Thoughts of Minutia

7:25 AM
My eyelids protest the sudden invasion of light, tucking themselves tight. “7:30!” calls my dad, faithfully lying. There's no need, not this morning, and I mumble as much. “Offt'day.” I knew there was someone I neglected to share that information with. Darkness returns and I tumble headlong into the blissful depths of vacation day extra sleep.

8:36 AM
What the hell was that? I awake from an unusual dream, in which I found myself walking into a strange hybrid of a hospital room and my parents' room. There are two girls I wouldn't recognize even if their features weren't fluid. One lies in bed, tired and smiling. The other, sitting by her side, turns, and I see she's wearing hospital scrubs and holding a very large infant. I'm in awe as the nurse leaves with what I assume is my child, and I go to the bed and kiss my wife(?) on the forehead. She's a little standoffish, and I wonder if it's my wife and child after all. That's when I woke up. I have a new “no food after 9PM” rule that I've been strictly adhering to, so I don't know what triggered the dream. Sometimes when I wake up and go back to sleep, that results in odd mental jaunts as well.

9:47 AM
I finish a DVD I started watching the night before, The NeverEnding Story. I've never seen it in its entirety. In fact, growing up, whenever I caught parts of it on television I always thought it was still on from the last time I watched. I took the title literally. Today, I couldn't help laughing when the little boy is flying on the Luck Dragon, because it reminded me of a recent Family Guy episode in which Peter is seen doing the same, with hilariously disastrous results. Despite bad reviews, I add the sequels to my Netflix queue for completism and move on to my next DVD.

11:58 AM
It's not that Hollywood Homicide is necessarily a bad movie. Both Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett give interesting and humorous performances. The film seems to hang a little too much on the premise of cops taking side jobs, such as Ford selling real estate and Hartnett teaching yoga while aspiring to be an actor. The murder case lingers in the background behind the character studies, and what would be a great one hour episode of a cop show is stretched into a two hour movie using extended chase scenes and several shots of Ford sitting in a chair looking tired. I'm hungry. I put off breakfast as long as possible, in the hopes of eliminating a meal on my day off and shedding some more pounds, but now I'm feeling lightheaded.

12:39 PM
I really don't understand the weather. Just five days ago we were buried in snow. I was certain it would be weeks before I saw my lawn again, yet this morning only a few patches of snow and mud dotted the yard. It was gray and drizzling, not at all the sort of day to travel outdoors. That was twenty minutes ago. Now the sun is shining and the sky is blue. I grab my movies to mail, and my camera. I'm not sure where I'm going, but I know I want to walk a lot since I'll be skipping the company gym today.

1:22 PM
I'm back at Jones Beach and since the last time I was here I walked three or four miles West, I decide to head East and see what I can see. It's VERY windy and the sand rushing by obscures my feet and creates the illusion that I'm moving backwards. It's very cool, and I hope that the lower resolution versions of the photos I post on my blog in a few days convey this effect.

2:22 PM
I look at my watch. The plan had been to turn around at the one hour mark, but now I see a building on a previously static horizon. Surely I can go a little further?

3:22 PM
Those were some of the best pictures I've ever taken! I'm so glad I walked this far! The beach continues even further East, although I did note the signs indicating that I'd left Jones and walked to something called ”Tobay Beach”. I realize the time, and the fact that I have to walk several miles into the wind. If not for my sunglasses I'd be blinded by this sandstorm. As it is, my face feels pretty rough. Now isn’t the time to wimp out, though.

4:22 PM
Running in the sand is HARD, especially fighting the wind, and especially after a two-hour walk. It's now way too hot for my jacket, so I toss it in the back seat. Soon I'm cruising on the Wantagh Parkway, hoping for a truly great driving song. I'm not as lucky as I was a few hours ago, when I had Sweet Child O' Mine blasting as I passed the dormant toll booths and the landmark water tower loomed ever larger.

5:05 PM
Home at last, I hook up the camera to my computer and collect my spoils. With the sun, I couldn't really see the preview window, but as it turns out I got a lot of great shots. It's going to be hard narrowing 38 pictures down by this coming Wednesday. Debating whether to finally tackle my class reading assignment for the week or watch an old X-men Evolution episode on YouTube, I opt for the latter. I remember this episode. This was the one where...

7:07 PM
My dad tells me, apparently for the second time, that dinner is ready. I guess I'm still not the athlete I want to be if a few miles on the beach can knock me out like that.

7:15 PM
Surfing during dinner, I come across some disturbing news. DVD sales on the first half of the second season of Gargoyles were low enough that the second half might not be released. I make a note to include a link in my next post, urging my readers, especially fans of the show, to pick up a copy and increase the chances of this great show being released in its entirety.

8:57 PM
After watching more YouTube, notably Justice League, I finally tackle my lecture for the week as well as the assigned story.

11:57 PM
Another exciting chapter in my life comes to a close, as I put the finishing touches on today's blog entry.