Yesterday I finally got to substantively hang out with my school-friend Sarah. We've both changed in the nine years since we met, but then again we haven't. We brunched, visited yard sales and the Ashby flea market, and visited Leonard, who made great pasta and played many songs for us on the banjo and guitar.

One sidewalk sale on College Avenue creeped us out. A guy had set out a lot of stuff on sheets on a lawn, and as soon as we started looking, he started talking to us. He told us that this was no ordinary sidewalk sale, and that much of the merchandise was brand-new, but that he couldn't tell us where he had gotten it, except maybe if we talked longer he could. At least once he used the phrase, "Now, you may be asking yourself..." Sarah caught on to the shadiness before I did. We started backing away pretty quick. What the? Thief, con man, loonie, pimp, racketeer? My hypothesis -- he was looking for people to blog about him.

At the Ashby BART market, I avoided David Wexler's awesome book stall, since he has so much stuff I want. But I did buy a CD and some tapes at a great music stall, where I got a pretty good deal on No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom, the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou?, a Firesign Theater tape, a Weird Al tape, and a tape by a mysterious local band called Game Theory. I'll tell you how that last one goes.

I'm listening to Tragic Kingdom (which I just misspelled "Tragic Kingdome"), and it takes me back to freshman year in the dorms doing homework in Dan's room, listening to music on his Mac, thinking "Different People" was Our Song, and saying so and singing as we walked near Kroeber Hall, and him telling me it didn't sound right without Gwen Stefani's voice. I must be misremembering that; what else is new?