I did go downtown yesterday, and I did take the Alphasmart. First, I went and dropped off my Grandfather clock weights, then I swung by the Blaisdell box office for tickets to the symphony. Tonight is Renee Fleming! Mike and I are going, though he's not a big opera buff. He'll sit through two hours of Renee belting out Beethoven, provided he can have wine during the intermission. ๐Ÿ™‚ I am happy to accomodate.

I love going to the symphony in Hawaii. No suits, ties, or evening wear here! We wear aloha attire. Men will come in aloha shirts and shorts or slacks. Women wear mu'u mu'us or dresses or slacks or shorts. Some folks dress up, some don't. Many wear fragrant leis. If you come to Hawaii for a visit, and you like the symphony, I suggest you go. Our pops conducter, btw, arranged the music and played the saxophone in the fabulous George Clooney movie Good Night and Good Luck. The man is a talent.

But anyway. I got out of the house, went to observe humanity. ๐Ÿ™‚ I ended up in Barnes and Noble with the Alphie. I had a chai and wrote 1 page. Whoa, was I smokin' or what? I observed an old man with a dangly earring, which I thought was funny. I observed how people hog the tables in the cafe by getting one drink, piling magazines on the table, and then stay there forever. They will even get up for 20 to 30 minutes on end while they go look for other stuff. They'll leave everything piled on “their” table so no one takes it. How annoying.

And, yeah, I sat at my table for a long time after I finished the chai. I was probably there for an hour and 15 minutes or so. Staring into space, typing and hitting the delete key, and perusing the latest RWR and The Writer. No one came through looking like they wanted a table, so I didn't feel too guilty. And I don't get up to go find other stuff. I'll go to the bathroom if I have to, but I come right back. I feel guilty taking a table and then going to browse the store.

Do you go to cafes to write? If so, do you think you get more or less done that way? I think I do less, but then sometimes getting away from the house and its distractions (laundry, cats, dishes, etc) is the only way to get anything done.

[Update: Here is the official Renee Fleming website. Apparently the one linked above is a fan site. It was a great concert. I'll report more in depth later…….]