This is ridiculous. I've been trying to get quiet time on the computer for days now. Suddenly, and contrary to previous ability, I've only been able to write when it's quiet. With my brother-in-law Tom in residence this week, and a lot of other visitors in town for a convention, I haven't had a chance. My brain seems to go in circles when the tv's on, or anyone's talking on the phone, at least when I'm trying to write at the same time. What happened to those days when I could study my homework, listen to loud rock music, and chat to my roommates simultaneously? Jesus, I'm getting old or something.

Tom's been an excellent guest in general. However, he leads a petless life and he is slightly concerned about the imposing amount of sharp-clawed, sharp-toothed beasts with whom we cohabit. We only have three, you know, but that can seem like a lot when the cats are frolicking and Dixie stands up with a big shake, ears flopping and collar jingling. Ever since we got them I feel like I've been either apologizing for the amazing amount of animal hair in our house, warning off anyone with allergies, or promising dubious visitors that our pets are well-behaved and amiable. They are! They don't leap on you, or bark, or run screeching away, or claw you. They're very sweet, very sociable, and very calm. But no one seems to believe me until they've met them, and Tom is just never going to trust a cat not to sit on his chest and suck his breath out.

Yesterday, Tom decided to drive to Sacramento. He collects state capitols, apparently. This seems like a daft thing to collect since state capitols are rarely interesting towns but hey, there are worse hobbies. The point is he's good at entertaining himself so I didn't feel guilty for running off to Potlatch, a small book-oriented science fiction convention held in Oakland. I had an excellent time. It was lots of fun surprising people by telling them I live in the Bay Area again. Some folks didn't recognise me, having not seen me in years, and since I wasn't officially at the con I didn't have a name badge on. I mostly hung out in the consuite, and hugged lots of people, and drank single malt whiskey in my coffee, surrounded by familiar faces and voices.

As a result of the convention I'm now awash in nostalgia from having caught up with Tami Vining, Randy Byers, and Victor Gonzalez, all long-time residents of Seattle. They alternately horrified me and made me giggle by describing the changes to the Seattle area. I'm having a hard time grokking a gentrified Alaskan Way, for example, or an upscale, artsy Fremont district. Doubtless I'll just have to get up there soon and see it for myself. Sometimes I forget I grew up in Seattle, you know. I tend to identify myself with San Francisco, both because I was born there and because I moved back there as a young adult and had beaucoup seminal experiences there. But this is a willful interpretation of the facts, and the facts are I moved to the Seattle area with my parents when I was 4, I went to kindergarten through four years of college there, and my memories are informed by the colors and shapes of the Pacific Northwest. I'm glad the unholy trio were at Potlatch to bring it all back to me.

And now, inelegant a way to end things as it is, the rest of the household is up, and I can't think any more. So I'll post this and head to work where there are no cats, or visitors, and I can concentrate.