with dana about to pick me up in an hour to deliver the project to the client, i was still working feverishly, fixing a few last minute bugs that sprang up after i created the projector, all the while fielding a phone call from another designer with questions about another interactive. when dana did finally arrive around 11am, i was ready to go, the computer and LCD monitor already waiting in the living room. we drove to MBEL with the hardware and met the client. to our surprise, everything worked fine with the new mailserver settings; a little bit too fine as it turned out, the interactive was sending out everything, even if it wasn't a valid e-mail address. it seemed like a stumbling block, but i opened up the source file and within 5 minutes punched out a simple e-mail error checking function. with everything all set, dana drove me back to cambridge. he intoduced me to nag champa, which he says is the most popular incense fragrance, and gave me a stick he had lying inside the car. when i came home i immediately lit it, instantly transforming my house into a calm oasis of meditation or perhaps a smokey drug den.

i had enough things to do today that i actually wrote down a list. foremost on that list was to finally take off the air conditioner from one of the living room window. it was tough business, i have one of those old-school model that weighs more than it should. i first drained it of rain water before slowly moving it down to the basement (in stages, taking occasional rests so my back wouldn't break). since i was down there, i figured i could test the heater for the eventuality of actually turning on the heat someday soon, but i didn't have anymore clean filters so i held off on igniting it.

my amazon.com order arrived this afternoon: two books, "eyewitness travel guide to china" and the "princeton field guide to caterpillars of eastern north america." the eyewitness guide i saw at borders last week and i knew i had to get it. i don't plan on going to china anytime soon, but after flipping through the guide, i feel like i've already gone. the caterpillar book is the first one i've seen that features photos of caterpillars (up until now, the best caterpillar guide i had was a tiny golden guide with only color illustrations). as much as i love insects, browsing through the book made me feel queasy after seeing so many wormy critters.

a good portion of my day was figuring out what i'd be making for dinner tonight. in the end i pulled a recipe from the october issue of everyday food, parmesan-stuffed chicken breasts. i rode out to market basket on somerville avenue to collect the ingredients. while i was there i also looked for mascarpone cheese (i'm trying to make tiramisu) but didn't have any luck (maybe whole foods or the super star market in porter square might have it). while putting the groceries into my backpack in the parking lot, i saw the most amazing cloud formation, a huge billow of clouds with broad sweeps of rain trailing down. unfortunately i didn't bring my camera, but i did take a paltry image of it with my cell phone camera. i quickly raced home, dropped everything off, grabbed my camera, and went back outside, riding around somerville, chasing after clouds. by then it was too late, the large rain cloud i saw was already gone, but i did manage to get some other cloud photos.

dinner was okay, i think i went a little too heavy on the sea salt, but at least the chicken was cooked just right. the recipe called for stuffing a bread crumb/parmesan cheese/chopped parsley mixture in between the skin of the chicken breasts then baking everything for 30 minutes in the oven. i like recipes that call for some baking or simmering, which allows me to go watch television while the food cooks itself in the kitchen. if i can only get a television in the kitchen though, then i'll never have to leave.

with our lives no longer ruled by the frenzy of red sox nation, we can now devote our attention to all the programming network television has to offer. tonight's line-up included the new model show on the WB; it's the first episode and there's already some crazy cat-fighting and the plus-size girl gets the axe even though i really liked her (probably because she had enough boobage to donate to the other models with still plenty left for herself). later, my name is earl and the office followed by SVU. it's a benson and fin episode, munch and stabler are nowhere to be seen. fin learns his son is gay (and no, he didn't dress gay).