(no subject)

Outside there are trees roaring white noise in the wind, and the soft soothing patter of rain. Periodically the patter gets louder, faster, more insistent. It's a good night to be indoors, away from the howling wetness, unless of course you are one of those people that occasionally like to emulate that scene in the Shawshank Redemption when Andy finally escapes.

Drifting in and out of slumber on the green loveseat (which is shockingly cozy once camouflage blanket is added to the equation) and with that Train song everyone got sick of last year stuck in my head (I don't listen to the radio much and therefore I'm allowed to like it) l remember all the times when I've just sat in a window or sprawled somewhere and just listened to the rain. In my room at "home" such noise would be accompanied by the muted noise of the street outside, the pound of a faraway stereo somewhere, a car alarm or two, and every ten minutes or so, the doppler-pitched roar of a subway train screaming through the open cut not two hundred feet from my window, either slowing to pull into the station a block away from my house, or accelerating towards the next stop and Manhattan. At Smith I would sit in Lamont's dining room and listen to the fat syncopated rattle of raindrops on the roof as I either attempted to study or ate some late night delectable. Two of the last three houses I have in some way occupied, including our current residence, were heavy on the gables and magnified the sound of rain. I don't know what I've been thinking at all of these points, but I do know and remember how the sound of a downpour enters my ears and permeates my soul, gently cooling the fires of worry I sometimes find myself mired in every so often. Tonight is no execption, both in the worry and in the cooling effect.

It's nights like this that I wish I had both my license and a vehicle that's not mortally offended by my presence behind the wheel. I don't have a destination in mind or anything, but travelling gently and carefully over wet road, wipers slowly thunking back in forth in syncopation with whatever's playing softly on the radio (now it's "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes") is a comforting thought. Probably from way too many nights in the car with my mother, returning home to the city from goodness only knows where.

I should sleep more, as jaicat and I are due to leave early tomorrow (today) for the City. Probably won't happen at this point, as I'm once again wide awake, but in principle, I figured I'd mention. Teh brain is a bit full for sleepage right now anyway.

Off to NYC...

Kitty and I depart, amidst Ivan shitting all over the Northeast. Fun!

(yes, that is sarcasm.)

Talk to y'all's later.

invalid page fault

You know, a long time ago in a galaxy far away I took a class on operating systems and therefore knew exactly what a page fault was. Damned if I know now. Stupid sieve brain.

Today was... an interesting adventure, starting with the drive down with jaicat and hey, ho, the wind and the rain nearly all the way down. Ivan was kicking up quite a rumpus down I-91 and I-95, obscuring both signs and trucks in the right lane. "I think it's raining," I commented to her as we were driving though a particularly bad bit; she shot back with "Really? Why don't you stick your head out and check?"

I love that ball of dinkoliciousness some days. we laughed about that all the way back.

The reason why we'd left so early in the first place was not because jaicat had to return the car at noon in White Plains (even though she did) it was so we could drive about forty + or - miles out of our way to Paramus Park so she could get herself some Chick Fil-A. Apparently the nostalgia for fast chicken joints runs deep, considering Chick Fil-A is a mostly western US thing. Anyway, here we were in Paramus running through this mall becuase we needed to grab the chicken and RUN back to the car, deeply regretting the fact that we couldn't stay because there was a LEGO outlet there as well and the rest of the mall did look fairly interesting, but jaicat did fulfill her quest and I must say the chicken is quite good. I'm just vastly amused by the quest itself. And the fact that we made it to the car rental place with only four minutes to spare. You know what, sometimes being an adult ain't half bad - you get to do silly shit like this.

Why the hell is self-serve gasoline still illegal in NJ? It's so stupid. Especially if you have out of state plates. The service people know out of staters aren't going to know to tip them, so they get really surly about pumping your gas. Ugh.

Getting back into the city and then having to figure out where I was subsequently going was a circus of batshit, though I did stop in Grand Central's Transit Museum outlet and got myself the ultimate subway geek T-shirt. Well, okay, there were geekier shirts, but this one's up there. It says "Brooklyn" across the chest in the Brooklyn Dodgers typeface, and in the bottom of the Y are the subway lines that go there. (here?) I think that's up there with my glow in the dark periodic table shirt in terms of sheer nerd branding.

The rest of the day I spent with Vicki and Mom, which was... *sigh* I don't really know what it was. Maybe I'll get into it when I've kinda processed it. Mom wants to go home, she's been more or less hospitalized for the last month and a half. As a result she's cranky and demanding, and ok, just wenchy. I can't say I blame her, but it didn't make for an easy afternoon/evening, even though she was quite obviously glad to see me.

I'm thinking of doing something rather drastic with my hair tomorrow, since Vicki's offering to take me to the salon. I'm tired of yarning it, and I'm kinda tired of dealing with it as it is right now, which is a clusterfuck of frizz and ends that just keep breaking no matter how many layers of kid gloves I treat it with. Chances are I won't ultimately have time (the average appointment at a black hairdresser's runs about six times longer than a trip to Supercuts, after all), but don't be too surprised if I come waltzing back into Massachusetts looking a little - different.

Anyway, that's all. Going to noodle around, maybe post a locked entry or two, then take a bath and crash.