aren't you gonna hold your hands up to the light

I've gotta say, I'm having a pretty good time these days. The business is picking up at the restaurant, which is a constant challenge. The food is on an amazing level, although I don't know if I can keep it up the way it is. The menu has been big, and occasionally somewhat elaborate, so it's a big machine to keep running. In the summer, it'll be hectic... I'm just speaking this way because I'm sleepy right now. It's really as easy as it's ever been, and I'm not working such rough hours these days.

Mom drove in from Cleveland to visit and eat at the restaurant Saturday night. It was nice to show her what it was all about, in the sense that I'm sort of a grown-up with a job and apartment and everything. My parents are so seperated from my life these days that I have a great desire to get them to experience some of the things I do in Pittsburgh. We started with Pamela's.

Pretty soon it'll be time to get plants going for my garden. My neighbor, who used the backyard last summer is moving out, so it looks like I get to go nuts with it. I'm definitely going to start a lot more seeds indoors this year, that's where I had the most success in Squirrel Hill. And I'm just going to buy the tomato plants again. This year I'll actually have ample sunlight for some fun things.

I'm also still having fun with home improvement. I put up a shelf recently. I missed the stud in th wall the first time, the mounting bracket was torn out, and I had to move it over. So there's a nice shelf on the wall with two big holes underneath it. A lesson in stud finding: just buy the fucking electronic thing for ten bucks.

Also, I met a girl. Her name is Alayna, she's completely beautiful, and I like her. I built her up a bike and we've been riding together. I cook us dinner and she gives me music to listen to. I'm pretty happy with the arrangement. She's my hip hop career counselor.

I love music, so much. I've been listening to the best stuff recently. Stars, Rufus Wainwright, The Kooks, Pedro the Lion, Badly Drawn Boy, Neutral Milk Hotel, Rodrigo y Gabriella.