Monday, June 26, 2000

11:44 p.m. I'm trying to get myself to bed a little earlier each night because according to a new book I'm reading on traditional Chinese medicine and Qi, you lose a little Qi when you stay up past midnight. According to the book, we're born with a finite amount of Qi and when it's all gone: kaput.

12:00 midnight. It came up very fast, I must say. All I did was run upstairs to grab the book in question and check on the proper spelling of Qi. You probably lose a little more of the precious stuff for allowing lazy spelling errors to creep in, I reasoned, but by the time I dawdled a bit and changed out of jeans and into sweatpants, why -- midnight has come and my Qi is now undoubtedly falling.

But then a bad, rushed entry might tax my Qi to write and your Qi to read, so I'll just relax a little and try to do my best, even though as I type, I can feel the life force tapping me on the shoulder, demanding to be put to bed.

It has been a raw and cranked-up day, to be sure. The odd thing I've noticed is that I always have a deep affection for the day just past, no matter what it contained. Already I miss the warm sunlight I passed through on my way to the kitchen, the pretty nodding pink firmament of impatiens that I've watered and fertilized and coaxed into brimming. Already I can't wait until tomorrow's sun.

Love the sun. I think of it as a blessing, an entitlement, a holiday. Happy happy sun. The morning newspaper almost landed in the fountain, and then a second one came sailing over the wall a few hours later. I almost overslept for an important meeting and I know there were pillow creases on my cheek for part of the time. Another good reason to get to bed before midnight -- staying awake during normal working hours.

Speaking of working, I keep meaning to point out that the two doohickies at the top of the page that surround the date are not mere ornamentals. The left one points to yesterday, and the right one to tomorrow. And the truck photo with Mad Dog painted on the side? I'm not exactly sure, but I saw it at the beach driving into a construction site and spraying down the dry, dusty dirt.

Maybe it was the spraying?

12:46. Can't think. Qi dropping like a heavy rock down a well on a black asteroid in the middle of the solar system. Oi.