Knowing the Score

It's dark and drizzly outside. It's also Monday. I don't know why, but I feel like scoring things today, so on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the bad and 10 being the good, I'd give this Monday a 4.

This morning, I had a hot cup of coffee, a tasty bowl of oatmeal (with brown sugar and maple syrup) and some peaches. I'd give breakfast a 7. And since the commute has been so smooth and the light rail is actually running on schedule, I'll give it an 8. Things are copacetic.

Over the weekend, I wrote approximately 4,000 words for NaNoWriMo. I'd give myself an 8 for effort, but a 3 for originality. I've been trying to develop creative plot twists, but everything seems so predictable. So far, my story has as many surprises as a merry-go-round. What I need is a merry-go-round that dumps water on people and plunges a hundred feet without warning.

I did half of my writing on Saturday, at the Il Fornaio cafe in Carmel, which I'd give a 9. Although it is an enclosed space, the place feels open and airy with its octagonal shape, towering walls and canopies hung high to diffuse the natural light shining through the glass ceiling.

I'd give a 6 to Orchard Valley Coffee in Campbell where I did the rest of my writing on Sunday. The place was bustling with activity during the Farmers' Market, which was great, but it just felt darker than usual inside, like a cave. Despite the large storefront windows, there wasn't enough sunlight for my liking.

I watched two DVDs over the weekend: The Eiger Sanction and Dogtown and Z-Boys.

The Eiger Sanction was a Clint Eastwood film from the 1970s. The official synopsis claims the movie is about a retired assassin (Eastwood) who comes out of retirement for one last mission, which just happens to involve killing an enemy assassin while climbing the Eiger, a mountain in the Swiss Alps. What the movie is really about is climbing the Eiger. All that other stuff is just an implausible pretext to fill the ninety minutes preceding the climb. The dialogue was unbearable, but the climbing sequences were fantastic. As a serious spy thriller, I give it a 3. As a spoof of a serious spy thriller, I give it a 7.

Dogtown and Z-Boys is a documentary about skateboarding. In the 70s, a group of teens revolutionized skateboarding by incorporating crazy surfing moves into their skateboarding style. Twelve guys and girl made up the Zephyr Skating Team (a.k.a. the Z-Boys) and they all grew up in Dogtown, an area that encompassed parts of Santa Monica and Venice, California. The insights by the various members were hit or miss, but the archival footage and photos were amazing. Overall, I'd give it a solid 6.

Well, that's all I have time to write this morning. I think this entry deserves a score of 4. I hope tomorrow's note is better.