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the house is so clean i didn't even recognize it this morning, it felt like i was sleeping in somebody else's place. it was cold, the temperature had dropped 30 degrees compared to yesterday's high of 62. i stepped out quickly to mail back a netflix dvd and ran into my neighbor jeff walking his dog (which he always seems to be doing right when i go outside). we chatted but i was so cold that i was visibly shaking; jeff kept on talking and i couldn't see an out. finally i just told i had to go back inside because it was too cold. i didn't want to go back outside but i needed some groceries so i braved the elements once more to buy some food. back at home, i ate turkey for lunch and a pair of glazed krispy kreme donuts (star market sells them now) that i warmed up briefly in the microwave (it was like eating cotton, they were so soft).

i went out for a run: pants, turtleneck, fleece vest, gloves. from now until the official start of winter, everyday we lose a minute of daylight, each day getting progressively shorter. it was cold but i've ran in temperature less than 38 degrees before so it wasn't too much of a challenge. last winter alex kates and i ran in -20 degrees weather and i was so sure my cheeks would freeze off. when i came back, i watched the rest of musa, this movie about korean diplomatic envoys traveling through china during the mongol invasion, before taking a shower. i'm not sure if i like musa. the high production value is there, but sometimes there's too much melodrama (the little kid running out during a battle) and each hero that dies gets his own special slow-motion death sequence. i like how there's both korean and mandarin spoken (which might be lost on audience members who can't tell the difference), so there's always the issue of the language barrier between the main characters, but for some reason the mongols speak mandarin as well instead of their own native mongolian language.

i fell asleep on the couch while watching television and decided to take a little nap before dinner. i woke up around 8pm to have more turkey. thanksgiving is not only about spending time with family, but also all your old friends returning home for the weekend. renata and toby were coming by to pick me up around 9pm for a mini-bhs reunion at the b-side lounge and i was figuring out what to wear. i was meeting former classmates whom i haven't seen in a while, and although it was casual, i didn't want to dress too shabby nor did i want to come off too pretentious. i just went with a pair of jeans and a black turtleneck, nothing special (no red pants), with some long underwear underneath to combat the cold. renata and toby didn't show up until closer to 10pm. when we got out of the car i asked renata if she'd taken a nap ("yes," her answer).

andrew and maura were already at the b-side lounge when we got there, waving to us from a booth in the back of the restaurant/bar. this was all the people who'd show up: cynthia was in los angeles and anand was stuck in maine fixing some production issue on his music cd. i'd been to the b-side lounge one other time before a few years ago so when it came time to ordering food i asked for the chocolate fondue. our waitress was an eager-to-please young woman who would periodically come by our table and asked us if we wanted anything, occasionally performing kicks or phantom punches off in the background, seemingly having a good time. one of the girls sitting in the table behind us i recognized right away as this random girl i took a photo of in the back bay in july, her droopy kerry-eyes unmistakeable.

for those who need a refresher on who's who tonight: andrew and toby i know from 5th grade, they were the boys in the other 5th grade burbank elementary school class. actually, toby was also in my 1st grade class, before i moved and went to wellington elementary (later i'd move again). renata i didn't meet until middle school, in 6th grade (renata and i also went to tufts after high school). toby was the only person whom i haven't seen in a while, not since our official 10 year reunion 2 years ago. he looked the same as i remembered him, with the addition of a slight beard. when toby's not in town visiting his family, he lives in new york. maura is of course andrew's girlfriend.

we talked about the good old days, about being 30 years old, about mitt romney's fight with the teachers, about the dangers of drinking too much melted chocolate, about traveling around the world, about working with crazy annie leibovitz, about school field trips to see the great wall, about shows on television (somebody is addicted to the WB network). i passed the camera a few times to renata so she could inspect the photos i took. during the evening renata also peered into her bag and very quickly apply more lip gloss. we all left the place some time after 1am. toby gave me a ride back to my place.

jefferson starship - "we built this city"