greetings from cincinnati

And these are just a few of the great people I'll get to see over the next several days. My five-day vacation has begun! I left for Cincinnati straight from work, and I got to the Claypole House around 4:30. I saw a drug deal go down on the corner of the gas station where I filled up, and I knew I was home. Tony and I watched episodes of "Parks & Recreation" and Amos showed up from Tazza Mia in his pirate garb. He's kinda into pirates. And by "kinda" I mean he's a nut-job about it. He just got a giant octopus tattoo on his back that wraps around his shoulders, and it looks fantastic. This evening I went solo to The Anchor and worked on an outline for the second half of Chapter 11--"The Choice of Repentance"--and enjoyed chit-chat with the waitress who commented on how I never come anymore. I told her I moved to Dayton and was in town revisiting old haunts. I truly miss that place. I had two cups of coffee and twin eggs and some toast. I even smoked a cigarette, which is a weird feeling indoors. Tomorrow I am grabbing lunch with my friend Jobst, and then Amanda and I are car-pooling to the party at Rob and Mandy's (where I currently am). A Halloween party with great costumes and great music and great beer and a nonstop hookah and, of course, Rock Band. Everyone's gathering together. It should be great. Sunday I am hanging out with Sarah and some peeps, and then Monday I'll be seeing Mikaela, who I haven't seen in about a year. I'm really looking forward to this rest and relaxation. Hopefully amidst all of this I can finish the second third of "Re:framing Repentance," launching me into the final section: "The Practice of Repentance." It's gonna be a monster, and I keep writing outlines and then scratching them, rearranging and reorienting everything. So many different themes interlock that it's difficult to find a way to integrate them all without spawning mass confusion. Anyways, enough about that. I'm on vacation, I'm going to relax and have fun, and then Thursday it's back to the grindstone.