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I know I have stories to finish, but I don't have the energy tonight. I also don't want to let more than a few days get away from me without writing because that'll break the habit. Early yesterday I helped two friends move. Together with a team of maybe six Germans, we placed all of the couple's belongings in a large Mercedes van and sent them off. Certain pieces of furniture were back-breaking, notably a 300lb bed that had three grown men struggling and grunting, and a wooden desk that was surely made of stone. They moved from Berlin to southern Germany, not far from Munich. After the van was packed and I gave them long hugs goodbye, they donated me a plant. It has become a German tradition for me to inherit the plants of parting friends, perhaps to keep me company. I wonder if plants feel unsafe in a new home the way animals might. Marie's plant, which I've named Hans von Bismark, is leaning strangely forward since yesterday, as if he's about to fall right out of his pot. I hope transporting him here wasn't too stressful. Marina's plants are doing well. Maybe being near to my small cacti provides them a sense of community. Hans is over in the corner by the ladder and the wireless router, completely estranged from his leafy green brethren.

My back was a bit strained after the move so I took it easy. I ran some errands, the last of which involved picking up an amplifier to evaluate over the weekend. The music it makes with my speakers is fine, but the new system doesn't sound as nice as in San Francisco. Perhaps the acoustics of this room aren't as good; the ceilings here are much taller. What the amplifier lacks in warmth and bass, it makes up for in clarity. Earlier it tackled "Gold Dust Woman" beautifully, rendering those drobo drags with perfectly dreamy dimensionality. The backing vocals full of howling that emerge in the latter part of the song were reproduced so eerily well that I thought someone in the courtyard was yelling. I'm not sure if I'll keep the amplifier though because I find the bass really lacking in fullness. As mentioned before, this might be a problem of the room and not so much a fault of the amplifier, so I'll need to think it over. I also find it doesn't sound that great at lower volumes, either.

All day I've felt drained. It's not even 9:30 yet, or, as we like to say in Germany, 21:30, but I think I'm going to get ready for bed.

Sleepy Sunday.