happy saturday night. i'm just chilling watching/listening to a live performance by the decemberists on austin city limits. i love chill weekends. and since next weekend i'll be in turkey (and probably will not be chilling, in fact i don't think i'll be chilling a lot while i'm traveling), i'm just trying to relax this weekend. i am going to do some halloween-y things tomorrow.

this morning i brought both of the cats to the vet. frisco was her nightmare self at the vet, hissing and growling (no one believes how sweet she is at home. really.), and requiring two people to hold her down. little perennial was an angel, enjoying having everyone fawn over him. anyway, luckily both of them are healthy and are not overweight. excellent. after the prince of darkness fiasco, i am a super worried cat mama.

i am really enjoying all of my concert calls from the indigo girls australian tour. even though they come in the middle of the night here, it's always nice to have voicemail filled with IG love in the morning. go australia!

speaking of australia, i watched about 10 minutes of the real world: sydney. what trash! remember back when the real world used to actually be somewhat educational? mtv used to tackle issues. now they just put seven horny 18, 19, and 20somethings in a house and record them partying, fucking, and fighting. that show has zero redeeming qualities. and i am glad to say i am not addicted to it like i'm addicted to so much other TRASHY reality television. and yes, i watched part of the top model marathon on mtv today...

i'm off to some pre-bedtime pilates.

i'm sitting in a park in palm desert, california jacking some free wifi. the venue is across the street, and, as always, i am early. that's ok. so far this park has been the highlight of my day. i drove. a lot. and shopped. a lot. those outlet malls near palm springs off the 10 were calling my name. "spiiiiike, come on in, try on some new clothes. look, that necklace has your name on it. spiiiiiiiiiiike." needless to say, i am wearing a brand new outfit (for the most part). a blue off the shoulders stretchy shirt (size extra small, thank you very much), white beads, and white flip flops. the skirt (yes, skirt) is not new. for once in my life, i wasn't feeling as fat today, so i decided to take advantage of that feeling by hitting up those outlets. of course i had not eaten anything all day either.

i arrived in the palm desert area at around noon desperate to find a target. there was none to be found (at least near the freeway). reluctantly, i went to check into my hotel. i did crunches and watched kathy griffin (she really should consider jumping the fence). then i left to "go find something to do." i ended up at yet another mall. i didn't buy anything. i really wish i had found this park (with free wifi!) earlier!

(by the way, a family of ducks just walked by and i am talking to them. that has been the extent of my daily animal contact. i do miss my kitties.)

so it's been a pretty low-key day. once i did find my way to the park, i walked around for a bit. despite the wind storm (yes...) it's beautiful out now. the afternoon heat is gone, making way for a warm and breezy windy desert evening. i love the desert. i do. i love the feelings that it evokes, the vast emptiness, and the sand. i want to go play in the sand, but i don't want to make a mess of myself. it's quite a "world falls" interlude.

right now i am having that wonderful pre indigo girls show feeling. there's excitement, anticipation, and even some calmness (which is unusual for me before an IG show). while i am ready to go see my girls sing their hearts out from the front row, i am really enjoying my time at this park. we, in the bay area, have had the *coldest* summer, and it is so refreshing to be able just to sit outside and smell the fresh desert air. tomorrow it's a flight back home followed by a hometown(ish) indigo girls show. i added the "ish" because the south bay (saratoga) really isn't home. it's part of the bay area, yes, but it's to the extreme south. and i hate the south bay. and i'm not wild about the mountain winery either. the fillmore, next monday, is my true hometown show.

there's a group of people doing pilates nearby. i would join them except that i am wearing a skirt and don't really need to be flashing the world the nice people of palm desert. so instead i'll just sit here and write. and think. and soak up this awesome pre show feeling, because this is one of my favorite feelings in the world, and it's a fleeing moment.

so i did manage to get the world's quickest run in this morning. i went out as the sun was coming up. i am glad i managed that. i feel so much better now that i ran and did pilates.

off to get ready. will update before i leave...

i, not being a morning person, completely forgot that the sun doesn't come out until around 7am. i can't exactly go for a run in the hood in the dark. that just isn't safe. so it looks like i won't have time to get my pre-longhaul flight run in. :( damnit. why can't the sun come out at 615?!

i suppose i can do some pilates, but i wanted the cardio too. :(

this weekend i practiced a big round of consumer whorism. h&m and a bunch of other stores were calling my name. i bought way too many clothes. i'm probably not keeping everything i purchases - i need to try on some of the stuff with some of the stuff i already have. and having the case of shoppers' bulemia that i do have, i am guessing that once i try everything on, i will take back more than i will keep. but i did buy a lot of really hot/cute/whatever stuff to wear in the uk. people in london just dress nice, no crappy jeans and tee shirts, and i like to TRY to blend. i also decided i needed some new nice clothes for going out here in san francisco at night. my "nice" clothes are all way too big on me and therefore i hardly ever wear them. don't get me wrong, when i go out, i don't look like a slob. i have a few appropriate outfits for going out, but i still wanted new stuff, damnit.

in other weekend news, this afternoon i attempted to watch grass that documentry about how the us government spread propaganda and lies about mairjuana use. but i thought it was pretty boring for the most part, and it was mostly stuff i already knew. so i fell asleep halfway through it. tonight it's the l word pajama party at liz and annalea's. yah for horrible faux lesbian drama! i swear, i have such a love/hate relationship with that show. earlier in the weekend, i did a LOT of cleaning, working out, and hanging out with friends. i am sooooo glad that my doctor gave me permission to go back to almost ALL of my pilates routine. and in a little while, i should be given permission by the same doctor to start running and playing soccer again! YAH!

tomorrow it's back to work. blah. i also have a really busy week ahead. mostly fun stuff, but i'll still be tired. i'm having dinner and drinks with friends at a new mexican place in soma on tuesday. then on wednesday i am hooking up with an old friend who i have not seen since i got sick. friday night there's a party at another friend's house. and on saturday night, a bunch of us are going to a small club in the haight to see one of our other friends, who is a musician, play. busy busy week.

i am now officially hangover free! wheeeee!

i'm going to workout now. then i need to start getting ready to go over to l&c's for the afternoon. our other friend is coming over too and we are going to eat (c's special mac and cheese!) and watch that food network reality show that i somehow managed to get hooked on.

ok, time's a wastin - i got 45 mins of pilates to do and another 25 mins of abs/arms training to do.

later.