Little Rivers

Hi.

Not much to say tonight. I'm sitting in the dark, listening to the night sounds outside my bedroom window. Cricket. Cricket. Freight train. Cricket. Scott is chatting with his girl in the next room. I can't make out any of the words through the wall - you know the "Sims" game and how they speak in like a weird, muffled, syllabic language? Sorta sounds like that, interspersed with laughter. I can tell her laugh is from New York. He seems happy.

I've only got another three months here. I can't believe nine months has gone by so fast. For awhile I was letting myself get overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the changes, sinking rather than swimming. I think I just wanted to know where the bottom of the pool was, you know? Now I'm floating, if not swimming, though it seems like those pesky personal projects keep after you until you resolve them. I know I've got a couple loose ends still. I've been sick for nearly three weeks, coughing and the like. I haven't quite gotten up the will to go to the doctor (always an expensive, annoying proposition) but if it keeps up I will have to. At the very least its been a great excuse not to smoke. My pack of Marlboro sits half-smoked on my piano, and has been that way for six weeks. I was amazed that after only two weeks of doing it, I would find myself thinking about smoking, wishing I had one in my mouth. Two weeks. Imagine the people who keep it up.

Things have been good. I am at WQED nearly every day now, working on something or another. Soon I will get paid for the work (or will have to stop doing it). Right now its gratis as I ingratiate myself with the people there. I got this amazing tour today of an Avid Unity system, and it was rather mind-blowing - 16 500GB hard drives networked over fiber-optic cables, delivering 1080i HD to the Avid system. It was beautiful. And surprisingly comprehensible, I might add. I knew what everything was, even the fancy stuff, and I could look at the timeline and know what was going on. I even picked up a couple tricks which I can't wait to try out on my own. HFTH can only benefit from the experience.

I'm working at Apple from 1-7 tomorrow. In the morning Mat and I are working with our dodgeball teammate Julie on planting a garden on Mt. Washington. I don't really do volunteer work like, well, ever, and now I'm plotting to wake up in 5.5 hours to plant flowers to which I am allergic instead of the sweet, tender embrace of sleep which I yearn for like the gods seek virgins. Not that I'm bitter or anything! What can I say, I am selfish about my sleep. I'm sure it'll go great. It will be good to have my hands in the earth.

Does my life sound incredibly boring? I can't decide whether it's at its most exciting or whether it is the caboose on someone else's streamliner. But the things I have, I enjoy - the people I have, I enjoy more. I'm glad it works out like that. I look around at all my stuff (of which I have a LOT) and go, Wow, this is no way cheers me up when I'm bummed out. I've even avoided buying much stuff at the Apple Store, which is hard because man those iPods are slick and I could always use another computer... Money is tight, and after a bit of a panic the other week, I leveled out and got serious about finding work. Not that I'm exactly ready to cut out my soul and leave it on the doorstep of some corporation, nor will I ever be, but I definitely feel motivated to find another job that's going to add some money!

A big shout out to the Doubleshot peeps, who compete for honor and eternal glory in San Francisco!!

Take care. Tend to your little rivers.

Martin