that's right, you're not from Texas

behind my eyes I'm hiding

Is JP not a total nut? If there is any doubt, let me point out that I did not inform him that this photo was being taken for public dissemination. He just decided, of his own accord, to pose as such. Sigh- I wish we all got together for dinner more often. Last weekend, my brother had an unusual burst of motivation and decided to cook a full meal. He specifically requested the pictured cake, which is a peanut butter and chocolate chip crumb cake. My brother is something of a peanut butter fiend. When we were children, he used to get a small bowl, fill it with peanut butter, and eat it by the spoonful. Which reminds me that we should really get his cholesterol checked some time soon.

The city is falling quiet, just when I'm ready for a last hurrah, for a celebration, bitches. This is the last weekend before the next big adventure starts. After this, there is a new yellow brick road to follow. And so the calm here seems incongruous at the moment. Everyone has deserted the city for Burning Man, and it gives me a twinge of sadness that I didn't strap on the pair required to make the trip. However, as it turns out, there is next year. So nothing really to mourn.

A coworker of mine is originally from New Orleans. I drove her home last night because she missed the train, and she was not well. There were lists of people she could not contact, and the lists included some immediate family. My sense of uselessness really flares at times like this. There has been so much devastation, and, while I know there is value in it, I just feel like donating money doesn't do enough. Not that I know what would be enough. Anyway, I don't know her that well, so all I could offer were feeble words of consolation. She and I disagree about a lot of things, but it is fairly easy to set all of these things (some of which are ideologically huge) aside at moments like this.

Last night, I basically delivered the I'm just not that into you speech to the company in Texas. I left the door open, because you never know what will happen down the line. At this point, so much of my family is in Texas that it's still impossible not to consider ending up there at some point. Unfortunately, the company countered with a But why? Can't we work it out? Hmm... maybe I will have to whip out the it's not you, it's me approach.