so, no sunday breakfast with aliza, too bad, I was gonna make her potato pancakes, but had 'em myself... just as well, because they were kinda experimental because I don't quite remember how I used to do them... haven't made 'em since omaha (five years ago).

I did go with her to pick up her new car though. she called around 2 (we'd talked a couple times before that) and we met over at the coffeeshop because she wanted to get something to eat before we went. we got to the subaru dealer in santa monica, walked in and hollis was there, standing behind the desk. aliza started to introduce us, but the shocked expressions on our faces clued her in before hollis even said, "I know him." anyway, it was an unexpected but pleasant reunion. I kinda thought hollis was mad at me, but she didn't seem to be, so I guess everything is alright. I don't really know how long it's been since we've seen each other, but I know that the last time we talked on the phone I felt like she wasn't too happy with me. but everything seems ok now and she gave me her email and phone number without my having to ask, so I guess she doesn't hate me too much. it was good to get back in touch, I don't think I ever thought I'd see her again, but the world is surprisingly small sometimes. I reread some of the emails we sent to each other years ago, was surprised at how long we were in communication and how many emails we sent... she was really supportive during a pretty rough time for me and I was pretty much just a self-centered jerk. enough of that though___ i'll have to apologize someday when it feels right.

I left the subaru dealership early, so that I could get the rental car back in time. I stopped off at two gas stations on the way and neither would take credit cards___ michelle pointed out to me later that both stations had been arco, which I guess is true, I didn't really pay attention, but I guess arco doesn't take credit cards, I was starting to think that nobody did. as it turned out though, the fifteen dollars cash I had was enought to get the gauge up to "F" and that's all I needed. I pulled into the enterprise parking lot just in time at 4:28, but they were closed. grrrr. couldn't believe it, closed on sunday and no afterhours returns... grrrr again.

couldn't find parking over at my place, ended up driving over to michelle's and parking there. she'd called right before I left to see whether I wanted to come over and watch a movie, she said she'd wait, but by the time I got there, I was guessing she'd been waiting longer than she wanted. she was gracious and not put out though, which was great___ because she coulda been justifiably mad. called aliza, she'd gotten the car and was headin' home, she'd looked for me at enterprise already, so she knew the scoop. michelle made a yummy dinner, we watched crash, which people had been telling me to see for a long time. it was good and thought provoking, but not great, it's tough for a movie to live up to advance praise though.

came home, was kinda sleepy, read for awhile and fell asleep. aliza called shortly after I'd drifted off, still only 10:15, and we talked for a few minutes, but I was kinda out of it. got up this morning to find an email from her complimenting some illustrations I'd done and that made me feel good... she sent the email around 10:30, so she must've done that right after our phonecall, I guess whatever sleepy stuff I said hadn't been too offensive.

took the car in to enterprise right at 8am. they tried to charge me for five days but I was a hardass and insisted they only charge for four. it worked, but I kinda hated having to be an asshole to get my way. came home, went to the coffeeshop, read the paper. It was a beautiful morning, I painted for awhile, worked on the computer, but really didn't accomplish much___ I did make some progress on the postcard for the show, so that was good. I stopped up at deborah mcfarland's because I'd gotten some more mail from the state. she told me I'd have to call them, which I did. the guy was nice, but wouldn't budge on the late fines, it turned out that I only had to pay $380 instead of the $750 or somethin' they wanted, so that was kinda good news, but still a drag.

aliza called from school with some bad news about one of her neighbors, no need to get into that, but it was sad and she sounded upset, but she was in the middle of class and the kids were getting rowdy so she had to go. ian called, hadn't talked with him in a week or two, it was good to catch up with him___ they're all off to buffalo for thanksgiving week, they leave a week from today I think he said. anya called, the movie is at 7:40, she's gonna pick me up at 7, pesha might come.

I've got to do the consignment update for gotta have it before the shop opens tomorrow, I'll try to get started on it tonight so I don't have to do it all in the morning, but we'll see.

the painting is going well... feel like I'm finally figuring it out after 20 years.