I drew the tree for our wedding invitation today. Lexy came in with some paper of his own and we spent some time sitting on the bed and drawing together. He was drawing a sky, a process which necessitated sharpening and re-sharpening the blue pencil. I was drawing a tree; twin-trunked and evergreen. Jen is going to do the layout over the next couple of days. Lexy had a good time just sitting and drawing with me, even if he's a little down on himself over his artistic abilities. I told him I'd had longer to practice. I also showed him an Andy Goldsworthy book that I'd picked up over the weekend. I wanted to point out that there are other kinds of art besides drawing and painting. He seemed really impressed. It's good to see him stop bouncing off the walls for a minute and do something relaxing. He told me that he wants to be three things when he grows up: an architect, a rock star, and a paperboy. It's interesting how kids don't really differentiate between jobs based on the perceived status of their various choices. I know, of course, he said "paperboy" because that's one of the jobs I do. When I was his age, I wanted to drive bulldozers. This gave way to a desire to become a paleontologist. I also wanted to mount an expedition to search for the Loch Ness Monster. I even had a list of people (since forgotten) who I wanted to take with me. I wonder how many people actually grow up to have the jobs they dreamed about as kids? Who knows? At any rate, it was good to have a little one on one time with Lexy. He's at his best under these circumstances. We'll have to do it more often, if we can.

I saw two skunks tonight. Both of them ran from me. This is good. Once, when Matt and I were sneaking around in Coyote Hills, a skunk, irate at our intrusion, chased us. It's tail was up, and it was running sideways in its eagerness to douse us with skunk juice. I'm glad most skunks are more sensible than this.

cds I listened to while being careful not to run over skunks: Sol Invictus "Brugge" (mine came with a coaster!), Eleni Karaindrou "Music for Films", Stoa "Zal", Dalbello "Whore", and Damon & Naomi "More Sad Hits"

The room is currently awash with the sounds of: Christoph Heemann - in Concert, March 6th, 1999, Tonic, NYC