Friday I stayed at school until about 4:30. Eva, a student, came in with a couple of friends after school. Her friend spent most of the time talking my ear off about the differences between Berkeley High and Head-Royce while Eva laughed and looked embarassed. It was raining softly but steadily while I worked.

Left school and it had just stopped raining, so the air was sharp and cool and the sky was gray. I wasn't hungry yet, so I walked over to Telegraph to try to work up an apetite. Small groups of undergrads were laughing together at the crosswalks. I really love Berkeley recently--the restaurants & bars, the green hills in the background, the bookstores. I've been sticking around Friday evenings for dinner and a few drinks, followed by a movie. Berkeley is a lot like Cambridge: good pizza and good movie theaters. This time I skipped the movie, I didn't think I had the energy to sit through one. I went into Blake's on Telegraph, got a big table by the window (it wasn't crowded) ordered a beer and started grading. I got hungry, so I ordered a crabcake burger and onion rings.

I did something really stupid: I went to take a drink of my beer, and I spilled it all over my students' vocabulary finals. I didn't know what to do! I went and got about thirty napkins and layered them between the tests that were most soaked. I still haven't figured out what I'm going to do. They smell like dried beer, all of them. People have suggested spilling coffee on them to change the smell, or just pretending I lost them. Fuck. I graded a few more & left. I was pretty tired at that point. I fell asleep on BART and forgot to transfer so I ended up at the Oakland Coliseum, then made my way back home.

Saturday morning I woke up to Michelle calling & we talked for a long time. I borrowed Albert's bike to go to Arizmendi where I got a pear-blackberry scone and an espresso and read a little bit of Look Homeward, Angel, which I'm reading now. Jamaica told me I, in particular, should read it. She said that in a meeting about my autobiography for her class, which she clearly hadn't read. Haha, she kept like obviously changing the subject any time I asked her about it, or she would quickly flip through and find some really unimportant passage, like an offhand comment about my dog, and then talk to me about it as though it were the turning point of my life. I liked her even better after that meeting.

After Arizmendi I biked over to Green Apple to look for a book, which I didn't find, but I got a cheap world map for my classroom. Then I biked over to Trader Joe's for some groceries. I got home and was feeling a little sick, so I made lunch and watched Amelie. Audrey Tautou, how can I not fall in love with you every time I watch it?? Amelie reminds me of Isheh: it was one of her favorite movies, if not her single favorite. At the time I hadn't seen it, but now I understand how perfectly it fits her. I hope you're reading, Isheh. I think about you a lot. I have a student whose name is pronounced like yours but is spelled differently: Ayesha.

Saturday night I had planned on staying in, but there was a guest-list-only party at a club in the city, and obviously I was on the guest list, so I went over there with Albert. It was a friend of Austin's throwing the party, because he was starting a t-shirt line. I was still feeling sick, but it was fun talking with Austin while he was drunk. We got back to the apartment and Albert made Austin a cheese qusadilla. He ate it and fell asleep on the couch.

Troubled sleep Saturday night. My throat was sore and it was too cold in my room. I woke up late this morning because of it. Made breakfast of a couple of fried eggs, toast, and orange juice. It was all pretty tasteless. God, I feel awful. I could hardly do anything today, I felt cold and tired all day. I slept from 6 pm - 11, shivering and headached. I'm worried because a couple weeks ago, when I was camping with Albert in Big Sur, I got a tick in my side, and when I went to the doctor they said that if I were infected with anything, symptoms would start to show up in a couple weeks--i.e. now. I hope I'm just sick normally and that it's not because of the tick bite. Luckily there's no school tomorrow. It's a work day to get our first semester grades in on Tuesday.