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i woke up this morning with a yearning for a yard. "i don't belong in the city," i thought to myself, "i need a nice suburban house with a big backyard that i can walk around in and unwind." one of the things i miss about not living in belmont. sure, i do have a small backyard here in cambridge, but i've already grown bored with it after two seasons. i want a lawn, and i want trees, and i want flowers, and i want vegetables, and i miss the wildlife, however mundane, from the squirrels to the skunks, the bluejays and the cardinals, the ants and the bees. i need a nature excursion. since costa rica, i've just surrounded myself with this concrete jungle. i know it's winter, but winter is no less a part of nature than any other seasons. the city is stifling. i yearn for wide open spaces.

got a roast beef sandwich for lunch from daddy's roast beef on the outskirts of downtown crossing. pretty good, but i've had better. roast beef sandwiches are messy to eat, and i had to get some dental floss from alex after i was done. i thought about going to the supermarket after i got home, flipping through some recipe books for inspiration. instead, i just ate what i had in my fridge, baked a salmon steak in the toaster oven with a spicy mala glaze, cooked up a pot of rice pudding, and sliced a plate of mangos and kiwis. i watched some documentary about hitler on the history channel, which fits well with my late night reading, that battle for berlin book about the russians taking over the german capital during WWII. i also read some of that "journey into power" by baron baptiste (the book mandy's roommate ross let me borrow). it's pretty interesting. i'm not into any of that new age stuff, but i'd be willing to try yoga from a purely fitness perspective. i could care less about spirituality or finding the truth. i think i'm mellow enough (except when i have those rare bouts of commuter rage), don't need anymore relaxing. still, the thought of being in a hot studio surrounded by lithe yoga girls might be too much excitement for me to bear.

the night's still early, i'll probably take a bath, read my entertainment weekly and newsweek in the tub until the magazines get soggy, and call it an evening.