June 29, 2005

I escaped to Austin last weekend to get away from all the craziness that goes on in my head. I was on Riverside Drive, about to make a left turn onto Lamar to go hear The Resentments when the strangest thing happened. I had made this turn about five times already over the course of my two days, but was daydreaming and ended up in the wrong lane to turn. Confused, I looked to my left and caught what looked like a restaurant called P. Terry's. The parking lot was empty and obviously not yet open for business. Does anyone know anything about P. Terry's in Austin? Has Peter Terry opened a burger joint? Or have the locals kicked Peter Terry out of Austin? I know he loves to hang out at Barton Springs.

June 26, 2005

I click off and send a sighting report to the Peter Terry website. Now my desktop wallpaper switched to the website background: blue and looks like water. I did not do it. It is still there. Weird!

Blog Editor's Note: Perhaps it's best to right click (on a PC) or CTRL-click (on a Mac) on our inspiring background image and select Set as Background from the resulting pop-up menu now and thus retain control of your computer. Peter hates to use unnecessary force.

June 25, 2005

Ok, so I'm reading the book (during the daylight hours only) and taking a break to check on a friend whose brother committed suicide. I'm generally rattled, as I had just read about the suicide in the book. So I'm at the computer thinking about the book and the phone rings. I check caller id and it's Melanie Wells. She has not called our house in quite a while. It's almost surreal to be so entrenched in the book and to have the author call.

June 14, 2005

I was in the Cincinnati airport last week. The air conditioning was out all over the airport, so everyone was hot and cranky. I was in an executive lounge, trying to get myself out of the crowds. I found myself a seat and ordered a drink. As I sat there alone, I noticed one employee who looked crisp and unwrinkled in the heat. He was black, looked like he could be 100 years old or 50. Gray hair. Pushing a cart and picking up the dirty dishes.

I watched him work for a while until he came to my side of the room and started clearing tables. When he passed my table, our eyes met as though we knew each other. I checked his name tag. Earl.