i got out of bed an hour early to see if i can find the rest of my ingredients at the super star market in porter square ("super" in that it's bigger than the star market across the street, and with greater selection). i'd slept only 3 hours, going to bed last night close to 5am, the day already getting light by the time i fell asleep. at the supermarket, i couldn't find fresh tarragon so i had to settle for a container of dried. i also found where they hide the smoked salmon, not in the fresh seafood aisle, but rather in the lunch meat and bacon aisle. one last thing, a carton of juice (passion fruit), since julie doesn't do orange juice (which is what i have at home). i paid using the self service check out then grabbed the train into boston.

at the office i put all my groceries in the fridge and went about my work. this four day work week is actually a bad thing since we have a delivery deadline at the end of the month, and because of patriot's day yesterday, we have even less time on the schedule to finish the project.

i was feeling the effects of yesterday's 5 hours standing in the glaring sun (not so glaring because of the haze, but that's usually when the sun is at its most dangerous, when you don't really know it's there). my skin felt dry and leathey and when i scrunched my face it'd hurt and the wrinkles would stay, my skin having lost its elastic properties. i looked healthy though, a brownish glow to let people know i didn't spent the weekend all indoors.

i went running today with kristine and alex, i think the first time this year that all three of us have ran together. alex almost couldn't go because he didn't bring his running shoes, but kristine let him borrow her shorts and her spare sneakers, although he had to keep his black socks on. temperature was at least in the 50's and i felt very energized, very light on my feet, perhaps inspired by the marathon runners yesterday. we went around the charles river, stopping briefly when we got to memorial drive to gawk at this 2 feet long blackish grey carp swimming in the water. when we got back i went to al capone's to get a slice of onion pizza.

towards the end of the day i was getting really sleepy, having slept only 3 hours last night. if there was ever a day to drink coffee, today would be the day. i was happy to go home and have julie come over, but wasn't looking forward to cooking. in my tired state i accidently drew on my khakis with my black pen when i shuffled down a seat on the train, ruining a perfectly good pair of pants.

i started cooking as soon as i got home (perhaps just to get it out of the way), a little bit before 7pm (julie would arrive in 30 more minutes). i started cooking the wild rice and making the appetizers, slices of smoked salmon on water crackers sprinkled with capers and chopped onion. when julie arrived, i was already cooking the slices of chicken breast on the large frying pan and the rice was done. i pointed out the appetizers to julie and she made this face and said she doesn't eat raw fish, which just meant more smoked salmon for me! once the chicken was ready, i made the sauce, a blend of balsamic vinegar, sour creme, tarragon flakes, and a scoop of tomato paste. it had an interesting taste, sour from the creme and the vinegar, yet at the same time a minty licorice taste from the tarragon.

we ate while watching the red sox game (which was boring), then switched to a two hour nova special on the population explosion and how it affects the environment, with a whole hour devoted to the question of china and its steady increase in affluence and consumption. next came a new episode of queer eye, the volleyball coach dad, served with dessert, ice cream drumsticks. the dad lost me early on when it was revealed that he's a golf fanatic. he was lacking a certain hipness that made watching him tranform (just a little bit) somewhat of a chore. julie gave me copies of all her marathon photos, and i gave her copies of mine in return.

i got 3 hours of sleep last night, too tired to write an entry, even accidently wrote on my pants on the subway coming back home. going to get a good night's sleep, will provide all the sordid details tomorrow night.