canyon view

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weirdest damn thing happened last night--and it carried on into today.

as i may (or may not) have mentioned, i work wednesday through sunday, so as everyone else's weekend is winding down, mine is just kicking off. so i got home last night, ready to start my weekend as usual (i.e., haul out the vodka), but decided to lay down for a minute first. next thing i know, bam! sun's pouring in, birds are chirping--my little fifteen-minute disco nap had turned into a serious all-nighter.

at first i felt more than a little cheated, because sunday nights are sacred here in guttermoralityland. sunday nights are when i do some of my most productive drunk-emailing and -commenting--i have a public to alienate, goddammit, and i take that responsibility seriously.

so i can't tell you how strange it felt to find myself rising and shining, sober and refreshed, at just about the same time that, had the evening taken its normal course, i would have been staggering off to bed.

so here i am, a whole day stretching out in front of me, and i have not the slightest idea what to do with it (hell, i don't even have the usual morning-after apologies to keep me occupied).

because, drunk or not, i never get up anywhere near this early--ever; i am not, nor have i ever been, a morning person. the first two hours of any day are always, for me, the worst--it's when i'm at my most depressed, and i generally put off facing the misery of awakening as long as possible.

but today, for some reason, i woke up feeling . . . well, if not good, then at least not awful.

so, finding myself with this abundance of time in the morning, i did something else i never do--i threw open all the curtains and made breakfast.

and, standing here in my living room in my little pocket of the world--a calm, cool oasis in the midst of a big city--sipping my protein shake and looking outward with fresh eyes, i was reminded once more of why i live where i live in this city, how lucky i am to live here, and how oblivious i am of its beauty most of the time.

i was even moved to take a couple pictures, because i wanna remember this feeling (why i'm writing this goddam blog, right?).

here's a shot from my living room (you can click to enlarge if you want--and no, that's not some weird telephoto effect; the house across the street really is that close):


and one from the kitchen:



they say that the world gives itself to those who get up at six, and i can't help but think that might be true--you really do see things differently then.

now, don't get me wrong--i'm not saying that i'm turning over a new leaf and this is the start of a new trend or anything--trust me, this was a total aberration and it'll be back to darkness as usual around here in no time.

but it was weird, living almost like a normal person for almost a whole day.