Totally Sucked In

I think there's a reason that I don't often read for pleasure anymore. It's because I can't stop.

Yesterday afternoon, on a whim, I crossed the street to the bookstore, while waiting for my laundry to dry, and bought a book. Now look what time it is... I was good. I didn't even really start reading until after I came home from work. I think it was around 11. I figured a chapter before bed would be nice. Now it's 4. How nice is that?

As much as I might want to moan and groan, I love being drawn into another world, even if it's only for a while. I suppose I appreciate the escapism. The only moment in the whole novel where the experience failed me? An egregious misuse of "accept" in the place of "except". You never notice good writing until it's missing, and I got jolted right out of fantasy land with that one. My only other regret is that the experience of living that book's world wasn't stretched out over more time.

Don't try this at home

A word to the wise: if you want to avoid looking like a creepy, old grad student (yeah, I know it's hard to avoid your true nature), don't look like this.

3 am hodge podge

3:00 am. It's a nice round number. Something about it makes me smile whenever I'm awake enough to notice. :)

Have I mentioned that I love living eastward of my family? It's nights like these, when I can call my brother at 1:30 in the morning (my time) and not actually wake him up, that I appreciate this the most. Most of the rest of the time, it's simply more convenient for me to call my parents at 11:30 pm my time, 9:30 pm their time, than it is to try earlier in the day when things are still going on.

Speaking of Philippe, he's becoming a stud triathlete. He's competing for CalPoly San Luis Obispo and performing very well. He made up more than 8 minutes on the top swimmer during the bike section of his last race. That's a lot of time over the course of an hour. Over 10%, in fact.

I've played music with a good friend of mine several times this semester. She's a pianist, I'm a clarinetist. Playing music is a wonderful stress reliever, especially given that it's so different from my other activities. Neither of us practices much outside of playing together, but that's the beauty of it: it's an activity that we take seriously enough to derive enjoyment from, but not so seriously that it carries the burden of preparation time.

Of course, it helps that both of us played music seriously at some point in our lives. I love that effort I banked earlier in my life is still paying dividends. No, the notes may not fall under my fingers the way they used to. Nor do I sound as good as I could. But none of that matters when, in the middle of playing a piece, we find ourselves getting lost in the music. There's nothing quite like riding that wave of musical expression where you're simultaneously the creator and the listener, the performer and the audience.

I could devote a whole post to how I interact with music, but I won't. This is the 3 am hodge-podge after all. I also feel like I should have a rousing conclusion to this post, but inspiration eludes me. 'tis early, after all. I guess you'll have to be disappointed. ;)