What a Great Day!

Today was a very good start to 2005. The DC weather was incredible -- clear skies and a high of nearly 70 degrees. I slept in, unpacked my luggage from last weekend, cleaned my entire apartment, went running for the first time in months, caught a episodes of Iron Chef: America and relaxed for a few hours. The run was pretty exhausting, but that's what I get for (a) not running in 4 months and (b) running soon after recovering from food poisoning (and, hence, not eating for a couple days). More on that tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I will create my plan for getting back in shape, finish Catch-22, and cook for the first time since last summer.

It's past 3am now, but that's fine when I consider what a great day it was. If it weren't so late, I might actually write some reasonably long posts like I used to....it just seems like I don't have any particularly interesting stories right now. We'll see what I can think of tomorrow...

Mood: Optimistic.
Song: Beethoven, Symphony No. 9: Molto Vivace (2nd Movement)

Happy New Year!

Happy 2005, everyone. I feel good about this year.

Can't Sleep

Insomnia sucks. I'm stressed and have too much on my mind. If only it were Friday; I could stay up ridiculously late without much problem. However, I need to be at work in six hours (!?!), and sometime between now and then I have to actually get to sleep.

Tomorrow = me + caffeine.

Mood: Anxious, frustrated, unsettled.
Songs: REM, "Let Me In" and Radiohead, "TalkShowHost"

Back in DC

I'm back in DC after a full day of flying. And although it's nearly 3am, I'm still on Pacific time and don't really feel like going to bed. Since I have to get up in less than 5 hours, though, I should probably give it a shot.

More reflections online in the next few days. This weekend was a good time for contemplation.

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving.

Mood: Content, reflective.
Song: Enya, "Fallen Embers"

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! Today was a slow, relaxing, very pleasant day. Slept in, helped mom with some cooking, helped dad with some chores, and started my next book -- "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson.

I also got a little bit of fresh Oregon air. Clean, clean, clean. Nothing on the east coast has come anywhere close to it, although that's probably because I've only been in big cities thus far. Anyway, I love being outside while I'm home, and hopefully I'll experience some of it tomorrow.

Mood: Relaxed, sleepy.
Song: George Winston, "Walking In the Air" (aka "The Snowman" theme)

Busy day of flying

I got to BWI this morning around noon. My flight was at 3:30, but I wasn't taking any chances with the DC-area weather and traffic. I checked in and made it through security in about 15 minutes, so I found myself with 3 hours to kill and nothing to do. I went to an airport bar, ordered lunch, and relaxed for a couple hours. Being early isn't exactly common practice for me. Although it was busy, the bar gave me a small degree of refuge from the hordes of people in the rest of the airport.

The flights (BWI -> DFW -> PDX) were pretty standard. Aisle seats both flights. And although I usually try to fly through Chicago since it's a shorter route than going through Dallas, it's good that I didn't -- apparently it was snowing in Chicago and O'Hare was a nightmare. Both flights were completely full, as one would expect for the day before thanksgiving.

As usual, I raced through a book during my flights. This time I finished a book on bioethics, specially human embryo research. Educational for sure, but a little bit more dense than I'm used to.

Bedtime for me. I'm feeling jetlag for the first time I can remember. Usually I'm so tired when I come home (usually at the end of an academic quarter) that I don't really notice the time difference.

Book finished: Ronald Green, "The Human Embryo Research Debates: Bioethics in the Vortex of Controversy."

Mood: Happy.
Song: Toad the Wet Sprocket, "High on a Riverbed"

A Great Day

Today was everything I had hoped it would be: simple, restful, productive.

I caught up on sleep, did a half dozen loads of laundry, cleaned the apartment, cleaned most of the kitchen, and generally finished a bunch of errands I had been hoping to do for a couple weeks. And now I'm getting in bed just a few minutes after midnight, which is surely a major accomplishment for me.

Have a good week, everyone.

Mood: Satisfied.
Song: Acoustic Alchemy, "The Alchemist"