February 9, 2005 :00, :15, :30, :45 For some reason, I have always thought of time in fifteen-minute increments. For example, the drive from my house to Laurie's house is about 18 minutes long, but I always leave at 7:30 or 7:45 to get there, because that's the way I think. I'm always about 5 minutes early for work, because I leave 1/2 hour before my shift starts, and the drive (without traffic) is 25 minutes long. Today was busy, and it all fell into my 15 minute mindset. 8:30 AM Wake up. Realize I haven't slept this late in weeks. Decide that two entries, one of which is four pages long and filled with pictures, takes me far too long into the night to consider doing on any sort of regular basis. 8:45 AM Shower. Thrive in the splendor that is the Crabtree & Evelyn Shower Gel. Look at self and see if three days' worth of exercising has made any noticible change in my waistline. Decide that it's a pretty stupid idea that it would have any effect. Check again anyway, just to be sure. 9:30 AM Log into computer. See message from Bernice about Bagel Breakfast. Call her to tell her that I'll be bringing in the school supplies for the Iraqui children, even if I don't get in on time for the breakfast itself. Kind of hate self for calling Bernice, as she sounds thrilled to hear from me. Decide to be very clear about being gay next time we talk. 9:45 AM Drive to dentist's office for initial visit. Find a parking space on the first try(!) 10:15 AM Talk to receptionist at dentist's office and realize that my appointment is booked for tomorrow. She takes pity on me and gives me a cancelled appointment at 2:30 PM. Realize I have an hour to kill before going to see Al for my new contact lenses. Call Laurie's mom to see if she'd like some company. Drive to Laurie's mom's house. 10:30 AM - 11:00 AM Have a nice visit with Laurie's mother. Discuss Laurie's impending move into her apartment, which we both agree will be good for her. Meet "the girl" who helps Laurie's mom organize her things. 11:15 AM Arrive in the center of town; realize I have fifteen minutes to kill before eye exam. Find shirts on a sale rack in front of a store I never visit. They're all imperfect sizes, but they're designer shirts, marked down to 3 dollars apiece! Buy three shirts and one sweater, spending only $12. Go to CVS and pick up school supplies for those poor Iraqui children. Wonder if they'd like colored pencils or magic markers more. Purchase both, just to be sure. 11:30 AM Eye exam! Find Al hot, as ever. Pull out picture of Tom and I that I found in my storage unit and show it to Al. He says Tom looks so much different now (about 60 lbs. heavier and with a beard), but I look just the same. Decide that a crush on a straight guy isn't so bad after all. Put in new contact lenses and...success! I can see as clearly as I do with my glasses. Place the order for my new contacts and walk out into the street, glasses-free and crystal-clear. 12:00 PM Go to Michael's Art Supplies to pick up materials for book-binding project for the upcoming art show, as well as a somewhat secret, multi-media art project that will take place through the mail, on the internet, and in hidden locations (hopefully) around the world. Try to find a book on bookbinding, but only find scrapbooking books ("For a fun look, try pinking shears!"). 12:45 PM Go to Barnes & Noble, where I immediately find three books on bookbinding. Find the one that uses the technique I was taught by my friend Tamra years ago, and pick it up. Also buy Writer's Market 2005 and Eats, Shoots and Leaves, which sounds wonderful. Spend my entire Barnes & Noble gift card (and a little more) on that purchase, but decide it's worth it. 1:30 PM Put all my loot away and heat up leftover chicken for lunch. Find an issue with the not-terribly-secret web project I'm doing with Saundra, and decide to give her a call, rather than communicate through e-mail. Find it very nice to hear her voice and her laugh again and resolve to visit her in Indiana if at all possible this year. 2:15 PM Realize I have to book it to make it to the dentist's, so I put uneaten chicken back in the fridge and drive like a maniac to his office. 2:45 PM After X-rays and much prodding, I am told by the sweet Irish hygenist that my teeth are in great shape, but my gums have too much tartar, and I'm going to have to have a thorough deep-cleaning. She calls in dentist. Dentist arrives and prods my teeth and gums more. Tells me I'll have to fix the cracked crown I have at some point, and also suggests that sometime in the future I'm going to need to have the front tooth that's shifted behind all my other front teeth removed and have braces put in. Feel like a dork for being a 36-year-old man who needs braces. 3:45 PM Go to Foodmaster and pick up tomato soup for dinner, as well as some more clementines, some oatmeal and some Crystal Light. Figure I'm being too healthy, so I pick up some Code Red Mountain Dew, as well. 4:30 PM Get home, put out dogs, check work e-mail. Frantic message from Lara, who thinks the impending snowstorm is going to decimate New Hampshire, where she lives, and she won't be able to come into work to do the interview tomorrow. Call her and tell her that we can reschedule if she can't make it in, but that all the weather reports show that her area will most likely be hit with more rain than snow. She sounds skeptical, and agrees to call my voicemail telling me whether she'll be in or not in the morning, so I can call the temp agency and cancel the interview, if need be. See an e-mail from London IT guy who wants a meeting tomorrow morning about the scheduling request form that I created. Curse Dan for sending the form to the IT guy, because the form I sent the managers needs some updating, and the e-mails the form is to generate aren't written yet. Realize that I'm going to have to do some frantic re-coding and writing of messages tonight. 5:00 PM Leave message on another consultant's e-mail about something off-the record. Decide that anyone who wants to know what that's all about knows how to look at source code. 5:45 PM Mom arrives from the hairdresser's, and we make up a quick dinner, because she has to go out shopping for a baby shower gift tonight. 6:30 PM Put new clothes in closet, set up everything for bookbinding project to be done in the near future, check e-mail once more and realize that a new employee at the Consulting Company is probably an actress I know via Diego and Susanne. Leave her an e-mail saying hello. 7:30 PM Drive to Laurie's house, stopping at 7-Eleven on the way for some snacks and a small bottle of Code Red Mountain Crack. I feel irritated and unnerved at this time, and worry that I'm slipping back into depression. Then I realize that I'm just exhausted from running around and staying up too late last night, so I put on Enya and vow to not work from home next week unless there's a snowstorm and I can't make it into the office on a regularly-scheduled shift. Decide to investigate the idea of getting a massage at the New-Agey place I bought a gift certificate for Diego our first Christmas together. 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM Make Laurie TiVo Lost while I bitch about everything under the sun. Realize that this makes me feel a hell of a lot better, as do a package of Ding Dongs and the aforementioned Mountain Dew. 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM Watch Alias and realize that I'd be happy just to watch the opening credits for an hour straight. Wish I were Jennifer Garner, only not dating Ben Affleck. 10:00 PM - 10:45 PM Watch Lost and realize that J.J. Abrams is either a genius or just really fucked in the head. Realize that Matthew Fox is actually hot when he's wet, fighting, and has his shirt all torn up, but his character is the most boring thing on the planet. Wish for more Sawyer, more Hurley, and more Nice Black Woman Who Thinks Her Husband Is Still Alive. 11:00 PM Bid Laurie adieu and head home, thinking about how to word the thank-you page, the e-mails and fix the form for the scheduling requests. Think about the fact that I have two art projects, three website projects, many work projects and a couple of social engagements filling up my schedule. Decide once again to get that damned massage next week. 11:30 PM - 1:00 AM Work with the scheduling form, which is a pain to hand-code, because I took the code from a freeware site, and I need to adjust it to suit my needs. Can't get the redirect to work right, but decide to leave that to the IT guy (who is supposed to be good at this sort of thing). Write e-mails and thank you page, and send the whole shebang to everyone who is interested in this project, including the European Design Manager, who left me an incredibly long-winded voicemail about his interest in the project and asking me to essentially change the way we schedule documents globally by doing it through the internet. Decide he's full of it, and he can make such a monumental change if he has the inclination and the coding skills, but I'm going ahead with my plan for the site. 1:00 AM - 2:15 AM Write this entry and realize I've stayed up too late again.