Thoughts for Thursday

--They just don't make days any finer than this one. Really, anything that's going to be done outside could be done perfectly on a day such as this one. To have to retreat back into an office building is truly a tragedy...or a travesty....or both.

--A free lunch isn't worth much if you die of starvation waiting for it to be served at 2 p.m.

--There's a reason Payless shoes are so cheap; they hurt your damn feet with every step you walk in them! This has not always been true. My previous Payless pair were the franchise pair of my shoe collection. These new versions, however, are worse than wearing nothing at all. Consideration for the high arch Payless has not.

--I have spilled in the exact same spot on my shirt not once, not twice, but three(!) times today. And it's not even two o'clock.

--Four movies I would like to see this weekend: The Lives of Others, Reign Over Me, Avenue Montaigne, and First Snow. I can all but guarantee "Reign Over Me," and list the other three as "hopefuls." If this weather continues, I'm not sure I'll be able to go into a theater during daylight hours.

--Joe, can I come over and go kayaking whilst you are at work on Saturday?

--Feels like a farmer's market, unfiltered apple juice, singalong, grass-in-the-toes kind of weekend approaching. I hope I am right.

--Speaking of that, why don't more people picnic? Is it a fear of park safety? Conrad, do you know if it's legal to picnic on the big lawn at Peperdine?

--I finally finished my book last night, "The Sportswriter" by Richard Ford. Wow. What a book. I've gotta put it in my top 5. It's kind of difficult to describe because so little actually happens in the book. A middle-aged divorcee ambles around for a week and thinks about his ex-wife, dead son, and other big life issues. I think the main reason I am drawn to it is that I feel I can really relate not to the main character per say, but to the voice of the main character, Frank Bascombe. I really love the way books end. Even if the book is just okay, the final page, for me, is always really satisfying. How many movies can you say that about these days? I would argue way too few. I am pleased to learn that "The Sportswriter" is but the first of three Bascombe novels, the second of which, "Independence Day," won a Pulitzer. I think I will get to that someday, but first I've got "A Long Way Down" by Nick Hornby and then "The History of Love," as recommended indirectly by Becky and Brian. That new book about Buck O'Neil looks really good too. Not that you care.