belated posting announcement

I had enough energy last night to finish Chapter 34 and post it, but not enough to tell the world that I had done so. So those of you who care have probably read it already, but I wanted to mention it here anyway, for completeness sake.

The chapter is insanely long, about 500 words more than any other chapter in the story (and that's after I cut several hundred words -- no cutting for the sake of cutting, I found many places where it genuinely needed tightening). Most of the chapters are between 3000 and 3500; this one is over 4500. The chapter bears it, I don't find it particularly bloated, but it's not what I was expecting it to be when I planned it. Funny how that happens.

I haven't started the next chapter yet; I want to play through a bit of the game first. I hope to get the chance tonight, we'll see.

sunset

Sometimes, like tonight, I'll hit the timing just right and be walking home from the parking garage at sunset. There is a magic moment almost every night when the light from the setting sun is caught by the windows of houses in the Oakland hills, reflecting red and orange and gold. And it looks like a thousand signal fires, burning across the Bay. It's breathtaking, and I stop to admire it every time.

Of course, people who lived here in the fall of 1991 might not relish the image of fires in the Oakland Hills, given the devastation they caused that October. I was away for college at the time, so the visual is not so immediate for me -- it takes me a moment to remember why I should perhaps not find it quite so beautiful. But invariably I do, and the view becomes more of a bittersweet pleasure. But a pleasure all the same.

Today was a better day -- some of yesterday's tensions have dissipated. I gave one class presentation that went badly, but fortunately it was followed by another that went quite well. Then a student who was finishing up her last day came by the library to say goodbye and thank me for all my help! Unexpected, but very sweet. She was a good student and a nice girl and I will miss having her around. Thursday will never be the highlight of my week, thanks to a regular meeting that could probably be finished in an hour and usually ends up lasting almost three, but at least this one went fairly smoothly. And of course Friday is approaching, my half-day, my joy. An afternoon off! Such luxury.