listening to the neighborhood kids play in the courtyard. Most of them are pretty good, but we have one whose volume seems to be stuck on scream at the top of his lungs. The wonders of youth! I remember very well running and screaming at the top of my lungs. At that age that is about the only volume you have. It is not like you have any control over it.

I started the day to day with breakfast with the guys at the Hickory pit. I had a wonderful Santa Fe omelette, which is their special this month. Amusingly enough I just discovered that Dragon NaturallySpeaking and Microsoft word disagree on the proper spelling of the word omelette. For some reason I find that very amusing. In the world of voice recognition software that is just a small example of how difficult the task it is.

After breakfast we made a swing through Fry’s Electronics where I picked up a tiny set of torx drivers to try and fix one of my pocket knives that has slipped off the rail. I am hoping it can be repaired because it is one of my favorite little knives. It may just be worn out though I will know in a short while since I am going to work on it after I finish this entry for my online journal.

From there I swung home and picked up my laundry. I contemplated doing it here at the apartment complex since one set of machines were free but all in all I had six loads so I decided to go down to the laundromat and just do them all at once. That way it only takes about an hour to an hour and a half regardless of how much laundry I have. While I was sitting at the laundromat I wrote a long email to Tony about storytelling based on some questions he had asked during breakfast.

After laundry was finished I came home and folded and hung my clothing. Then, I drove up to Union City, to the Texas roadhouse, to meet Ty and Tony for a steak launch. It’s been a while since I’ve been up there. They have truly excellent stakes. I had a 10 ounce ribeye with a bowl of their chili and a mixed green salad. It was everything I wanted it to be, which is saying a lot for a steak. After that late lunch I headed home and slid into the evening.

I tinkered around the house a bit, but the patio furniture back out onto the patio, set out a new type of bird feed, did dishes, and then settled in with an iced decaf coffee. I watched in episode of mad men, that I watched an episode of the good wife. I love both of those shows. That brings me right into this moment, where I am writing this entry, and getting ready to move into the next task of the evening. It is a truly beautiful Californian night and I’m going to segue into the next part by doing 10 minutes of meditation on the patio. The small army of screaming children has vanished into their own homes with the setting of the sun and so a sort of urban silence has fallen. I’m going to enjoy it.

Simple Notes from Simple Days

It's been a good Christmas vacation so far.  The holiday itself with simple and quiet - Mass, an easy morning, lunch at Holders Country Inn with Don and Tony, then Django Unchained at Century 22.  The faint echoes of A Very Tarantino Christmas echoed through my day.

I can definitely recommend Django Unchained - I'd go so far as to say one of Tarantino's best, technically. Story-wise, I think he will be hard pressed to beat the pair of Kill Bill movies.  But, Django Unchained is definitely worth the price of admission.

Today has been just as easy going - I had breakfast as Goodies II on Bascom, then ran a couple of errands, then came home for a lazy afternoon of movie watching on television and incidental house cleaning, with a focus on the living room, which is not reconfigured into my final winter configuration.

I've spent most of the evening so far watching "RED" with Bruce Willis, which is an amusing movie with an excellent cast.  I may watch another movie off the DVR tonight, or I may settle in and read some more in "The Prince of Thorns".  I haven't made that decision yet.

I had a nice little exchange with T.R. tonight, who is safe in the bosom of her family, telling stories into the evening.  Story-telling is an art and it is carefully nurtured.