Yesterday a morning came, a smile upon your face

I met up with Mara earlier today. She was upset, had been for a few days. I knew it was about the guy she's been seeing. We talked about it for a while. I learned that the relationship, while seemingly going well, has her feeling anxious and uncertain. It started rapidly and hasn't slowed down. Mara, and I know this from experience, benefits from a relaxed, comfortable pace. Her over eagerness is usually the result of not wanting her partner to get bored with her and leave her. By the sounds of it, this guy she's seeing is cut from the same cloth. Slow it down, folks, and all will be. Unless, of course he gets bored and leaves her.

As much as she seems to be into her new guy, it also seems that she's still into me on some level. That's all I'll say about that, but I'll be keeping a close watch of the situation. Anyway, it was good seeing her today; haven't seen her in over a month. We walked over to the new bakery on Highland. At Spira's recently, I tried a brownie from there and it was damn tasty, so tasty, in fact, that I thought about it the next day. "Mmm, that was a good brownie", was the extent of the thought. So, today, after holding back for a couple of weeks, I got myself a brownie. So good. The baker was nice, too. Very merry. It's the way all bakers should be.

Back at Mara's place, we watched a bit of Herzog's Bad Lieutenant before she had to go meet with a couple she whose wedding she'll be shooting. As she was preparing to leave, she showed me a picture of the couple. "Do you know them?", she asked jokingly. I had seen the picture before, but this time, upon closer inspection, it seemed as if I did at least know the groom. "He looks familiar, actually", I said.

After learning his last name, I realized I had gone to high school with him. He graduated a year ahead of me and, though I didn't know him, I knew of him. He was in a rap group called X-caliber and went by the name Lord Plourde. My friends and I always found the whole thing pretty comical, which is probably the reason I still remember him. Mara begged me to walk into Starbucks, where the meeting was to be held, and go up to the guy, all the while pretending I don't know Mara, and say "Excuse me, sir, but aren't you Lord Plourde?". I have to admit, I thought about doing it. It would have been sublime, but I had other things to do and passed. Mara later confirmed through a text that he was indeed Lord Plourde. Sean, if you're reading this, I hope you're laughing.

Late last night, I watched The White Ribbon. I enjoyed it immensely!



I thought about it here and there today. It's that type of film. Who perpetrated the evil that settled over the village? Was it the children? Was it the pastor? The doctor? I have my ideas, but Haneke, the director, just like he did with Cache, never spells it out. At least not overtly. The movie worked so well, I'm kind of glad I don't know. There is an undercurrent of the seeds of Nazism beginning to grow, but that, as well, is not spelled out, merely implied. Check it out and don't let the subtitles dissuade you. It's effin' good.

Went over to Union Sq. to see Pat's band play last night. My intention was to get some dinner first and then walk over to the club, but I ran into Pat almost immediately and he whisked me away to meet his band before they went on. Good show. Not a huge fan of the singer's voice, but whatever. During the show, Craig met up with Rich at my place. I joined up with him later. We walked over to Soundbites so I could eat a late dinner. Veggie burger, son - good times!
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It sucks to have to relegate someone to the "May As Well Be Dead" section of the mind, but, in my case, it's sadly necessary. Can't say I saw this one coming, but I'll adapt. What else can I do?

On that note, I'm going to go steam some chicken and cilantro dumplings and try to get over the sloppy and not very good (ostensibly) fresh spring rolls I had earlier. Oh, Trader Joe's, are you beginning to lapse in the quality control department? Say it ain't so!

Quick note: As I was wrapping the last paragraph up, a fragment of a dream I recently had came into my mind. I was listening to Yes in some kind of ephemeral void. Very pleasant. I remember thinking Yes was one of the only groups that could be played in that frequency. Hmm....

Okay, I'm out, bitches.