i protest this week's recycled friday five. therefore, i found my own old school one to do today.

1. what's your favorite time of day?
ten minutes after the sun slips beneath the horizon for the night. the sky grows dark, the bright orange and pinks of the sunset dulling, deepening into shades of plum, indigo, green and turqouise against the black of the mountains.

2. what's your least favorite time of day?
those inevitable fifteen minutes after you first wake up, when all you want to do is remain curled up in the warm nest of blankets and sheets. the feeling of warmth and coziness is delightful, but it's spoiled by the realization that the warm fuzziness is ultimately going to be snatched away by responsibilities, replaced by cool floorboards and the shiver of early morning.

3. are you a morning person or a night owl? does it cause any problems?
although i've been trying to play the part of the morning person lately, with work and all, i am and always have been a lover of the night. i work best when the sky is dark and the energy and creativity flows ... as well as the realization that deadline is generally the next day, so there is no time left to procrastinate.

but i've just always loved everything that comes with night - the quiet, the peace, the opportunity to explore. as well as night's activities - concerts, clubs, bars, coffeehouses, movies, plays - night seems to hold so much more than day sometimes.

4. if you had an entire worry- and obligation-free day, what would you do with it?
mmm ... i'd have gone to sleep early the night before so i could be nice and energized upon waking. the day would include some combination of the following (in no particular order): reading, writing, iced coffee, guitar, quality time with friends both local and in far away lands, some form of performance, an engaging interview/conversation with someone who inspires me, good food, good laughs, perhaps a bottle of red wine.

5. how do you plan to spend your weekend?
hmm ... not sure as of yet. tonight will be spent relaxing and finishing my column. tomorrow remains to be seen, but i'm looking forward to the nothingness with a great deal of happy anticipation. sunday i work and see how the column turned out.

oh - i suppose i should comment on the whole red sox debacle. i will say that watching the game was great until the eighth ... paul called while on his way home from class, so i provided play-by-play, experiencing a surround-sound celebration on successful plays, as paul and my father both cheered, as well as surround-sound disbelief as little kept pedro in time and time again. but, then again, i was right in there with the disbelief as well.

i cannot understand what little was thinking. i knew what pedro was thinking - no pitcher wants to give up the chance to finish the game if you think you can do it ... i've been there and it took a great deal to say to my coaches, "yeah, i'm done." you don't want to look like you're giving up - and hell, you want to be the one to win it!

but little should have known better. put in timlin - he'd been kicking ass all postseason. i know it's still mostly because i'm still stinging from the loss, but i'd say right now that little owes the red sox players an apology. not to mention the rest of "red sox nation."

good blasted lord - for once i didn't want to focus on the fact that there's "always next year ..."