The building is quiet and there's no wind or rain. Only the cat purring next to me and the hard drive sputtering under the monitor mar the utter peace of this urban moment. It was wonderful to be away at a beach house on the central CA coast for the weekend, but it was almost as excellent to finally arrive home. The serenity of one's own couch and bed is not to be denied.

But I also loved the motion of our car on the road beside the sea. I loved the way the asphalt carved the edges of cliffs above the iron, raging ocean below. I loved the hawks and vultures that circled above the grassy hillsides. I loved the music in our car as we twisted and burned up the western coast of America and I could not believe I was lucky enough to be there with my wife and friend, to be alive, to have made great choices and to be able to savor the beauty of everything that we rolled past, and the weekend we had just enjoyed.

Now Bandha, our cat, is kneading the cover that Lu currently sleeps beneath. He is tearing up the bed in anticipation of sleep and comfort, hoping I'll give him a headrub before bed. Chumby, our other cat, is purring loudly. Some day Chumby will be entered into a purring contest. I am certain she will win.

It was amazing to stand on the rooftop deck of the beachhouse with my brother Mike and look around. There was large hill above us and the blue arch of the sky above. There was a huge rock in the distance that commanded our attention. Once out at the beach we threw the frisbee as hard as we could and then stumbled back to the blankets where our friends were hanging out playing cards, chatting, snacking. (please note, you probably don't have to watch that whole frisbee throwing video. It's not me, although you might mistake me for him, from a distance. But it is rewarding to see the many ways in which he can toss the disc. Even more amazing is his endless supply of new discs to throw. It very well could be a frisbee miracle.)

Nighttime in the beachouse brought Sorry, Yahtzee! and some Hold'em. Latenight brought ping pong and pool.

Standing on the roof with the stunning sunset, I realized once again, I that I need to write a book. As airplanes roared overhead and the sun went crimson, low and magenta, I thought I found another piece to the puzzle of the story I want to tell. In fact I think I'll start right now.

While I'm off doing that check out the MIT OpenCourseWare program and learn some shit. It's free, no registration, non-degree granting information and instruction for those of the curious and diligent mind. I really wish I would take advantage of this, but I know I probably won't. I am, however, happy to know it's out there and maybe someone will benefit from me passing this on. That is always the goal, here. The benefiting of you.

I'm feeling rambly and weird tonight. Pynchon will do that, and I need to get back to it. I'm suddenly obsessed with this book again. Wait, there's a sound. A faucet is dripping. I must fix that and then read.