I promised John I’d be sober until the next time I see him, which should be in the last week of August, if everything goes as planned.

I had difficulty making the promise for myself. I’ve easily gone cold turkey before, by my own free will, but that was because I was in a relationship. John’s the last person in the world I want to let down. He’s lost enough already, including his mother and his sense of smell.

Sometimes one needs a reason. Sometimes one needs someone for whom to stop.

It turns out I have a garden.

I moved in when there was still snow on the ground, and I only knew that there was a little patch of soil in my backyard from the few dead stems sticking out of the snow canopy. Eventually the snow melted, then spring came and passed, but the soil remained barren and dry. Summer started, and Trolley noticed some sprouting when he would go to smoke outside. He pulled some dead growth and weeds but did nothing more, not even a watering. The garden just started to bloom by itself.

I have no idea what kind of plants they are, but they seem to be doing well.

With work hours, gaming with (or against) John, and extra-curricular computer activities in most of my free time, my right arm is developing a reoccurring random ailment. Some days it’s a pinching, some days it’s a numbness, some days it’s a weakness. I know that they’re all bad signs, and I’ve been stretching regularly (the exercises that Loo showed me), but I can’t really seem to give up my computer time. I never understood why she wouldn’t take a break from her massage therapy practice, even though it was busting up her wrists, but now I do.

I have the entire long-weekend to write, but it’ll be in a water-logged notebook getting close to retirement, to take some stress off my arm. I’ve had this notebook for over five years now, but the wear has long started to show.

The original plan was to head to John’s cottage for the long-weekend, but it turns out that it would be almost 12 hours of traveling, which isn’t even worth it if I took an extra day off. Trolley went home for the weekend, so I’ve got the house to myself. There are some Canada Day activities going on, but recent dealings with bullshit people have left me anti-social.

I’ll also have the chance to watch the first season of Battlestar Gallactica, which Jeff thoughtfully gave me at the housewarming party. I’ve been extremely impressed by what I’ve seen so far. Most of the camera-work, even the scenes in space, are handheld. It’s gives the entire show that reality-tv feel, as if we were innocent observers standing on board the ship. The music is beautifully tribal, as opposed to the dated orchestral scores of most other sci-fi series. Especially well-written are the characters in the crew; alcoholics, cancer victims, bootleggers, but most of all, they’re human.