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I rode my bike to work, the fourth day in a week that I’ve been on the saddle. I am starting to ride for a number of reasons, the largest being I need to get back in shape after becoming a gelatinous tub of fat over the past few months. I was slow on my ride to work, and I was even passed by another cyclist when crossing Carribbean Drive and Lawrence Expressway! I tried to keep up with him, but he was too strong, too dominating. That must have been what Jan Ullrich felt when Armstrong powered away from him after looking at him straight in the face.

After getting back home, I quickly changed from my cycling clothes to my civvies and went over to Lucy’s Teahouse, where I spent the next few hours talking philosophy of life with Amabelle and Steven. John and Bill were also there, along with some of John and Steven’s high school friends (and their friends).

Lucy’s was packed tonight… and they must have done some good business. There were a group of Asian friends at one table and what looked like a Bible study group at the coffee table section. Our group played Chinese Checkers and various card games, though I didn’t get into the gaming action, preferring instead to talk to Steven about wushu and the choices we make in our lives to make them interesting and regret-free. Later in the evening, I went to Books, Inc., formerly known as Printer’s Inc., with Amabelle. I was looking for a technical book that was recently released, but I didn’t see it there. The selection certainly has gone down in the that section of this bookstore ever since Printer’s went out of business (in both Palo Alto and Mountain View). I guess that’s what happens when new management arrives and cost-cutting measures must be observed.

Printer’s used to be such a fixture in those two areas. Sure, Printer’s Inc. Cafe remains in Palo Alto, but the bookstores were homey and inviting. I admit that I never bought that many things from either bookstores, save for the occasional magazine. How much of a contributer was I do its death whenever I bought stuff from Amazon.com because I wanted to save a few bucks? Hmmm… I wonder…

On the way back, Amabelle and I talked about philosophies of life and deep conversations. All too often in these group environments, the conversation remains relatively superficial. We see the outward selves of the people around us, but rarely the inner side of them. In a one-to-one setting, it’s easier to dig to the inner thoughts of people. Those are the types of conversations that can make a difference in people’s lives, the types of conversations worth remembering. We didn’t get that much time to talk, but I think that Amabelle and I are capable of having some pretty good deep conversations in the future! Don’t get me wrong, we don’t always have to be deep and engrossing all of the time… that would get too intense. Sometimes the light-hearted stuff, like “Would you rather lick the edges of a public toilet or jump into a sewage pool?” or “Would you rather each a bowl of insects or have worms” can be fun too. It’s a balance between the two which I prefer the most.

Amabelle and Bill had purchased some Krispy Kreme donuts along Rengstorff Avenue. I had four of them that evening. Yummy those donuts, but very filling too! I think that I’ll have to cycle that much more tomorrow to burn off all the calories I just consumed in those donuts alone!

Another neat thing that happened in the night was Amabelle took over some of the picture taking duties and shot some nice pictures of me. Some of them came out a little blurry, but the lighting conditions were challenging, even for the 50mm f/1.8 at ISO 800. Listening to Eric’s suggestions, I tried to look more “natural” in the pictures. I always tell people, “Don’t mind me, I’m not here,” whenever I take their pictures. Time had it yesterday that I listened to my own advice.