i wasn't dreaming, renata really did call me this morning to let me know that she wouldn't be able to go to the movies tonight even though she said she could in her e-mail reply earlier this morning which i'd yet to read. "no, i was going to wake up anyway," i lied to her. after the call, i checked the time (8:10) and went back to bed, sleeping in the guest bedroom once again. for me, it's like camping. with two bedrooms, when i get bored of one, i can always switch to the other. one of my few recollections of camping was in the 4th grade (1984), my father pitched a tent in the backyard for a whole season (we never used it though, even back then i didn't like "roughing" it), when we took it down there was a huge yellow square of dead grass below and i saw earwigs for the very first time. because of that, in my mind i always associate tents with earwigs.

i think i went to bed last night at 3am, after reading some emily dickinson poems (what do you do to go to sleep?). so at most i got 6 hours of sueño dulce, not quite enough. that meant i was drowsy at work the whole day, which affected my ability to concentrate and do my job effectively. thank god i wasn't operating any heavy machinery, the most amount of damage i could've caused would be crashing headfirst into my keyboard from suddenly losing consciousness. katrinka's cat snickers wasn't helping either: during our monday staff meeting, she sat on the table and tried to hypnotize me with her slanty cat eyes.

i wanted to go running, but after the meeting, the sky went scary dark, and it looked like it'd rain any minute, which it did. i decided to do some grocery shopping instead, first going online and finding a recipe to make for dinner tomorrow night (mee krob, or thai crisp fried noodles). later, i went to the upstairs chinatown eatery and got some thai basil chicken from rod thai. the chinatown eatery has a real seedy quality about it. i've seen cockroaches climbing the walls and one time mandy swore she saw a mouse run across the floor. nevertheless i keep on coming back because it's convenient and fast. it wasn't very fast today however, but i waited patiently, my folded umbrella dripping water on the floor, one arm propping up my head, watch some other people eating. a few times the thai chef would smile at me from behind the kitchen and nod, reassuring me that my food would be ready soon. when i got back to the office and tried the thai basil chicken, it was surprisingly good. the serving was way too much though, i ended up finishing all the chicken and tossing the leftover rice.

rod thai

chinatown eatery

thai basil chicken

i almost fell asleep riding the crowded subway with my earplugs. fortunately i was still able to hear the train conductor announce at harvard square that the train would be going express to alewife. there was a collective groan from the people on the subway as half of all the commuters got off. i cut through harvard courtyard and walked home, stopping off at star market to get some more groceries. i thought about running now that the rain had stopped (and especially after seeing so many other people running), but i was just too tired. it's weird coming back to an empty house. i still keep on thinking my former roommate will just show up somehow. i'm not used to having all this privacy back, but i could get used to it. a letter from my doctor said my blood works came back and i have an excellent cholesterol profile, cholesterol 171, LDL 115, HDl 45. not sure what the normal is supposed to be, but my doctor seemed happy enough. i had some rice noodle ramen for dinner, along with some watermelon and a flan.