Went to Ljubljana a couple of days ago, to catsit the professor's flat – an occurrence that always somehow translates to a few days of vacation-in-a-metropola mood. I oft let some people know I’m there, but not too many. I was going to go Tuesday eve, alas was so tired and had such a tummy ache, I just boarded the earliest train the next day and arrived to LJ at seven.

Ljubljana, as all large towns, has all these chronological different faces: at seven in the morning, at dawn, all the shops are being readied, streets are being cleaned, tables are being scrubbed and chairs set, panels displayed, menus distributed, vans deliver daily goods, machines for ice-cream are being powered up, rare civilians rush about… At eight, it’s another story: most places are already full, people eating breakfast, folk stopping for first coffee on their way to work, stores are opening … And so on, until around six, when afternoon drinks are served after a long day at work, then later dinners set in and later still evening drinks with music, performances in the streets and still some semblance of night life sounds from the bars and restaurants. It was still warm, still some lingering taste of summer. Ema joined us and we had drinks, then took some night photos of her dancing in the streets. The rest was pleasant women’s banter, talking about men and kids and in-laws and families and futures and bad plans.

Next morning, Ema and I met at dawn to continue our shoot. We started at a pretty bridge – or under it – amidst the junky needles and construction workers fixing the channel bank. Through the waking-up town to our first coffee, where a tremendously good looking backpacker came by and sat not even few tables away from us. I stared at her and muttered: sit here, sit here, sit here… First chance I got, I approached her, asking if she has a place to stay tonight. She was a climber and camper and was on her way further south, but figured we are harmless and may be fun company, so she postponed her next move for a day. We moved slowly, photographing Ema still, towards the flat and Ema, who was the one amidst us who could cook, rummaged around the professor’s kitchen until she made some delicious Spanish pasta with garlic and cheese and tomato sauce.

The girls left and I took a nap, then wrote somewhat my ‘Chinese adventure’ chapter, until the beautiful backpacker returned with supplies, and we went out. Little Ema, who is never in any short supply of suitors, gravitated back to us at nightfall, and we spent the evening in a remote open air café, where a girl unexpectedly – and just for us, as we were the only customers – sang with a guitar. One of the songs she sang was Foo Fighter’s Wheels. It just sounded perfect right then and there.

We moved back ‘home’, Rey-look-alike and I retiring (actually I wrote a little while longer while she camped in the professor’s awesome balcony.) We awoke at 6 in the morning and packed up to get some coffee at the place where we met. The plan was to get on out rides (my train and her bus) at noon to avoid rain, but it rained the entirety of the morning and cleared up at noon. But we went to buy some tobacco for me, a new flavour ‘ve just recently discovered, and a USB key for Doo, to give him some movies to watch. He’s in a shitty mood, because he’s broken up with his GF and I wonder if he’s angry with me because he likes me too much? Be that as it may, on the train ride home, I borrowed a book from a 6ft 90 pound blonde nerd student, who strikingly reminded me of a man from my magical past, (and of whom I spoke plenty a night ago), though was not handsome, just … nerdy. The book was a hefty tome, called something like Rationalisation of Civilisation or somesuch. It read like one of those things some old white guy writes and then spends the next forty years lecturing from, and only from that and only about that. Plus it begins with Restoration, which I minded, because I believe rationalisation was a global event that took place much sooner.

Then I got home, in the nice autumn rain, dragged to my house and spent the weekend with G, working on the kitchen, going out for drinks or nice food, crazy sex and Warcraft. I feel like I’m in between good books, though, because most of the ones I pick up are angsty and I don’t particularly roll angsty. My parent’s dog is still sick :/ That part is crappy.