1. Final presentation last night was fine.
2. New sound system for living room.
3. Today is train like a motherfucker day.
4. The mysticism of pictorial evidence occurs again.

1. My group went last and our idea was good. We didn’t get many questions but it was late and after so many presentations, some of which went upwards of 25 minutes, everyone was very ready to leave. We kept it short.

When I present, I improvise. Doesn’t matter what the venue is, what the subject is or what the purpose is. Even if I have everything carefully written out, I never stay on it for more than a few lines. I don’t seem to be able to *not* improvise.

It’s probably not wise, overall. But my presentations are almost always better when I go free because I can get the audience more engaged. I’m sensitive when I speak publicly, and can’t help but pay close attention to visual cues from the audience: are they with me or still trying to find me? I react and sometimes end up in places I had no intention of speaking about. Sometimes I enter totally unknown realms. There’s something about being in the spotlight of an audience that I find helpful. It forces my lazy mind to pay careful attention to itself. When I’m speaking in that setting, I’m also less aware of myself, somehow.

2. I splurged (a little) on a sound system for the newly emptied living room. What happened was that my usual sound source, a pair of studio monitors connected to an external sound card running from a computer, was moved into Hollow Way, leaving the living room soundless. I need music. Fixed.

3. Nuff said about this subject. I’m eating 100 grams of oats right now.

4. One of my best friends from childhood just sent me a batch of incredible pictures of us from when we were growing up.  I had no idea they existed and they’re absolutely marvelous. I’m somewhere in the picture below: