Woke up at the equivalent of 3 am california time. Ordered room service but was disappointed with the hard french toast. Drove back to the office and spent pre-lunch finalizing the template I started the day before. Hit the road and tried to photograph as many communities as possible. Was hindered by traffic and the rain and cut my visits short to make it to the airport on time for my 7:30 pm flight back to the OC.
Arrived in Atlanta at 7:20 am. Tossed and turned on the flight. My space was invaded the whole flight by the dude sitting next to me. Tried to wake up during breakfast at Houlihan's at the airport. Drove to the office and met immediately got to work. Checked into the W Hotel and was extremely impressed by my 12th floor executive suite. Grabbed a take-out dinner from Maggiano's nearby and took it back to my room, where I planted myself the whole night.
Last day of training... after class, I picked up my rental car and drove back to Piperade to retrieve my abandoned scarf. Drove down to Menlo Park and was able to visit Kitty for about an hour. Met up with Lisa at the Palo Alto mall where we had dinner. Afterward, we hung out at her apartment. I ran to my car to grab my phone charger. Jogged back up the stairs and ran smack into her sliding glass door which I thought was open. Oops. Too much sleep deprivation! Drove to SFO and took a red-eye flight to Atlanta.
Day two of graphics training. Woke up with plenty of time to have breakfast in the hotel's restaurant. Ate lunch on the balcony at Cheesecake Factory. And went to tap class with Amanda at Rhythm & Motion. I can't express in words how wonderful it felt to lace up my tap shoes and stomp out rhythms again. After class, Jeff picked me up and we had dinner at Fuzio. Bodhi and Marco met up with us at the Landmark Theater where we watched the film "Sideways." I hadn't even heard of it before then, so was pleasantly surprised. Jeff and Bodhi dropped me off at my hotel where I stayed up til 3 am finishing my homework which was due the next morning.
Today was day one of my graphics training. I woke up late and had to run down and grab a quick breakfast. For lunch, I walked over to the Metreon. A quarter of the way back to the hotel, I noticed that my neck felt naked. I ran back to the Metreon and the busboys handed me my fuzzy purple and magenta scarf without a single word exchanged. After my classes were over, I hopped into a taxi to meet up with Claudine at Piperade. As soon as I got there, I realized that I had left my coat in the cab. Obviously a brain malfunction. I talked CC's ears off during dinner and was sad to tell her that I wouldn't be able to join her for capoeira class because I had to get started on my homework assignment for my training. She dropped me off on Market Street and I walked back to my hotel. As soon as I started walking, again my neck felt naked and I had a sinking realization that I had again abandoned my self-knit fuzzy scarf, this time at Piperade. I called the restaurant and they told me they'd hold it for me. Sat around in my room and did some brainstorming for a good couple of hours. Took another cab to Cat's Corner but was horribly disappointed when I walked in and saw not just no one whom I knew but a practically empty room. Stayed for just two dances then grabbed a cab back to my hotel.
Amanda cooked a scrumptious breakfast of french toast, eggs and smoothies. She and Milan went to a Bahai devotional gathering and I took a long nap. When they returned, we drove to SF and had a late lunch at Fritz' Fries on Hayes Street. They dropped me off at my hotel in Union Square. After I checked in, I walked around a bit, stopped into Macys and Borders. Went back to my room and rested up for my first day of training.
Left my afternoon sailing class a titch early to catch my 7:20 pm flight up to Oakland. Amanda and Milan picked me up and we went to their apt. in Albany. We walked to Blockbuster and decided to rent the foreign film "Babette's Feast." It was, uh, a tad slow, and not exactly the wisest choice to view with a couple of vegetarians. Oops.