Expenditures of time and money

Am I the only one who finds it odd that anyone still stops by here from day to day? That Google Analytics-proven fact generates a small buzz of daily guilt in the back of my head. It would be a bigger buzz, I suppose, except that I know that my failure to post new content here hasn’t been a function of laziness; I’m not filling idle hours with non-writing activities. I’ve simply had no idle hours.

I love that I have work, and I love the work I have. But I’m learning the ropes still, and for a variety of reasons—including an online sale over the long Thanksgiving weekend—I’m buried in orders that I’m trying to get out the door in something like a timely fashion. I don’t think I left work before seven in the evening a single night last week, and by the time the bus got me home, I’d have just enough energy to unroll my sleeping bag onto the couch and collapse.

The mornings have gotten earlier, too: as of this Monday past, I start my mornings at the gym up the street. This has given me more energy overall, but does require that I discipline myself to earlier bedtimes.

That long Thanksgiving weekend generated a good bit of fun as well as the backlog of orders. Having stocked up on the requisite provisions, I began the day, as personal custom dictated, with a ritual viewing of the Macy’s parade punctuated by trips to the kitchen to check on Chex mix and pie and turkey and the rest. Only one roommate stayed home for the day to join me for the feasting in the early evening, so we both ate exceedingly well and enjoyed leftovers for days afterward.

My parents rolled into town the day after Thanksgiving and spent the night in North Hollywood. We ate and visited and ate, went to the LA Zoo, met a cousin of mine to eat and visit more, and hiked from the Ferndell entrance to Griffith Park up to the observatory on a sparkling clear Saturday afternoon: the view from the ascent stretched from the Hollywood sign clear out to the ocean.

Last Sunday I rested up in preparation for the monster work-week just concluded. Then followed the monster work.

And yesterday I bought the scooter pictured above. Having become convinced, over the last month of getting around town by bus, that a scooter would best fit my particular transportation needs, I stopped by the exceedingly well-reviewed NoHo Scooters, and left some while later with a 2009 Genuine Buddy 150. And some new debt that I prefer not to dwell on. The bike is cute as heck and a joy to ride. It will be even more fun to ride when I can do it legally, which will be in a few weeks, when I’ve gotten my M1 motorcycle license. I expect I’ll continue to make good use of LA’s public transportation system, especially as we descend into the colder and wetter winter months, but it’ll be very nice indeed not to live absolutely chained to the bus schedule and routes. (Which have proven mildly problematic with these late evenings at work.)

Also featured in the picture above is my new home, known to its residents at Casa Lima. I’ll continue to freeload as a couch-surfer for the rest of December; on 1 January I’ll move into a room of my own. I’ve paid my deposit, and am excited to take my place officially in the house.

Is that news enough? Probably doesn’t make up for my long silence—not the one just past, and not the one sure to follow this—but it may be somewhat rewarding for the persistent souls who continue to check in here.

I’ve made incremental progress in getting the old Midorikai journal back online, and no progress at all for many, many days in turning that journal into a (theoretically) readable book. Which I do, I assure you, still mean to accomplish. Time has been short, but January promises to offer some relief: opportunity to make headway on personal projects.

Oh, yeah: the new header photo on this page? That was taken at a friend’s truly memorable fiesta-themed birthday party two or so weeks ago. Wish I’d written about it. Then again, the picture tells you most of what you need to know.