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after a lunch of scallion pancakes and a fruit elixir, i got dressed in my running gear and went outside to get my run on (my last run was 17 days ago). the sidewalks were icy and partially covered in snow (from last night's dusting), but i didn't have any problems running on the potentially slippery surface (running, you only really touch the ground briefly, walking is probably riskier business). i ran as far as concord avenue before i slowed to a dangerous walk down to the charles river, then i picked it up again. midway i got winded enough to go back to a walk, before returning to a run minutes later. it was in this stuttering run/walk fashion that i made it back home an hour later. i downed a can of soda and hopped into the shower. i think i've lost my masochistic streak. i used to love feeling that pain when i ran, it didn't bother me, i had crazy stamina and could keep on pushing myself no matter how much it hurt. now it's not so easy anymore. i think i'm just out of practice. if i keep myself on a running schedule, every other day, in a few weeks i can be back to my old self in no time! pain loving and all!

after the shower, i got dressed and went back outside to mail my unemployment postcard (my days are numbered!), cash a freelance paycheck, and to get a refill on my hbp medication. i came back to the house and put away the recycling bin and the trash can before going inside.

originally i was supposed to go with julie to see an andy goldsworthy movie at the museum of fine arts, but 20 minutes later after the appointed time when she was supposed to come by and pick me up, i called her to discover that she had completely forgotten about the movie, too engrossed in trying to figure out how to do her self-employment taxes which are due in less than a week (quarterly schedule, if you're a freelancer and you don't know this, maybe you should look into it). hearing her so stressed out about it got me worried as well, and i ended up spending an hour on the web looking for tidbits of information. i told a few people this, but i'll say it again: i don't mind paying taxes (expecially if my tax money is used to support americanese hegemony!), but why does it have to be so complicated, why does it have to be rocket science? i mean, i've got a mechanical engineering degree and i can't even figure it out! sometimes i think i'd be better off not paying, just letting the IRS sort through the mess and find me instead. sure i'll pay a penalty, but it'll probably be the same price as if i hired a tax person to do my taxes for me in the first place.

overloaded with information and feeling hungry, i made dinner: pork dumplings with an italian dressing american salad and toasted buttered sliced pumpernickel bread (the ones renata brought over a few days ago, the ones we never got to eat) and rice pudding for dessert. i ate in the living room watching the celtics game (celtics went on to beat the new orleans hornets).

finally, for those who love cats and for those who don't, this is one funny photo i found on the web today.

lights out at 3:30am last night. i decided to get a headstart on the sleep i've been missing after watching an episode of nova on uav's. (headstart because i usually sleep much later than 3:30) 30 minutes later i was still tossing and turning. i don't think it's insomnia, it's just that i'm so used to sleeping at obscene hours of the night, my body wasn't quite ready yet to go to bed. so i got up, turned on the light, did a few minutes of uncomfortable reading (squinting, my eyes hadn't adjusted yet), turned the light back off, and watched the kids on the hall on comedy central. something about canadian humor that puts my mind at ease like a fine sedative and soon i was fluttering in and out of consciousness and fell asleep.

i got up at 10am this morning, which is early. it wasn't really by choice though, i woke up from a call from gary telling me that os x failed to install on his friend's computer last night. i suggested he try installing os 9.2 first. since i was already up, i figured might as well start the day. hopefully an earlier start will put my sleep clock back to normal.

going to bed at 7am and waking up at noon isn't very normal.