spent so long waiting for a thunderstorm, days even, every weather report insisting tirelessly that the storms were coming. scattered, isolated, just more excuses for it won't happen here exactly. standing outside in the early evening, slight booms in the distance. we're just going to catch the edge of it. a few drops. a little after that, nicole comes by and picks me up, and we're off to find her a carrying case for her new macbook.

apple evangelism points for me: 1

she'd been here for most of the day before that, but had to leave for work. then, wonderfully, she was back. just a few minutes into driving along, we're right into the storm. rain coming down heavily, wipers not up to the challenge, we can barely see. it dies down pretty quickly, but the entire character of the night is changing. foggy wisps rising off the still-heated road. at one point, we get to a complicated intersection and all the lights have that auxiliary blue light flashing, frozen in their last positions in anticipation of emergency vehicles. like a sudden state of panic, fire engines going in several different directions.

we get to the mall after nine, finding ourselves ignorant of when anything closes. no luck at target. an over-eager radioshack clerk can't seem to sell her their standard case, it's too big. best buy instead? so we do that, with about five minutes till closing, the motions of quitting time evident among the staff. not enough time to look through cases thoroughly enough, but apparently they make "for women" ones. very feminine, possibly too expensive, maybe not even practical, so we just get the new guster album instead. drive home listening to that. the beginning of the second verse at about 2:30 into "dear valentine" is my newest "must listen to this over and over" moment in a song. got through the whole album, laughing where the lyrics seemed so appropriate in some places, me air drumming trying to pick it up as it goes along, her learning the words to choruses the first time and singing along the next. then the album becomes more like a soundtrack. our soundtrack.