i got up at 9am to the sound of cleaning downstairs. it was the hired cleaner tidying up the place. i grabbed some cereal and watched tv with deanna in the tv room (regis & kelly and the cosby show). besides us, there was just dan left, john and megan and dave having gotten up early to take the train to go back to work in manhattan. when dan got up we thanked deanna for all her hospitality and left, not to go home quite yet, but to visit the long island ikea home furnishing store (hicksville).

ikea! the mecca of home furnishing, every poor home owner's interior decorating wet dream fantasy come true. it was a sensory overload, i didn't know what i wanted to buy, i just wanted to buy everything. in the end, i just settled for a paper lantern desklamp for $10.

for lunch, we went to the on the border mexican cafe across the street from ikea. i had a non-alocholic strawberry margarita, and for the main course we both got the chimichangas, which neither of us could finish after the chips and hot salsa plus appetizer.

our four chamber stomaches filled, we drove back to civilization. although i wasn't sleepy driving to long island, leaving it was a different story. there were times on the highway when i could barely keep my eyes opened, the suv slowly leaning into another lane. sleeping dan had no idea how close he was to dying! when we made it into boston it was right during rush hour traffic so we faced some congestion. we didn't make it back until almost 7pm.

i was suppose to go see a battle of west coast versus east coast indie films at the milky way lounge in jamaica plains with eliza, but she canceled at the last minute. i ended up going anyway because i was already out the door. i've been to the milky way lounge one time before, the indirect result of an after work run with julie through the arnold's arboretum. driving to said location was a different story, my lack of jp geography knowledge plus the fact that it was at night got me lost somewhere in the boston/brookline area. eventually i found the place through sheer driving miracle, just happened to come upon centre street. i didn't recognize the place at first and after parking my car walked 100 numbers in the wrong direction and then backtracked before finally showing up late. after a $5 cover charge and a quick id check i was inside, the place already filled with people sitting in the dark watching some film. i ordered a coke and stood watching some student movie about a stylist contest (you know, beauty school). the second film was this unbearable story about finding an apartment in boston. at least i think that's what it was about. i was expecting found footage but discovered something else, more like really long and boring student films on display. i think it was more of a hangout for my supposed peers, lots of drinking, lots of smoking, swanky shit that i can't tolerated. so i left after only 30 minutes (after i finished my expensive $2 coke of course) and then proceeded to drive home. oh, i mean, proceeded to get lost again and finally get home after some unnecessary wandering. a most unpleasant night in jamaica plains! i was glad to be home, north of the charles river. counting friday when i drove to rhode island, i must've logged about 14 hours worth of driving the past four days.