20 November 2002

So. I took the train down to Fremont and then walked to the library yesterday. I don't think I'd ever ridden to one of the stations that was the end of the line before. Timprov and I picked Mark up at the Richmond station a couple of times when we were on our way to Stan and Judy's and he was coming from work (and we lived in Concord, is the key piece that makes that make sense). But riding there myself, no. It was a different perspective than the drive, in some ways much nicer -- the track is elevated enough that you can see the reservoirs laid out and sparkling, filled with tiny white birds.

So that part was nice, and the walk was less than a mile and a half round trip. Which was also nice, but there was nobody else on the sidewalk. Nobody. Not one single other pedestrian until I got to the library parking lot, and then not again until I got back to the BART parking lot. It was kind of scary, actually. The only other problem was that it was warm, and I was carrying a backpack jam-packed with hardbounds, so I would have used somewhere to get water or juice or something. The library drinking fountains are pitiful, and there was nothing even remotely on the way.

I got a bunch of virtuous stuff for working on the immigration book and then immediately started reading Beware the Fish! on the train home. Well, you know. It was on top of the backpack, and I didn't want to have to unpack it on the train to get to the big Chinese books. And then I'd have had to dig the book darts out of my purse...no, no, it was better to read a Bruno and Boots book, to be sure.

I finished Finland: Myth and Reality, and there was another passage in it that just charmed me: "When told in October 1964 of Khruschev's forced retirement and his replacement by the troika of Brezhnev, Kosygin, and Podgorny, Kekkonen [the Finnish president] was visibly shaken, but recovered quickly and said, 'I used to have a good friend in Moscow; I understand I now have three.'" I just thought that was smooth. Maintaining neutrality required not getting any of the new Soviet leaders peeved, no matter how many or how often there were some, but Kekkonen had been known to joke a lot with Khruschev.

Evan suggests that my hair ("the hippie hair") was the reason the waiter at the Chinese place thought I was a vegetarian. Hmm. Maybe. Nobody else has had any thoughts, so I'm left with only that.

My dad has started dubbing things "coolinen" when he thinks they're cool, in tribute to the Not The Moose Book. I'm amused. Timprov also tried to get to my homepage by typing in marissalingenen.com. I like the Finns, but I'll stick to the Swedish version, thanks.

I'm having lunch with David today and getting a little fur-time with Miss Jasmine. Tomorrow I think I'll have to give in and go see Dr. Bill if he has any openings, and Friday we're supposed to have coffee and gelato with Wendy and Daniel. Silly Wendy asked if we wanted them to come down here or if we were coming up there. Silly, silly Wendy! There is no coffee in Hayward. If there was, I'd be going there as soon as I got back from David's this afternoon.

I made a Christmas card list last night. I'm not sure on some of the rules, who gets Christmas cards and who doesn't. If I don't have your address, though, that's a pretty clear sign that you don't get a Christmas card. So if it's really important to you to get one, make sure I have your address. I'm trying to keep the list minimal this year, but on the other hand I don't want to leave out anyone who will feel bad about being left out.

Why, oh, why do so many spammers feel that it's clever to use the same username as I do when they spam my hotmail account? Like I'll say, oh, hurrah, it's another person just like me, only working for reducingyourdebtandthesizeofyourbutt.com! I'll open this right away and do whatever they say! Has this ever worked? Why would it? I don't understand.

So. I made double mushroom chili last night, and it was good. Only a half-batch, though, so we don't have a vat of leftovers as we always have before. Which is good, because we still have half of the world's supply of fruits and vegetables in our fridge, so we need the room. I'm trying to decide what to do with the remaining portobellos tonight. The choices are portobello stroganoff or pasta with artichoke hearts and tomatoes (sun-dried or fresh I haven't decided) and some kind of sauce, or I suppose I could do something completely new.

Jen is almost done with the first draft of her NaNoWriMo novel. Everybody go hover over her livejournal shoulder tonight to see when she finishes it. Yay, Jen! I love finishing books, so I'm happy when other people get to do it, too.

And with that in mind, I should get some work done on the book before I head up to Oakland. Or at least on a book. Whichever works.