18 nov 01

Got a lot of writing done this weekend, but I'm a little worried about what will happen when I leave for vacation on Friday. Hopefully I can get ahead on the plane. This novel writing thing has been an interesting experience, not the least because it's caused me to reread and therefore think about a lot of forgotten things. I've also finally allowed myself to start thinking about the trip I'm taking to California. The last time I was there was almost exactly two years ago, November 1999. Not long before I left for that trip a friend of mine told me that everything was going to be changing for me, as if he had the inside track on my destiny or something. Thing is it turned out to be true, and when I got back from California everything did, in fact, begin to change. And because I'm a sucker for patterns and symmetry I can't help but think about that now as I prepare for this vacation. Of course, I'm not expecting my life to instantly go topsy-turvy upon my arrival, I'm just thinking about how much I really don't want it to.

It was exactly two years ago, November 18, when I found my first white hair. I was staying with my friend Lars in Oakland at the time and in a panic I ripped the hair out of the middle of my head. Now I just leave it there and try not to pay attention to it. I think that might have been the same night that I received what may very well be the most humiliating email ever to make its way into my inbox, but we'll just leave that one alone.