- the trees out front are inked black against the evening sky -- the horizon to the east is always pink: the lights of new york city.

- a good eyebrow wax.

- finishing a project that's not my best work, but not caring because the relief of being done trumps pride.

- I spend all afternoon at the library in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, putting together a project for one of my classes. The only sound in the reading room is the pouring rain outside.

- The lumbering M4 bus is wonderful when you're not in a hurry.

- Sharing a bottle of wine with L and dad.

- I vow to get through this very appealing list from NPR.

- L and I chat all through our morning run, making it go much faster.

- A sliver of orange moon in the night sky, surrounded by a mysterious mist. I want to comment on it to the people around me, but I stop myself.

- I am woken by a phone call from a friend with terrible news -- A's older brother passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. I remember him making me laugh and blush on trips up to their lake house in high school.

- It's hard to think of RQW things after a morning call like that one, but A sends out an email: tell the ones you love how much you love them today. So I do.

- A thoroughly cleaned kitchen.

- While painting the front porch railings with B and L, we remark that we feel like we are in part of a movie montage.

- B and I get in a fight and make up in the space of an hour.

- Ice cream cake during an evening thunderstorm. I sit on the front porch and watch the lightening fade into the distance.

- Dad is on a stealth house-painting mission since mom is on vacation. I am not thrilled with my task of washing windows, but it turns out I take an intense pleasure in hosing down the filthy screens.

- Dinner with "the girls" -- I get to have my favorite broccoli slaw. (Better than it sounds).

- B's grandmother has had a fall. She is brought to the hospital as a precaution. She reminds everyone, cheerfully, that she is ninety years old. When asked if she'd like a glass of water she says, "Water?! No, thank you! Look what it does to pipes!"

- B picks me up for dinner, I am in a new pink dress. "You look like a beautiful Skittle!" he says.

- On our run, we see J who has a landscaping job in the neighborhood. A perfect excuse to stop and talk.

- I am reading this book. Annie Dillard is one of my favorite authors, she makes me want to live in a cabin, hermit-style.