today was cold enough that skin start hurting just after a few seconds of outdoor exposure. so of course it was the perfect weather to leave the warm confines of my house and venture out into the bitter coldness to have lunch with james in chinatown, who was in boston starting on his new job. we went to the noodle alcove, where for around $5 you can have a hot bowl of hand-drawn beef noodle soup. i was there first and grabbed a table while waiting for james to arrive. the owner recognized me and we exchanged greetings. i had the beef noodles, james tried the seafood. we talked about james' new job, the patriots, and diablo. after lunch he went back to work while i went to downtown crossing to check out the two bookstores for a book of southeast asian maps. i went to the bath & body works to buy some translucent soaps, and when i came out i bumped into kristine, on her way to her second interview of the day after hitting the sale at H&M. what are the odds of meeting two former squid employees? when i couldn't find my book in downtown crossing, i came back to harvard square to search some more, but when that turned up nothing as well, i returned home.

since it was still early, i went out running despite the cold. even with 4 layers it was still painful. the whole time i kept on thinking how much a mistake it was to go out again and that i should return home. my legs were completely numb, which forced me to run faster to speed up the circulation. i saw a dead sparrow, frozen rigid, like a child's toy on the sidewalk. occasionally i do see some interesting wildlife around the charles (not the dead kind): there was a red-bellied woodpecker sitting in a tree trying to keep warm. once i got home i thought i had frostbite down there, it felt ice cold and there was no sensation. there was so much shrinkage i thought i had koro. only after 30 minutes of thawing was i able to take a shower. i'm probably going to swear off running when the wind chill is negative degrees.

a copy of the station agent had arrived from netflix. i watched it while eating a pair of hot dogs for dinner followed by several clementine oranges for dessert. it was almost exactly a year ago that i saw the movie in the theatre. it's a nice little movie with a conclusion that just ends, but that's just the way it's done in independent films.

bu, naq urer'f n terng fgbel, gryy zr vs lbh urneq guvf bar orsber: v unir guvf sevraq lbh frr, naq ur fbeg bs unf guvf pehfu ba guvf ernyyl terng tvey jub ur xabjf gbgnyyl unf ab vagrerfg va uvz, lrg ur cvarf njnl fgvyy, engure cngurgvpnyyl, hagvy bar qnl ur svanyyl frrf jung'f orra unccravat...

i'm starting to get that feeling that another night of insomnia is in store for me.