So, either fall melancholy is hitting me early or I'm fighting off a cold -- or both. Regardless, I've woken up the last few days with a sense of ... I don't know, really. Not depression, thankfully, but just sort of... well, a lack of energy. Typically, when the weather starts changing to autumn, I go through a few days of lackluster emotions, where I'm ... see, again, I'm stuck on words. I'm not glum, or blue, but I'm not myself. It's not defeatist, but it's certainly more cynical that I generally am. (And, for the record, I am not half as cynical as some people seem to think that I am. I'm secretly a closet optimist who hopes for happy endings and the like. I simply prefer not to let that side of me take over, as he always gets let down.) I would have liked to stay in bed a few more hours this morning, just laying there and resting, but, alas, work beckons.

I did survive Comic Con, which is good. I realized, however, that I rarely have my picture taken at these things. It's not so much that I avoid pictures as that people rarely take pictures of me. That both amuses and saddens me, more amuses than saddens, though. I have to figure out the hotel for next year, since Keith isn't able to provide lodging next year. It worries me, a little, making plans for something so far in advance, as a year is a lot of time, and a lot can change in a year.

Tristan ran into me at Comic Con. That was... a little bit of a shock, to say the least. The last time I saw Tristan was 1999 and he was getting married. Well, he was at Comic Con with his wife and two kids, and that's had a bit of impact on me. I remember Tristan when he was a scrawny teenager, trying to figure out where he wanted his life to go. Now he's got two kids and a sense of purpose. Maybe I'm simply envious, as I don't have that kind of clarity in my own world. I know, I've heard a dozen times, life isn't a race and I shouldn't compare myself to other people, but the funny part is that no one ever seems to take their own advice. Me, I'm trying not to think about it too much, but it does get to me in moments of weakness. I've heard people say 30 is the new 20. I hope they're right. I know a lot of married people now. But seeing Tristan was good. He literally ambushed me and I just turned around to see him there. I'm sure I was loud and obnoxious, but what the hell. It'd been nearly ten years. I'm going to try and go down to L.A. and visit him and some of the other people I know down there at some point in the near future. We'll see. Right now, I'm rather anti-planning anything. I've done too much of that as of late, with little in the way of benefit or thanks.

"I am in the twilight of my youth, not that I'm going to remember... / And have you seen the moon tonight, is it full? / Still burning its embers / The people dancing in the corner, they seem happy / But I am sad / I am still dancing in the coma of the drinks I just had / Does anybody want to take me home? / Does anybody want to take me home? / Take me to your house, and I'll leave you alone / Of course I will / Of course I won't / It seems so tragic... but it disappears like magic / Like magic..." - Ryan Adams, "Anybody Wanna Take Me Home"

The summer madness is mostly past us now, with nothing big on the horizon for several months. Megan's leaving for Japan, Erin's going to China, I'm going nowhere. Not yet. One never can tell, though.

The car nearly died yesterday. Took it into the shop, got it repaired, lost $350 in the process. I'm frustrated by the fact that I had to repair the car I'm going to be getting rid of in a few months, but sadly I needed it to run until I get a new car, which is still a little ways off.

It's Friday, though, which means I have two days of (mostly) rest coming up. I'll probably go back to the gym again sometime over the weekend -- I've mostly been recovering from Comic Con so far.

"So here we are reinventing the wheel / I'm shaking hands with a hurricane / It's a colour that I can't describe, / It's a language I can't understand / Ambition, tearing out the heart of you / Carving lines into you / Dripping down the sides of you / We will not be the last..." - Bloc Party, "Pioneers (M83 Remix)"

Several people have been asking me if Curt still lives in Minneapolis and if I've heard from him. He lives in Omaha now, so there isn't any concern for him. I haven't had a chance to talk to him since then, but he's fine, so don't worry about him. He's enjoying his internship and trying to figure out what he's going to do with his life. I keep telling him, thinking about it will only make your head hurt and not do you any good. For the most part, you only get to control a small bit of your life, and the rest of it is how you handle what happens to you.

I watched "Millions" last night, Danny Boyle's movie about a couple of kids who find several hundred thousand pounds right before the changeover to Euros, and have to figure out what to do with it. It starts a little slow, but is very touching at the end, and I recommend it to everyone.

Also been rereading some of my Hunter S. Thompson lately. Not sure quite why. Maybe just in the mood for it.

"This could be a movie / And this could be our final act / We don't need these happy endings..." - Funeral For A Friend, "Drive"

Anyhow, I've probably rambled on long enough for all six of you who read this weird little thing we have going on. Make of it what you will.