I grew up in the midwest, where there are bugs. Lots of bugs. Not quite like Mississippi in April (I was there for a week once), but still, there are a lot of bugs.

Then I moved to the northwest. There are times when you could expect to go outside in a cool evening and not even consider the issue of mosquitos or biting flies. A common question for local non-campers might be, "What's DEET?"

Last night, a funny thing happened. First of all, the temperature dipped to the high 30sF (~3C). Frost advisory in effect! Not exactly the best conditions for summertime biters.

Second of all, I went to sleep late. A typical Friday night, but atypically didn't include doing the laundry: awake too late for my own good, and all I wanted was to crash.

Then the buzzing started.

A mosquito! As far as I know, this was the first mosquito-as-I-sleep of the year. Luckily, the lamp light cast a nice wall shadow on the just-landed blood-sucker. I did not mourn the loss of life.

And then I crashed.

Tease for next post: Many more words to describe something much less interesting.

1. One photography feed you should watch is The Big Picture, which recently hosted pictures from Yann Arthus-Bertrand, the Earth from Above guy.

2. Are you hep to the jive?

3. There's a drought in California, and Lake Shasta's water level is dropping like a rock, which is exposing old structures that have been submerged.

4. I must confess that I haven't paid much attention to the current financial/economic crisis. Episode 365 from This American Life explained it to me in simple way so that even I could sorta understand what's happening. Apparently, I'm supposed to be more afraid.

5. Once upon a time, a very intuitive friend introduced me to what was to become my favorite movie: Bottle Rocket. I don't get in to fanboy sites, but that doesn't mean that good can't come from them. The goodness I found this week related to Bottle Rocket: Dignan's Notebook. Sweet.

Written last Friday night:

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By most accounts, today was a good day.

I ended the week strong at work. I had dinner and drinks with some good friends. There was a quick internet chat with a friend where I got some things off my chest. I witnessed an improbable comeback at a high school football game.

I came home and watched a classic Clint Eastwood movie with the roommate, who was excited about calling a girl, and that things were looking up for him. Then a Frank Sinatra WWII movie came on, so I'm hooked. Roommate #2 comes home, and we catch up a little bit.

It was, indeed, a good day. Much better than I deserve.

Now I'm lying in bed in a dark room, hearing the rain fall and trickle its way down the gutters. The clock is ticking just audibly enough to remind me that I'm not sleeping. I start replaying the day in my mind, which doesn't exactly help The Sandman do his job, thankyouverymuch.

It hits me: The people in my life... today they were like a revolving cast of characters. Short stories; quick hits. Or maybe like a 30 minute sit-coms where I fast forward through the commercials. And if I hurry, I can watch another one before bedtime.

As fulfilling as my friendships are (and, seriously, you wish you had friends as awesome as mine), there's still something missing. And to me, it's obvious.