may my upstairs neighbor's house guests die a horrible death. it started last night, the running around and what seemed like the sounds of ball bouncing. where they playing basketball upstairs? who knows. then it started again this morning, interrupting crucial beauty sleep. they may be morning people but i'm definitely not. all that running around, i assumed there must've been a small child involved. a small child with inconsiderate parents who don't seem to realize there's somebody living downstairs. a certain somebody who was thinking a million different scenarios where he would break down the door and tell them all to STFU. when i caught a glimpse of the guests outside, it wasn't just a single child, but multiple children. children who like to run around and bounce balls in the house. i hope they're only staying for the weekend, because if this continues, somebody will have to die.

at least there was plenty of food in the house. i finished the box of crispy fried pork (i still had another box i was taking to belmont) and had some more chinese pastries. i split my leftover lasagna into more manageable chunks and froze half of it while leaving the rest in the fridge.

i'm not big on shaving, although i've foregone my trademark goatee since the start of the summer. i still like to keep a manageable face of stubbles though. when i do need to shave, i use my braun 6550 electric shaver. what it lacks in smooth shaving it makes up for in convenience and elegant aesthetics. i've had for a long time, since college i think, so it kind of has sentimental value (like many objects in my house). so imagine my grief when i noticed the LCD power display was stuck at zero, meaning it wasn't charging. it still works, but only if plugged in. crafty german design made the shaver so that it's impossible to open so i couldn't replace the rechargeable battery inside. a search of the internet revealed no solutions. however, when i turned on the shaver with it unplugged, it worked fine, despite what it read on the LCD display. so maybe it's just a display error.

i caught 30 minutes worth of the new USA network drama white collar, starring that guy who played bryce larkin on chuck. white collar is pretty much catch me if you can made into a cable television series. it's one of my new favorite shows.

in belmont i checked on the progress of my drying caladium tubers and gladiolus corms. pretty soon i'll pack them away in vermiculite and store them for the winter. something i ate earlier didn't quite agree with me as i made several trips to the bathroom. i had this bloated feeling and i had a mild stomach ache. i watched the patriots game, live from london. their opponent was the still-winless tampa bay buccaneers. it was a lopsided victory for new england, but at least the bucs managed to score a single touchdown. if this special exhibition was to showcase how great american football is to the english audience, i don't think the NFL succeeded because it was a pretty boring game, unless you're a fan of blowout wins.

i caught somebody on ebay using one of my photos to sell his stuff. it was an auction for a buck knife, and the seller made it seem like his knife was a part of my collection. despite his disclaimer that the photo is only a sample, it's pretty misleading. plus, he used my photo without permission! the only reason why i found out about it was i was trolling ebay for another buck knife and came across my photo. he made the mistake of linking directly to my site though, so all i had to do was swap out the original with a new image, a blurred out photo with the disclaimer that the seller stole my photo and shouldn't be trusted to do business with. i could've easily gone nastier, but here's hoping he'll learn his lesson.

after dinner i returned to cambridge. i had my saddlebags with me, which gave me some additional storage space, so i didn't need to carry everything in a backpack, which is an uncool look on a cruiser motorcycle. first thing i did when i got back was to play another hour of metroid. finally blew up the second turrent at north jungle court. i'm currently stuck in boss mode fighting mogenar, the war golem.

ah, it's mad men! are you feeling as cathartic as i am? the climax we've been all waiting for since forever: betty finally confronts don about his secret, and he finally tells her everything. i was afraid of what she might do, but this might actually bring them closer together. don draper cried! don't think i'd ever see that. and it sucks to be the other woman, waiting in the car all day until finally getting the hint and slinking back home on foot. and good news for joan too, her excuse for a husband finally seems to be getting his act together, and joan can finally have the life she's always dream of.