Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Karen Blixen

The Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke was born Karen Dinesen in Denmark in 1885. Her father, diagnosed with syphilis, hanged himself when his daughter was nine; she herself was given syphilis by her husband, Baron Bror von Blixen-Finecke, a Swedish cousin whom she married, for convenience, after an unsuccessful affair with his brother. They separated in the eighth year of their marriage, and divorced four years later. Karen's friendship with Denys Finch-Hatton eventually developed, after her divorce, into what Wikipedia calls "a long-term love affair," with no result--Denys was killed in the crash of his biplane shortly before Karen was forced to leave Africa due to bankruptcy. While her syphilis was apparently cured, she suffered from ulcers, and was entirely unable to eat by the end of her life, when she died of malnutrition. She wrote in English for the most part, translating her works into Danish once they were finished, and eventually publishing simultaneously in both languages. Out of Africa was her second book, and her most popular work in English.
Fetch paper, Lark outing X 
1 Algebra lesson 
Read Dinesen X  
Summarize reading X    
Brush dog  X 
Cleaning task X  
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Seems like there've been a lot of goat pics in the loldogs.....Suddenly I kinda miss goats. Well, maybe Winter'll kid when I'm home. *kinda reconciled to going home(for the present ten seconds)*

Golden retriever and Border collie, ewok-teddybear

Took forever to go to sleep.....and then Grandma got me up before seven-thirty. Come on, Grandma, Lee isn't coming until nine! And it was an interesting dream! Although I wouldn't want to be the hero. Perpetual festering wounds aren't funny. I would have liked to watch his friend finish yelling at him, though......Five more minutes?

Well, at nine-twenty Grandma went and looked at the calendar, which said Lee isn't coming until tomorrow. By that time I had about forty minutes to walk the dog in, so we bolted. I wasn't sure we could make the whole circuit before ten, so we just did the first leg, and I jogged and ran a lot. There was a little traffic tangle a little way along on the way back from the watering hole; Lark was lagging behind a bit, and I stopped to wait for her to catch up. A lady on a bike came on, and she had almost passed me when I heard a woman's voice calling a dog. Oops. So I let her pass, and then I started running for Lark. When I came into sight, she was at a bend in the trail, engaging in wary incivilities with a familiar-looking Border collie. Where were the woman and the golden? Around the bend in the trail, with another girl, rather younger. So I said hi to everyone, in varying tones and enthusiasm levels (with Lark lowest), and the woman said, "I think we've seen you before." "Yeah," I said, "couple days ago." Having petted the golden, I decided I'd better extricate us. So I started out running, calling Lark very firmly and wishing the idiot collie would quit chasing us. It did, very shortly, but I ran for a good while. I'd decided, a few days ago, that my body wasn't being challenged much by walking anymore, and I need to run more. But the incentive to run, when it's really hot and you want to have some energy left to get home with, is pretty low. So today, with the deadline for getting home and the canine imbroglio, was a good day.

So Grandma told me Sid called while I was gone. Did I mention that last night, just as she was coming in from Last Call, Lark got kinda woofy and Intruder! Intruder!-ish? Yeah. And again at twelve-thirty, while I was trying to go to sleep. She woke Grandma, too, just in time to hear the Rockies lose in the thirteenth inning. So that was our angle. Sid called to say that they had a bear visit last night and tear the trash apart. Meep. Actually, she also said that they're going camping this weekend and want me to take care of Maddy, but I still need to talk to her about it. (And say, Yes! I'd love to! Where's the cat food!)

So Grandma told me about the camping while we were in the car, with Jinn, going to the bridge luncheon. It was really nice. They had it at Joan's, because Norma's kitchen is a disaster zone with remodeling, but Norma still kinda presided. Harriet was there, with pictures of the Ethiopian twins her daughter is trying to adopt after, what, six miscarriages? So their one little boy will have little sisters. Also Grandma told her about Mom having all of us after her various miscarriages, which is to say there's still hope, so who knows, there could be more. So with Jinn and Grandma there were five, and they had a little game of bridge while Joan cleaned up. I, fortunately, had Barrayar in my purse, having contemplated the possibility of this eventuality. It was really fun talking to them over lunch, though, which was a variety of chicken salad (with palm and artichoke hearts) followed by lemon cream pie. It was all delicious. Joan sent the salad home with us. Wait, was it Norma's salad? I think so. Anyway, that's dinner. So Jinn brought us home, all speculating on the species of the bright yellow flowers covering the hill behind Joan's house. It's a lovely and eye-catching effect.

Read Barrayar while Grandma napped, and then it was time for Anti-Dog-Hair Measures, i.e. brushing and sweeping things.

Two sets of five pushups while waiting for pasta to boil for dinner. Kind of hard by the second set, but not too bad.

Took Lark for a run after dinner, from about eight to eight-thirty. It was really nice out: cool, with a pleasant nip to the arms and legs without being cool enough to bite. We met a family of four toiling up the Heller road: boy on bike, a couple years younger than me, toiling along at the laboriously slow pace of one who has to wait for everyone else; sister, maybe older; mom; and dad, with dog on leash. It was a very small dog, of uncertain breed, but it looked rather like the dog in the "When teddy bears and ewoks breed" lol. Lark got along with him quite well. We went perhaps two-thirds of the way to the end of the first leg, then turned back. I jogged in prolonged spurts. The family had still gotten a surprisingly little way past the creek crossing when I met them again. This time the boy stopped to respond to Lark's advances, which infallibly gets a rather warmer smile and hello from me than ignoring her, or merely saying hi and passing on, does.

I've been jogging more, since walking doesn't challenge my body enough unless I go farther than I have time for. What I've been wondering is whether it might not be a better idea to walk with weights instead--carry my backpack, put some books (although I'd hate to put books to such a use--maybe I can find something else) or something in it. Jog when I've gotten somewhere with that, maybe. It's something to think about, at least, and if I want to adventure I'd better be able to shape up to carrying things. Even if I don't adventure, it's always nice to know one's in shape if one does, by chance, have something interesting happen.


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Monday, June 29, 2009



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Did anybody look at today's XKCD? We have a new character with a different hat. How many guys with hats does that make? Three at least....

Out of Africa

The editors' preface to Out of Africa talks about both her view of Africa and her life. It speaks of her writing; of her love of Africa, the fact most immediately apparent from her writing; and her life itself. I was interested, first reading this, to hear of her other writing; and it amuses me that everyone assumed that Isak Dinesen was male, although indeed it is a male name, so perhaps the public is excused. It is disappointing but understandable that the Baroness never returned to Africa: it is true: it would not have been the same, it would have been uncomfortably, horribly changed. But through her writing, she can remember the old Africa, her Africa, and we can learn of it. I was also interested to learn about her husband, who is mentioned once, in a reference to the early years on the farm, and nowhere else. The preface tells that she married her cousin, and that the farm was a wedding gift from their family, that they were married for seven years, and when they divorced, she stayed on the farm. The husband is, in fact, a means for getting to the farm and, as far as the rest of us are concerned, not much else. It is difficult to discern how Dinesen felt about him: she speaks of him little and casually, mentioning "my husband" and passing on to what she was going to say. It is as though he were irrelevant--and perhaps, to this book, he is. 

Alan Moorhead's introduction speaks more of the quality of the writing than of the author herself. He talks of the style, impressed that the poetry of her phrases, a difficult thing to carry off even writing in one's native tongue, has endured the changing of tastes the way it has. He considers the quality of her view of Africa, wondering if this, a European work, will be accepted by the Africans as African literature. I think it certainly should be. He considers her as a person; not, however, in a biographical way, but an intellectual, speaking not of her life, but her mind. I think it's interesting that both introduction discuss her attitude to the natives: one of love, respect, and very clear seeing. She does not condescend, Moorehead says: she accepts them, as humans, giving them, most importantly, their dignity.  From here he goes on to speak of her way of bringing quotes to mind in the day-to-day occurrences of the farm. It's very typical of the well-educated great women writers of that period, but Moorehead sees it as a particular necessity for writing like this: applied education, seeing the country through the eyes of literature. I believe the phrase he used was "connecting it to the whole of human experience." He concludes with, again, the question of whether this work will be embraced by the Africans as their own, and answers it: yes. Probably.

Lark....

Woke up about seven and got up to put on dry underwear and rinse some of the blood out of the wet ones. Went back to sleep and slept in. Interesting dreams--involving horses, unusually. Lambs, too. I made the interesting discovery that my subconscious thinks the sewer pond is a lot shallower than it is. Uh-oh. My conscious self believes that no self-respecting livestock over the age of two weeks should need to be pulled out anyway, though.....although sheep aren't particularly self-respecting......and waterlogged wool can create balance issues.....Fortunately none of the ponies were involved at that point.

Pulled some more weeds out of the walk instead of walking the dog. Threw a lot of balls while I was at it, though. It was really hot.

Fell asleep after lunch. Woke up to let Diane in, then crashed again. Grandma came into the studio at almost five to find me petting the dog, on the floor to stay awake and cool off. She said if I was cramping I should probably walk the dog--I had arrived at a similar conclusion, although along somewhat different paths. Anyway, we got out before five. It was sunny when we started, and while the sun went behind the clouds pretty quickly it remained hot. We met a man on a bike in the trees on the first leg, and then there was a jogger as I was coming out of the wash where Lark drinks. I heard him go by, and then, as Lark streaked past, swear. I called her as I came out, and then I got clear and could see him. The very well-tanned jogger was bent over with his hands on his knees, panting, and when he saw me he said, "Didn't know what that was!" "Australian Shepherd," I said, and then, "Hello, doofus," as she sidled toward us. The jogger started off again, and I had to call her back from following him. Lark, Lark.....She didn't cause any trouble with the next jogger, a young man with longish hair over halfway along the second leg--we passed one another, and went on. I don't think he was much older than me, if at all. After him there was no one until the gate, where we passed a young man on a bike with a pale, emphatically smooth-shaven lower face. I don't know if his upper face matched under the sunglasses, but I wondered if he'd just got rid of a beard.

"Dark Blue" by Jack's Mannequin running through my head the whole time. Well, at least it's a song I like...

Grandma made dinner, some pasta with veggies. She needed to make at least half again as much.....but I supplemented with cheese sauce on bread. The pasta was really good, though.....

I just remembered I have some assigned reading to do tonight. Gotta go.

Hm. Looked it up and I came out on May 15. So.....let's see if I can stay until July 15......

Father Paul called about eight to ask when would be a good time to come over. He's slated for Friday, in the end. The schedule is a terrifying thing......

The "Human" channel just opened with "This Boy." O.o

I found out on MangaU that Shojo Beat's not gonna run anymore. Viz is dropping the magazine. Nooooooooooo! Please, no! Do you guys have any idea how long it'll take me to buy the volumes of Honey and Clover up to where the magazine was? Huh? Huh? And now I have to get the chapters up to date on my reading list for stuff like Crimson Hero so I can read the chapters when the scanlators release them! Granted, at least I can drop Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time and Sand Chronicles now (Sand Chronicles I'll read the end when it comes out, though), but you know what? IT AIN'T WORTH IT. At all. 

Ten pushups and situps right before bed. They weren't all in a row, but they weren't too hard, either. Lark lay down and watched wistfully without being told. I am, however, reasonably certain that this training will somehow not be applied to, say, Peter doing pushups. I'm not sure if I'm going to try to apply it or not.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Golden retriever and Border collie

Got to church in time. The pastor was Shane Stickel from Westminster, who traded with Dave for this week after the synod. He isn't as good as Dave. Philip says he's only been doing this a couple years, being formerly from this congregation, so maybe he'll get better, but his technique needs work. The sermon topic was Psalm 123, focusing on its exposition of certain aspects of prayer. I stayed awake better than I expected, considering the night I'd had, but it didn't benefit the sermon. Philip and I agree that the man has trouble with his analogies, for one thing--one made no sense and another was just wrong.

I had a nice chat with Jenna, and then Mrs. Marble with Mr. Marble in attendance (he listens, mostly), and then Jenna came and hijacked Mrs. Marble, at which point Philip took the opportunity to drag me home. We also have an invitation for next Sunday at Jenna's house for lunch--today, she said, was a bad time because it was leftover soup. It was also a bad time for us, because Chuck and Phil were coming.

They showed up in the middle of lunch, having calling from Monument to say they weren't hungry. We chatted until two, about Walden and, come to think of it, quite a lot of things, and then they went back to the hotel for a nap. Phil's still driving the Escalade. Chuck, behind his back, demonstrated the clear belief that his little brother was insane. I love those two......

Lark and I went out at three, after I caught up with a few things. We met a couple of young men early in the first leg; the main impression I got of their faces was brown hair over sunglasses with light beards below. One seemed to be shading a dark patch on his upper arm, and after giving Lark a few words ignored her. The other petted her a bit, and exchanged greetings with me. Later, in the second leg, we met a youngish woman with a Border collie and a golden. The collie was pretty close to Lark in size, if possibly lighter. The Golden, while on the small side, was not.

It was sunny when we started, but by the time we met the guys I'd taken off my shades and hat, and there was a constant rumbling mutter from the sky behind us as we came up the Heller road. A few fat drops fell as we came up the driveway. It was raining buckets within a minute of getting inside.

Chuck and Phil came back, in the pouring rain, bringing with them a lemon meringue pie. Philip left after  eating, after a good long chat session, for the church meeting to report on the state of the denomination after the synod. I elected to stay. Everybody chatted for awhile longer (which mostly means that Grandma and the boys talk and I--or Philip and I--listen) while I took the dog in and out for ball and brushing, and then Phil noticed the loppers in the greenhouse. Apparently the branches in the driveway had hit the Escalade, which I can well believe, and Phil couldn't resist. He lopped quite a pile, which I dragged out to the curb, with some canine assistance. She actually brought one branch right up to the pile and, upon request, left it there. The rest of the assistance was more questionable, of course, and then when we had finished and were walking around looking at the result, she disappeared. I went behind the house and Phil stayed in front, and we both called until the dratted dog came running down the street to Phil. At which point I shut her in the house. Anyway, I had to get the sap off my hands when we went in (Phil didn't have any) and then it was decided to go get some frozen pizzas. Phil drove, Chuck got us there, and I got us to the frozen foods. We left with three frozen pizzas (one for the freezer), a box of Coke, and a package of Oreos. So for dinner we had pizza with Coke followed by ice cream. Grandma and Chuck had coffee, with one Oreo, but Phil had mint chocolate chip, and crumbled four Oreos over it. Philip and I had more pie. Karen called with an update on their third dog, a pointer-ish mutt younger than Lark who's having a seizure phase. He's Karen's darling, and he's so upset by the seizures that she's pretty upset. So she called after dessert to say she was taking him to the vet, which was supposed to be tomorrow.  All the guys left about nine, with hugs all round. The house is pretty quiet now. Maybe I can get Philip to take me along when he takes them up on their invitations. And they say they aren't stopping by in the morning.....*whimper* Although I must say, it would be nice if the next time I see them it's one at a time. Both of them together is tricky, because of the brotherly teasing that got old about fifty years ago at the latest. You don't want to laugh, but.....you really can't help it, because they've had all that time to come up with jokes that are actually funny. Sigh. Also I haven't heard the stories very many times, and Phil tells stories well.

I want them both back already. Maybe I'm just missing boys around, but.....I don't think that's it. Part, maybe, but not all. Also they're both very huggable. Something about the shape, maybe. Sigh.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Six greyhounds and an Anatolian Shepherd

So it's eleven-thirty at night, I'm trying to go to sleep, and this ridiculous dog is dropping a tennis ball in my face, having been trying to push it ever since we came in from Last Outing. Sheesh.

Philip and I did the shopping this morning, getting home about eleven. He bought two tickets to the Renaissance Fair at King Soopers.

After lunch we went for a short lark, and then whenever Phil decides to get moving we're going to Larkspur, for the Fair, and then Denver, for Jim's fight. I hope he wins again, but I do wish I knew more fighters so more of the fights would be interesting. ;p I am going to try to get a t-shirt or something this time.

When we got to the fair, the enormous parking lots were packed. They actually had buses running from the parking lot to the front gate, which was set up to look like the battlement of a castle, with people in costume up on the walkway calling hello, and a couple more in costume taking tickets. A note about the costumes: the theme was not Renaissance. The theme was everybody's favorite movie, either historical of fantasy. The result was quite a few hook-on pointy ears, and even more wire-frame fairy wings. It was really fun to watch. There were hoopskirts, and asymmetrical overskirts worn without underskirts, and monks and wizards and little pink and gold princesses and a little evil fairy who skipped past the Pikes Peak Highlanders with very creditable jigging steps.. There was a man who gave short, fast history lectures, tuition optional, dressed in blue velvets. There were four women who sang, very well, dressed in gowns with the quilted sort of bodice and flowing sleeves and skirt--pre-Renaissance, I think. There were two gentlemen in black vest-cloaks and swords, who made me think of King Charles the Second but would probably have been under Cromwell, in that case. I wanted to ask what period they were from, but they were taking a picture with a fairy. There were jesters. and three people in very long pants on stilts with their hands free, the Barely Balanced Acrobatic Display. They were really very well balanced, and one of the men had the perfect manner for it. There was a short play on the Celestial Stage, where Prince Charming and Charles Dashing, speaking entirely in rhyme, told the story of the hero (played by a girl from the audience) who rescues the princess (he was black--I think they chose a guy with a shaved head so the bright blonde wig with pink bows would have full impact) from the villain (played by Charles Dashing, after much persuasive speaking on the treatment of heroines by villains--this was before Charming said the guy was going to be the princess.) They were pretty good. There was a sword fight, too, where Charming subbed for the hero because Dashing couldn't fight a girl. ("I can't fight her, she's a girl. Remember what happened last time?" (aside to the audience) "He ended up in hospital.") 

We went around the fair twice. The first round there was an enormous dog, almost white, near the elephants. I went to ask what he was, and he was an Anatolian Shepherd (working, so I couldn't pet him just then. I did ask.) We also found the Colorado Greyhound Rescue, where half a dozen beautiful dogs wearing cloth collars in Celtic designs lounged around while their humans, looking almost as medieval but much less elegant, answered questions. I made the acquaintance of a very tall laddie shedding fawn fur named Legolas. The short version of this, Leggy, was an accurate description.

We sheltered from the worst of the rain in a weaver's shop, full of absolutely lovely cotton and wool clothing: shirts and skirts (the skirts today were all especially hard on me: the best ones are the priciest), shawls and ruanas (rather like ponchos), scrunchies and pouches. I had a lovely conversation with the lady in charge of the shop, the apprenticed partner in Green Tree Weaving, ably assisted by her two sons, probably about seven and ten. She told me about their sheep, which are California variegated mutants. I looked them up, and apparently the breed is derived from the Romeldale, a hybrid breed developed through crosses of Romneys and Ramboulliets. Multicolored lambs cropped up in Romeldale herds, and from these the breed was developed. Sabine also asked whether I knitted or whatever, the underlying question being why was I interested in all these details, and I said yes, I did knit a bit, but my main interest was because I had a few sheep. Did I use my own wool? It was a goal, but I hadn't learn to spin yet, not having anyone to teach me. She advised me, very strongly, to ask about among the elders of my community and find someone. Sigh. Anyway, after much heartburnings over the lovely garments, I bought a scrunchie. I could've bought a pouch, but I wove myself one years ago. Not as nice, of course.....Anyway, not for next time: have either much more or much less money. Ninety bucks means enough to spend but not enough to spare.

That was on the second circuit, which was when I started buying things. I bought a pewter dragon pendant from one shop, while a girl in a very well-put-together costume asked about protection pendants. That startled me a bit. Anyway, so far so small, but in a clothing shop near the end I buckled down and bought an outfit. It's kind of the simplest design, full skirt with a wraparound waist and ruffled bottom and a tube blouse with elastic around the top and bottom (bottom more than top, interestingly) and little sleeved attached only below the arm. I think of it as the Barmaid Blouse, and am beginning to get my blood up thinking about how to make the thing both wearable and good-looking. The whole outfit, actually, although the skirt won't be so bad. Need to find a color that goes well with light brown--this might be easier if I'd gotten the dark brown one. Oh, well, it should be a fun challenge, anyway.

We left the fair shortly after that, although we stopped to listen to a very good group in green kilts: one piper, three or four drummers, and a guitarist with the brown curls and beard look. I think it may be true what they say about live music: it's stronger, more exciting: live. Of course. 

After Larkspur was Denver. Philip fed me at Qdoba, and then we went on to Crowne Plaza. There weren't nearly as many people there this time, which was smart of them, because they had the audio up much too loud. Add to purse: bandaids, earplugs. Anyway, Jim was sixth of ten, and the fight was a complete opposite of his first, except for the main point, of course. His first time, he won thirty seconds into the first round, forcing a submission with an arm bar. This time they went three rounds, at the end of which the judges declared Jim the winner. It was a very good fight--it's much more interesting when one has someone to cheer for--in this case, in common with a very vocal section of the crowd. There were a couple other fights where I managed to pick someone, such as Rutherford the Nebraskan, besides one of the pro fights where I rooted for the fighter eleven years older than his opponent. They both won.

We got home about midnight, and I lay down next to Grandma to tell her about it. I had dog hair all over my clothes in minutes, of course. In the end, I think it was about one-thirty when I went to sleep. A long day.




Friday, June 26, 2009

Wildflowers

Followed Lark to Sid's this morning, and ended up talking for quite a while. One result was a late walk. Too hot! The main point of interest was, again, at the gate: a nice young man was driving a tractor in. Strange. Lark didn't want to pull over, drat her.

Finished Girl Fight. I look forward to more of this.

Seven pushups just before lunch. Almost immediately after lunch Grandma went down for her nap, and I went over to Sid's for our shopping trip. So, for starters, we went to the military surplus store down by Old Colorado City to look at clothes. I ended up not getting any pants, but there were some t-shirts I got. There was a Goodwill near there, so we went there next, and I found several shirts, a skirt, and a very nice dress there. Sid got a charming little music box, a delightful confection in pink and white with three horses. It's in perfect condition, and plays the first couple of bars of "The Sound of Music" over and over.

It was raining when we got home. I showed off my purchases to Grandma, and then I went to sleep. Philip woke me up.

Grandma and I had bisonburgers for dinner while Philip napped, and after dinner I brushed the dog. We larked out at about seven-thirty, and somewhat curtailed the loop in order to get back before dark, coming back along the first leg, which is either shorter or just easier. We met a lady jogger, but no one else. The late wildflowers are blooming: the yellow clover; an odd plant called the prickly poppy, with a stalk like a thistle and a bloom like a white poppy; a purple flower that resembles a vetch blossom on steroids, but with radial compound leaves; the ground cacti, the bane of Lark's poor paws, with adorable yellow cups with dark red or aloe-green centers. Some have buds of dark pink, which will be opening in the next couple of days.

Finished Out of Africa.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Out of Africa

I've read four chapters today, but of them all, my favorite is "The Somali Women." Farah's wife, with her accompanying family, comprised most of Dinesen's female company on the farm, and it is clear she enjoyed them. Her description of them is clear and amusing; my favorite part is her metaphor of the marriage game as war, with the women, in spite of their status as goods, clearly ruling the men. My favorite line, as she describes how all the men's wealth goes to their women, is this: ".......when they should be conquering the conqueror, and extortionating the extortioner." The men may be masters, but their wives are their mistresses.
Fetch paper, Lark outing X 
1 Algebra lesson X 
Read Out of Africa X  
Summarize reading X   
Brush dog  X 
Cleaning task X  

Grandma's little brothers

Wriggled out of bed without too much trouble this morning. Looking forward to the uncles coming.

Lark and I went out a bit after nine to find the heat had gotten a good start. x_x There were still more people than usual out--besides the students (the first car went by just after we jumped into the creek bed) there were four guys hiking and a man on a bike who seemed to be trying to map the trails. He was pretty nice--had something of the Brad Pitt facial structure, assisted by a crew cut. I think he said he was a mapping student. I hope he meant cartography. We also went by the dig, where they seem pretty close to finishing up. Lark went and talked to everybody without me. >.> Jogged the last bit home because I'd seen Maryanne's car in the driveway and hoped it might be the Eatons. Sigh.

........I think the telemarketers are spreading the word. As soon as I said I was Mrs. Johnson's granddaughter, he apologized, said he'd call at a more convenient time, and hung up. O.o Anyway, Sid called. Our shopping trip is on for tomorrow after lunch. Whee!

Chuck called during lunch to say they were in Denver. Mode of travel after Denver is unclear, but at least we know they're alive. :p We spent a good long time outside after I brushed the dog, looking out for them, and then it got too hot for us. Shortly after we came inside Chuck called to say they were five minutes out and to get ready for 'em.

They came in the door about four-fifteen, and we heard the story of their odyssey. Apparently the great trouble was Chuck's getting tickets to Dallas to meet Phil, all the flights being booked. From Dallas to Denver was less trouble, and then they couldn't rent a car one-way to Colorado Springs. An Air Force captain managed to get one to Colorado Springs (possibly it wasn't one-way) so they split with her. It was a long story; this is my condensed version. Then Phil told us about his trip to Nepal, with pictures, and then Grandma got out the albums from her trip. We talked a long time--I'd like to think I made a good audience for Phil. ;p

World Disconnect moment: I found out Michael Jackson just died. Where did I learn this? Yahoo? No. The "recent threads" list on MangaUpdates. I'm trying to decide whether I'm proud of it.

Went to dinner at Mimi's with Chuck and Phil. They're fun. :D Probably the only time I'll ever ride in a Cadillac, too: they rented an Escalade. Great big SUV with a video screen for reverse and GPS that doesn't work without the CD. Seriously though, I think I'm getting closer to a decision about what I'm gonna do, just from formulating answers to the questions everybody asks.....

Got home and took the lark for the half-hour walk in the sprinkling rain while Grandma talked to the boys. We didn't meet anyone until the older couple coming down from the gates; then, at the gate, we ran into a policewoman in her car. "Pretty dog," she said. Looking closely, she could have been related to the older woman. Strange.

They left at eight-fifteen. Grandma has some cute little brothers. Chuck's the sweet one, I'd say; and Phil's....hm. A little more reserved: takes at least five minutes to get to know him, as opposed to thirty seconds for Chuck. *huggles them both* I was a little startled to learn that Chuck's the elder, but then, personality has nothing to do with age. I'm sure Chuck would be happy to know, anyway. ;p Incidentally, anyone who directs them to this will die within thirty minutes of so doing from the curse written into the code of this post. Come to think of it, I kinda generally discourage recommendations period. No New Readers Allowed.

Seven pushups/situps just before bed.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Out of Africa

"Wamai" tells of the long proceedings to determine the compensation for the children killed and wounded in the shooting accident, focusing on the boy who was killed. My favorite line, from her description of the taking down of Jogona's relation of the events of his adoption of one of the children killed, is a fine example of Dinesen's penchant for misquotation of Scripture: "Here was something which Jogona Kanyagga had performed, and which would preserve his name for ever: the flesh was made word and dwelt among us full of grace and truth." It's from John chapter one.

"Wanyangerri" is the continuation, dealing with the proceedings on the other side, for the wounded child; his time in hospital, the disputes over the compensation for his injury, and the solution of the problem. Also in this chapter she tells of what happened to the boy who fired the gun, Kabero; his sojourn with the Masai, and his eventual return to the farm. I think the most interesting part of this chapter is her description of the various tribes, the demographics, of Africa; the Arabs, the Somali, the Masai, and the Kikuyu--in that hierarchy. Her narration of the history there helps the reader understand the interactions of the groups throughout the book, and her metaphors are, as always, a delight.
Fetch paper, Lark outing X
1 Algebra lesson X
Read Out of Africa X
Summarize reading  X
Brush dog X
Cleaning task X

Golden retriever

Well, this one was interesting. It seemed like Cetaganda had been discovered and was an actual planet (although actually it's, like, nine?) and Beta and Vervain, but not Barrayar. Maybe they were just still isolated, though, because then I was Miles, in some sort of tunnel complex, anticipating Cetagandan invasion--which was two generations before him, but oh well. Anyway....then I woke up and it was still early enough to go back to sleep.

We larked at almost nine. Early in the first leg, before the scrub, we met a woman with a very fuzzy Golden puppy. I'm certain he was younger than Lark, but he was a little taller and much heavier. I got to pet him, although Lark was getting a bit hackly by then. ^_^ Fuzzy fuzzy!

Got home to deal with the laundry I'd put in the drier on the way out. Mom called during sorting--always nice talking to home. *huggles*

After algebra I started on the diagnostic test for math ability. It's really interesting seeing some of the strategies--I cheat a bit on the problems by looking at the choices on the next question, which is "So, how did you solve that last problem?"  But--yeah--it's interesting. I am scraed out of my mind now.

Lots of comp time--finished Superior. More chappies, please! I mean, come on! There're only two or three vols to go!

Was feeling restless, so Lark and I went for a run. Lasted from the gate almost to the end of the slope, and then I had to drop into a walk. It worked, though--now I'm just tired! ^_^ Seven pushups a bit before that helped too....Still have to do the situps.

Chicken and veggies for dinner. Lark dragged me outside right after to play. Doofus.

Looking forward to tomorrow. :D

Restarted Mother Sarah. They've scanlated ten volumes, and it's twelve volumes--completed. Nice, but....the closer to the end you are, the more cliffhangers there are!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Out of Africa

Lulu and The Shooting Accident

I love the way she describes Lulu the gazelle. Her queenly grace, succeeding the apparent fragility of her infanthood and the tumultuousness of her adolescence, is wonderfully described, demonstrating the poetic imagination of the writer.

The shooting accident, besides being a very sad story, is interesting for its illustration of the Natives' view of her. Especially amusing is her term for their use of certain white men as figures, symbols: brass-serpenting. Look upon the serpent, and you shall be healed, hm? Well, to a certain extent, it would seem so.
Fetch paper, Lark outing X
1 Algebra lesson X
Read Out of Africa X
Summarize reading X 
Brush dog X
Cleaning task X

Larky-parky pudding and pie....

Well, last night wasn't perfect, but it was better. Dragged myself out of bed with slightly more facility than yesterday, anyway. We got the wrong paper this morning, but when I called they sent the carrier, a big, colorless man, with the Post. Beautiful and I walked at nine, making it home a bit before ten but not before it got hot. Sigh.

Sid came over to talk for a bit, leaving before any nurses showed up.

Did my math while Maryanne was here, then read for a bit. Finished just before Grandma voted lunch. Used up the last of the ham for sammiches. Reading Chizumi to Fujiomi now. Funny.....it's only three volumes long! It's always seemed longer to me.....

Studied the SAT handbook while Diane was here. Some intriguing strategies in the math. As far as Gruber's concerned I lose points in vocabulary, though, because instead of using his technique for deducing the meaning of a word I already know the word. The antonyms are kinda tricky, but fortunately he says they don't use that in the tests anymore. He includes them for testing vocabulary, but I've discovered that knowing the word is one thing, and figuring out which word is closest to being its opposite is quite another. Is "complex" an antonym of "lucid," or would another choice be better?

Larked the shnorg after dinner, seven-fifteen to eight o'clock. Saw nobody. Cloudy, threatening rain. Pleasantly twilit.

Now reading Superior. Interesting--for once it's the heroine who's a bloodthirsty, enormously powerful cynic with the traumatizing past who's being gentled by the naive hero. Most unusual in shoujo--can't speak for the other genres...

"I don't want something I can't eat, you fool. Besides that--regarding the consequences of bumping into people--which do you choose, having the right side or the left side killed!? Why don't you quickly make up your mind!" 
Standard of edible and non-edible? Before that, is that the definition of being half-dead-----?!

Some poor sap tried to pay her off after she started yelling at him for bumping into her. I don't know where Yuusha is--normally he'd have intervened by now.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Out of Africa (chapter one and half of chapter two)

Isak Dinesen's love for her home shows clearly throughout her writing. She has nothing to say unfavorably; everything reflects her belief that it is the greatest place in the world to be. In the first chapter she describes the region and her farm, its size, its composition, its inhabitants. She describes the coffee plantation, describing the yearly rituals, resigned to--no, content with--the difficulty of making anything resembling a profit.

The second chapter tells the story of her doctoring of the natives, and the success of her varying results in continuing to bring them in. In particular she tells of a specific boy, Kamante, and his personality and trials.
Fetch paper, Lark outing X
1 Algebra lesson X
Read Out of Africa X
Summarize reading X
Brush dog X
Cleaning task X

Husky/Sheltie

Last night was a debacle. Philip was watching Minority Report in the studio, and I didn't want to. So I took The Blue Hawk down to the sitting room, and when I finished it I went and got Strata, because the movie wasn't over. Strata didn't keep me awake very well, though, so I went to sleep. Philip kicked me off the couch at ten-thirty, and I moved to my bed. I woke up to shower at one-thirty, and the fabric creases were deeply imprinted on my skin.

This morning I was light-headed with lack of sleep. Grandma very firmly kicked me outside at nine, though, and we went for our walk. I was alive by the time we reached the Heller road, where I had a short conversation about lawns and mowers with a guy from the green house, who apparently was lending the riding mower to the neighbor, who only had a push. Or so I gathered. He had an odd, unidentifiable accent, and while I'm pretty sure he's not the one who told me about the cat I have no idea what his age was. He was maybe kinda youngish.....I think....although he talked to me pretty readily, which is more typical of older groups......never mind. I just wonder if he was the one practicing the drums in the garage last night.

About half-way through the first leg we met a lady and her dog, who was a little shorter than Lark but at least as heavy, if only with fur.  She was a husky-Sheltie cross, one eye dark, the other blue. I spotted the Sheltie at once; she bore a certain resemblance to Radar, with a similar outer coat. I never would have figured out the husky. We chatted a bit, and the wet little dog let me pet her. I got away with it because Lark was off staring up at a squirrel or something. That pair got around--the next person I met, an older guy at an outcropping shortly after we spooked a deer (I saw it because I could hear the impact of its feet--Lark never noticed) had seen them at the pond. He had been watching another deer, which bolted up the hillside when we came. We had a nice chat; his conversational style favored Old Nebraska Farmer, which was rather a whiff of home, even though he talked about deer and bears rather than hay prices. The weather was still there, though.

We stopped by the dig on the way back, when Lark was worn out. A campus cop pulled up as we came in; he told me someone had called to say they couldn't get the gate open--but it was open and everyone was there when he came. No one knew who'd called, either. Nobody worried about it much. I said hi to Michaela, who asked after Grandma. There was a new girl, too, Megan. The professora introduced her to Michaela. Megan shook hands with her, and then held out her hand to me. I shook, introducing myself and explaining that I wasn't on the dig. Michaela added that I was their daily visitor. "Yeah. It's my dose of external human contact." "Very important," someone said. 

Cleaned the bathroom. Grandma approved it.  ^_^ Had some comp time, and then they made me do math about three. Next is reading: SAT handbook and Out of Africa.

Philip left before I finished algebra. Acquainted myself with the handbook independently, therefore. I'm not surprised it's three inches thick, the way they squander space in there. About three-thirty Grandma, who had expressed a desire to go outside with me when I brushed the dog, came and said how about you brush the dog now? So we went outside, and Lark and I alternated grooming and wrestling under the crabapple while Grandma walked up and down the patio.

Rereading From Far Away. I think next I'll read Chizumi and Fujiomi. I do love Hikawa-sensei--she's just so sweet, and somehow the romance has such a serene tone. I've never expressed this to my own satisfaction.

Took Lark for a shot run amid gathering clouds at eight. Went a little way into the loop, until the trail goes into the scrub, and then turned back. Met a jogger at the gates--I hope she isn't getting soaked, besides ruining her motivational electronics. New iPods are expensive. ;p Lark took us to Sid's on the way home, where Ralph was out on the porch with the phone and Sid was watching TV. I talked to Sid for a little, then called Grandma to tell her where I was. When I told her it was beginning to rain she said to come right home, so we did.

Having a float with my manga now. Grandma's in bed. G'night.

You know, reading the bit in the last volume, where the people of Ennamarna are trying to protect Noriko, I'm thinking......I read too many cynical stories. Bujold, I'm talking about you....

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Yellow lab

Guergh. Woke up in the middle of the night with no blankets. Eventually located them on the floor. Fully awake, dressed, etc. by nine, while Phil's eating breakfast.

We made it to church before the announcements, but it was pretty close. I was in worse shape than I'd expected, but I made it through. The sermon was on Salvation, with the text from Titus. It was pretty good--a consistent grade for Dave Reese, so far. We sat behind the DeBenedittis girl, and after the service two of 'em--I can't remember any names-to-faces, except that Abby is the English major--stayed to talk to us. I do like those women. Actually, I like an awful lot of the people I've met at church. Surprisingly, really, except Philip says of course they're nice. Philip is spoiled. We talked to a fair number of people--Philip talked to Dave Reese, which is why we're going out to lunch; we both talked to Jenna Boonzaijer and her youngest boy; and I had a nice long chat with Mrs. Marble. Actually it wasn't that long, but Philip was waiting outside because I wasn't supposed to do more than say hi (an unreasonable expectation) so to him, it was long. He struck up an acquaintance with a homeless little man with a bike who'd stopped to use the bathroom, though, so it shouldn't be a complete loss. We've decided that if Phil ever goes off adventuring he'll take me, although I got the impression Doug has first dibs. Ah. He doesn't want 'em, though.

Went to Reeses' for lunch. It was really fun. There were all the Reeses, Rosie, Ben, a couple and their three kids. The kids were all pretty little, so that was interesting, and Tava through Isaiah are nice to talk to, although Isaiah was doing a pretty good sugar high when I left and was not making much sense. Tava's got a job for the moment, and has her college all picked out. She'll get there, too, with a 4.0 GPA. Boston University'll probably be happy to have her. All these smart, motivated women....she was very firm in recommending I take the SAT. Sigh. Oh, yeah, nota bene: the best time and place to dumpster dive is at a college right after graduation. The rich kids leave all their stuff. I didn't think much of their dog, an aging yellow lab named Ezra who spent the whole time outside trying to hit us kids up for food. He's very good at puppy eyes, and is Elle's dog. I also spent some time on the floor with, alternately, the babies and the boys, going through a small bin of action figures and bits. Couple of GI's and one's leg. We left after ice cream.

Came home, wrote a little, and then took off for the psalm sing, which was at four. They alternated the new altered psalms, of which there are fortunately not many, prayer requests from neighboring churches, and psalm requests. They were setting out food when we left, although I got some conversation in first. I asked the Reeses about psalm CD's, and Mr. Reese directed me to a website, with recommendations. Then Philip introduced me, on the way out, to Cindy....I can't recall her last name. Husband named Shane, I believe. Anyway, Philip entirely forgot what happens when he introduces me to someone: we talk. He stood outside waiting for a few minutes again. Really, he shouldn't be so surprised: if someone's worth introducing me to, surely they're worth talking to?

We got home about six or so, and I promptly got the shnog out for a walk. The sun was going down, there was a lot of shade, and it was beginning to cool down. We made the round trip in half our usual time. It may have helped that a) Lark tracked me and b) I wore my sneakers, as possibly more comfortable than boots. They were. Sang some of the psalms I know on the way home. We never met anyone.

Plans: renaissance fair, visit Marbles (next Saturday), Jim's fight (ditto), shopping with Sid.

Reading The Blue Hawk, Mom having stolen the book I was looking forward most to.

I, Robot

Really good. Cool, sympathetic protagonist, pretty girl, and uh, kinda lovable robot. Lots of character development between great action scenes. The fight on the superhighway was great: all the elements for a classic. The climax, too, if differently represented. I do think movie directors--or somebody, anyway--have a serious thing for dangling screaming little girls over abysses.  Seems to happen a lot. Anyway, full points, I'd say. Possibly with extra for not trying to fit romance in there. Sure, there's potential. But there's no room to deal with it. Could there be a sequel? Sure. But.....save it.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

"Mostly poodle, if not all"

Mom and Phil and I watched WALL-E last night. It's a very good film. Where Up is a fun movie for the kids, WALL-E is that and more: a work of art. Philip would also like it noted that it's legitimate science fiction, but I don't think this makes much difference.

Mom left about nine or so. Mu.

Philip and I did the grocery shopping before lunch. We went to the bank first, and then had to find one of Colorado Springs' two B&Ns so I could use my 40% off coupon. I got the latest SB, not covered by the coupon, which (of course) has a cover of Kaname and Yuki; and volume 1 of Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei, which was. It was that or volume one of "Maid-sama!", which is what Tokyopop titled Kaichou wa Maid-sama. Unfortunately it seems they got the license for it. Nooooooooooooooooo! And, on that note, Philip got an SAT prep handbook. It's like three  inches thick. Help........

Read my new manga until two, which is when Philip had committed me for walking the dog. It was cloudy, and warm enough for the sweater tied around my waist to be a nuisance. I kept track of Lark, and while she lacked yesterday's care to keep me in sight she did not stay back when I called. We met only one group, an older man out jogging with a miniature poodle (or mix.) They were nice. Otherwise there was no one--possibly because of the weather, which threatened more rain without the benefit of coolness. I was rather worried by my legs, which seemed.....I don't know. Jarred? I could feel the infrastructure, lower shins to ankles, and it was not happy. My left ankle was weak to limping by the time we were off the trail heading for the gate. Worrisome. 

Read Cetaganda until dinner.  Mom called right after dinner to say she'd gotten home about six, our time.

About seven-fifteen Grandma came into the studio to say there was a deer by the birdbath, if anyone was interested. Sure enough, a buck was stripping leaves from the tree there. He ate for a few minutes while I watched him, never quite spooking him as I shifted position. After a couple of minutes he walked down the meadow, grazing there while I took some pictures from the balcony. I was trying to get either him or a nice picture of the bright haziness of the mountains, but I don't know the camera well enough to get either. So I don't think I got any great pics. Sigh.

Finished Cetaganda, started Ethan of Athos. Bailed because I didn't feel like watching Ethan blunder around Kline Station just then. Started The Blue Hawk. We're going to watch a movie now, but I don't know what.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Yellow lab

Well, I let the Lark out at about eight. She comes home at nine-fifteen. Know what a curfew is, sweetie? Well, they can work in the morning, too.

So, yeah, Cheryl was here, Sid's got granddaughters over, next Mom and Grandma are going to the doctor's.

Well, much of the morning was spent being called from the computer to do chores, including word problems. They went well--it's so nice to have a coach. Mom likes the "Pocky with math" idea.

The phone rang during lunch. It was Riley, one of Sid's grandpuppies, to ask if I could come eat lunch with them. "Sure!" When I got there, Sid told me they'd been asking her to call me all morning. Well. So we had lunch, yogurt and fruit and little rolls of ham, and then Sid took Kylie down for a nap, leaving me to take care of Riley and Sidney. We did okay, playing with some toy horses and dolls, then doing a song and dance show, with me as audience. Lark was pretty nervous, but much better than the first evening. I mean, she never looked as though she were considering a snap. She wasn't much help when they had me laid out on the couch, performing surgery with various power tools, though--in fact, she was sitting on my stomach for much of that period, giving her the best opportunity to lick my face when I was laughing/screaming when it tickled. Help. A toy saw to the bottoms of the feet or lower frontal ribcage is a dangerous tool. They eventually finished up with turning me into a robot and then back again, and then Sidney decided to fix my hair for me. I have to say, the process gave me a new respect for B, although she did ask for it. Also there's less a little girl can do to short hair.......My salvation was my hair tie, which Sidney eventually declared unmanageable and returned to me. I put my hair back in its ponytail and we went to find Sid. She gave me a wipe for my glasses, which by this time were hopeless, and the little girls occupied themselves with the hose and some water balloons. I beat a retreat. No Philip in sight--two-forty-five.

Still on five reps, push-and-sit-ups. The pushups are getting harder, and my abs complain vociferously when I make a wrong move.

Phil came....when, four? Maybe. Mom and Grandma got in shortly after, and we sat around eating Boonzaijer goodies until Sid called to tell me remember that pie? Come get some, so I headed over there. The granddaughters were loaded into a mom's van, but Sid had half a blueberry cheesecake for me. Yummy......

It was almost five-thirty when Lark and I went out. It was still pretty hot, too. She kept careful track of me, possibly also scared by this morning's escapade, which is reassuring. On the first leg I was coming up on a curve when Lark, already at the bend, stopped. Her tail wagged a couple times, the hello-I-don't-know-you-are-you-nice? wag, and she checked to see that I was coming. Give me another month or so and I'll tell you whether it's males or females just from her behavior. In this case it was a couple of young guys in shorts. One was wearing an undershirt. The other.....wasn't. The first one was appropriately willing to pet a little dog circling his legs, and as I came by he said, "Nice dog." "Thank you," I said. Just after that is the dike for the pond, where a yellow lab was getting her water fix. I think one of her hocks was rather swollen, and it showed in her gait. She ignored Lark. We went on, and were both pretty hot and tired by the time we reached the base. I'm reading Cetaganda now, and wondering whether to continue with Ii Hito, now that his girlfriend is beginning to find out about all the women in Tokyo who like him......

Note: try to get Phil to take me to B&N this weekend. Also try for Renaissance Fair at some point.

The boys called this evening. Hm....

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Lark's theme ever since we got home

funny pictures of dogs with captions
see more dog and puppy pictures

Rock Ledge Ranch

Well, we had Linda, Carole's supervisor, here to talk to Mom and Grandma about things. Lark and I sat in on it. I can't really say they really arrived at much of a decision, but it was informative. After Linda left Diane came for therapy, and I pulled weeds out of the rock path in the shade until they finished. Philip called me on the cell during this to say that if Jenna (Steve Boonzaijer's wife), who was coming to buy an iPod from him, didn't bring some baked goods along the deal was off. She appeared a little after noon with three bags of goodies, now a little depleted. She was so determined to get a new iPod, which she needs to keep her feet going when she jogs, that she had the check all written out when she got here. I do like her. 

Started doing pushups and sit-ups yesterday. I'm at a pathetically small number of reps, but my abs hurt. *moans* Starting out with five at a time.....ooooooww......This is ridiculous.....

Once everyone was cleared out, and the chores were out of the way, Mom and I headed out. We were going to Rock Ledge Ranch. They used to be called White House Ranch, but then they found out there's lovely stone under the white stucco on the namesake, so they stripped the stucco, restored the stone, and changed the name--"on account there're no white houses anymore." Well, this explains why I couldn't find their website a couple of months ago--I was googling the wrong name. Anyway, we got in free this time, on a lucky chance. You see, they're--someone's--in the process of putting up this really big, fancy white tent over in the meadow by the blacksmith's shop. It's not historically accurate--downright anachronistic, one might say--so they aren't charging people to get in while it's up. One really does wonder who came up with that. Well, we were happy, anyway.

We started out with the livestock. They have five horses, two of which are new. They're a matched pair of big black Shires, half-siblings, named Victoria and Winston. Victoria wasn't terribly interested, but Winston was happy to talk to me, if a little mischievous. The others--Percherons?--ignored me. I rather think Victoria's the only mare on the place--we saw three other horses, the two big drafts and a light roan, and they were all geldings. Interesting. The sheep were all conked in the shade, looking rather depressed. They were shorn June 6, as the opening event for the season, and some of them came out the worse from a comparison to Doug's shearing. They also have a peacock there, a lonely fellow who utters the most obnoxious shriek from time to time.

From the barnyard we went into the ranch house, for a tour of the place. A young man who seemed to be a fellow cold-sufferer gave us the tour of the downstairs, and for upstairs we had a self-possessed little girl of perhaps twelve to explain to us about bone toothbrushes and rope-spring beds. She was pretty good. 

We wandered from the ranch house to the Orchard House, built by General Palmer for his sister-in-law. The housemaid took us over the house, pointing out status symbols such as wall-to-wall carpeting as enhanced by built-in sideboards and the like. I think she was just a bit nervous to be doing the job of the housekeeper or the cook, but she did a good job. I liked her, anyway. She did have trouble remembering what the back porch was called--the likely word occurred to Mom as we were leaving. "Do you think it was terrace?" Maybe. We went from there to the blacksmith's shop, where a young man was just finishing up a demonstration as we arrived. He started on a hook next, first hammering the end into a point and curling it, then twisting the length. Finally he hammered the other end into a spike and bent it at a right angle, to drive into a wall. He handed the finished product to the group with us, then, finding upon inquiry that Mom and I weren't with the others, he gave me one he'd made earlier. Thank you!

After the blacksmith we walked back along the road past the Orchard House to stop at the Coach-house, where a lady was working on beading a deerskin shirt in the Indian style. She herself was dark, with a very aquiline nose. We looked at the various exhibits, mainly to do with gold mining and the general settlement of the area, until she asked us if we lived in the area. I explained that I was staying with my grandmother, who lived in Colorado Springs, and added that I was with my mum. We chatted a little, and then I asked about employment versus volunteering. She told me that they have both volunteers and employees, and you can volunteer until you're sixteen, at which point you can get a job there. As we were leaving, she added, "We need more people." Well, sure, but I need to be able drive first. Again.

From there, trying to find the path to the parking lots, we followed the path to the Galloway Homestead. It's a little log cabin, chinked with adobe clay, but the feature that immediately captured our attention was the lovely little Jersey cow. She was adorable--and surprisingly soft! More like a kid than a goat, really. She wasn't very big, either. I wonder if they plan to breed her; she wasn't in milk, but I don't think it was because she was too young. Maybe someone's cull was the perfect display cow. I don't know. I talked to her for a few minutes, and then we moved on, past a little girl washing wool, to the cabin. There were various textile-crafts in stasis there, from someone's crocheting to a rag rug on a loom. The lady there pointed out the finished one on the floor, which presented a very irregular appearance, due, she told us, to the children's always taking the warp off the nails on the frame that keep in straight. Well, good luck with this one.

We managed to find the right path from there to the parking lots. We encountered a pair of girls with bikes in sight of our goal. One looked familiar, and as we drew even I realized who it was. "Elle Reese?" It was, rather unsure of who I was, so I promptly identified myself as Philip's sister from church. We chatted for a bit, discussing the ranch--she said the tent might be for the Art Festival--and then we went off in opposite directions.

Mom had some errands to run, and we dropped into Claussen Books while she was trying to get to the jeweler's. They had Charity Girl, which a) I already own a perfectly good copy of and b) don't like much, on the outside racks. I was a bit mad. Sigh. Mom was happy, though, because she found a bunch of Landmark books, which she's collecting, she says, for her grandchildren. Okay. The jeweler's, next to Safeway, took six links, as requested, out of Grandma's medical assistance bracelet, and after doing some shopping for dinner at Safeway we went home.

I called Sid to see if she could go shopping with me while Mom takes Grandma to the doctor. Granddaughters coming over cancelled that plan, but she had a story to tell me: This morning, she let the cat out pretty early, left the door open for her, and went back to bed. She woke up again about seven to the feeling of a warm mass on her bed: furry, tentative, little tail wagging. At this point, telling Doug about it, he said, "Oh bleep." Actually, what I told him was that there was a dog in her bed, so maybe it wasn't that hard to guess. I was getting a slight sinking feeling myself at that part, though. It was the "little tail" bit, I think. Maddy has a pretty long tail for her size, after all. Sid thought it was pretty funny. 

Well, after making it all the way through the ranch without sneezing once, I am back to groping for Kleenex with watering eyes half-shut. One advantage to a small house: Kleenex boxes at all the strategic points still does not necessarily add up to that many Kleenex boxes.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Two German Shepherds

Finished Shards of Honor rather.....late. I always tell myself I should shower, then read.....sigh. And I should've washed my hair, but I wanted to be in bed before 12:30. Oh well. Do it tonight.

So, does anyone remember Pilot Officer Arde Mayhew? A jump pilot whose implanted were designed for the now-obsolete RG freighter? Miles bought his ship for him in the beginning of his first galactic adventure as Admiral Naismith. Okay, so you remember him. Do you remember that fresh young pilot who took Cordelia off-planet in her slippers when she was running from Betan Security because they thought she was a plant from ImpSec? Well....yeah. Guess all the older men Miles knows were nice boys when Cordelia was running around solving problems before Aral got there. Although if it comes to that, as far as she and Aral are concerned, they're all nice boys, and Miles isn't seeing men that way until Mirror Dance or so....

But speaking of running from Betan Security, there's something else I've noticed. Every time a woman shows the slightest inclination to marry a Vorkosigan, her family immediately jumps to the conclusion that she's unstable and not to be trusted. Cordelia? Her mum authorizes her commitment to the psych ward. Kareen? Her parents hit the roof, detail a sister to tail her, and forbid all intercourse with Vorkosigan House. Ekaterin? Her cousin decides she's not to be trusted with her own son, and said son has to call the Emperor in to change the man's mind. Oh, and...sorry, Miles, but Mark got going first.

Lee's here this morning. She shows up in an assortment of cars; the one that seems to me to suit her best is the little red pickup. Today, however, she drove a silver convertible. A Mercedes convertible.
I'd really like to know if she owns all these cars. Ah. No. Apparently she mentioned to Grandma that it's borrowed.

Reading  Barrayar now. So far it's something something of a mixture of Poor Cordelia (she didn't sign up for all these politics, and she hardly ever has time with Aral) and Good Old Cordelia (as when, for one example of many, she has that conversation with Vordarian that, to his chagrin, completely fails to even startle her until she realizes that it was supposed to shock her.)

I had a nap after lunch. It was interesting how the Williams theme of the radio fundraising influenced my dreams; when I woke up, I had been dreaming about a dense young man in a pilot's jumpsuit on the verge of being pulled off the tops of some lockers by a bunch of zombies. It made more sense when they had music going than when they were talking.

The new speech therapist, Diana, came while I was asleep. She's......actually, the jury's out until I've seen some of her during full consciousness. "Just woke up and sneezing all over the place" is not a state conducive to sound verdicts. She seems okay, though, even if I prefer our regular ladies so far.

We hit the road about three-forty, only to find that Lark's still limping. With this in mind, we turned back early, but I decided once we reached the creek bed to go up along our usual way back to a rise with a view of the land. It was at this point that we encountered a very handsome brace of extremely well-mannered German Shepherds. So well-mannered were they, in fact, that Lark dealt with them without any freaking out or requesting backup--although she did wriggle out from between them to stand on the outside, accessible to only one of them. Their master talked them into continuing, addressing a few remarks to Lark on his way, and we continued. Actually we went a little farther than planned, because Lark kept going a little past the dip there, where she stalled a middle-aged gentleman on a bike. We got out of his way so he could get up sufficient momentum to take the dip, and turned back after him. It was on the way down past the lookout point that I found a snake. It was about eight inches long, with no discernible rattle but a blackened tail tip.  It looked very much like a rattler. It was lying very still and rather flat in the middle of the path, and I wondered if perhaps it had been run over and killed by the bike. By the time I found a dead yucca stalk to stir it, Lark had almost come to see what interested me; so that, when it stirred its head and flicked its tongue, I took off, calling Lark, to make sure that whatever it was, she didn't discover it was poisonous. It may have indeed been run over by the bicycle, and have been either knocked out or paralyzed; but when one is accompanied by a curious little dog who enjoys tormenting snakes, one does not investigate these things too closely.

Owen called again. Boy, I swear his greeting sounded exactly like B. Maybe I can blame the phone....

Boy, I'd forgotten how much of Angsty Cordelia there is in Barrayar. It's very different from Miles' view of her, for certain--although it's equally certain that she's rarely under such stress during his adventures, and when she is we don't see it, because we're watching Miles horse around scaring her half to death. 

Well, back to my book. 'Night, all. 

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

For Doug....I guess.....

Why So Seriousssssss!
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Golden retriever

Well, after I'd gone to sleep with a headache at about ten-thirty, in the middle of No Wind of Blame, and woke up to shower at about four a.m., Mom let me go back to bed with my cold after I made coffee. I got up about nine, in the end, and Diane came about nine-thirty. Fedex came at nine-forty-five; Mom signed for the package, since I'm not going to open the door to someone I don't know in my bathrobe. After dressing, I read No Wind of Blame until Mom kicked me outside to dig thistles before lunch. I got eight, and finished my book before lunch. The ending was rather unexpected, for while I figured out who the murderer was before Inspector Hemingway did, it took me a good two-thirds of the book to even suspect how the couples would come out. While the subordinate pairing was relatively typical, at least at first glance, the heroine was most unusual.

After lunch I went on to reread Arabella, discovering in the process that the first six pages are missing. Well, there are advantages to reading something multiple times; but I think if I ever do order Devil's Cub, I'll get another copy of Arabella while I'm at it. I could put up with the missing pages, but besides that the spine is in a sad condition, and in general the book is rather battered.

Our walk was more taxing than I anticipated. It began with a slight limp for Lark, which intensified as we approached the Heller dig. I asked to borrow the tweezers again, and the professora made me free of the medkit. Everybody was kinda busy, although I did have a little company initially. By the time I had extracted several spines, including a deeply embedded one that may even have justified the limp, everyone was gone. This was, to a certain extent, explained by the large group of well-dressed older people listening to the professora near the cars as we were heading out. Lark limped all the way around the loop. We met a few people: an older couple, including an enthusiastic lady who said that Lark was so sweet, was she rescued? well since she's so sweet, I thought she had been--obscure logic, but I appreciated the sentiment; an older gentleman with a polite golden retriever, who sedately exchanged courtesies with Lark, and followed his master when I told him to "go on;" and a girl with a bike, coming from the direction of the pond, and seen struggling up the road from Nevada when we were almost home. By that time Lark and I were both pretty tired, from the combination of the heat and her limp. You may well ask how the limp tired me, but as I took her up and carried her for several short periods, it really does follow.

We made it home alive, however, about three-thirty or so. I sat down to do some writing, and then Owen called. Mom talked to him for a bit, and then handed him over to me. He was in a somewhat petulant mood, trying to convince me of all I'm missing by staying here. I reacted unsatisfactorily, I'm afraid, which somewhat supported his claim that they'd be perfectly happy as long as Mom brought Lark home with her. I pointed out that while they wouldn't be able to give her as much exercise as she now requires, I would be in serious trouble physically if I weren't exercising her. It didn't seem to make much difference. All in all, I was rather obnoxiously cheery, which is always fun to pull when Owen's being difficult, but he got some small revenge when I said I had to go to the store with Mom. "Reeeeeeally." I hung up.

So then Mom and I went shopping. I stocked up a bit on Pocky, since I have to send a couple of boxes home to the boys, so that now they know what they're missing there. She seems to have some dinner plans, which is nice, although I'm not sure what she's planned after the salad nicoise. I read Arabella in the car, aloud on the way home.

Hm, Doug's asking me about getting a copy of Windows XP out of Philip again. Although it was Peter last time. I did tell Phil, but....I can't guarantee any results.....so good luck, guys.

Wheeeee, cake! Mom bought an angelfood cake, and she dolled it up for dessert tonight! The icing base was whipped cream, spread on the outside and between the layers. The she drizzled chocolate on the top and down the sides, and topped it with raspberries. It was beautiful, and absolutely delicious. Grandma suggested, afterwards, I take some next door. Ralph met me, and as close as he can get to Gollum without a conscious imitation, he went. It was hilarious. He says he'll take a picture and then put it in the fridge, so Sid knows he hasn't tampered with it. I was laughing all the way home, until Lark met me with a ball. Then I switched into Huntress Mode to play.

Having finished Arabella, I'm now reading Shards of Honor, delighted to have a copy of my own.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Two Goldendoodles and a retriever; birthday stuff

Mom got me up about half an hour early. =_=;;; She was rather tsking to find I hadn't trained Lark to get the paper yet--I'd completely forgotten about that plan. Lee came about nine to work with Grandma, and I read No Bad Dogs a bit after getting dressed to go. I was printing out a B&N coupon when B called to say happy birthday! It was nice to hear from her.

Once Phil got back with the car, Mom and I went shopping. We started at the Book Rack, where I got a nice horse photo book, Miles, Mystery, and Mayhem, a Peter Dickinson, a Caroline Stevermer, and Berserk vol. 1. Next on the list was Heroes and Dragons, which seems to have shut down. So from there we went to Hooked on Books, which was great. There I found four Heyers, including the mystery I'd never read; two Bujolds, Shards of Honor and Barrayar; and a nice copy of Simon & Schuster's Guide to Dogs. Philip was nagging us to come home by then, so we went back, picked him up, and went out to lunch.

Lunch was Mobo Sushi. It was absolutely wonderful. The decor was all Japanese in tone, with screens between tables and china geishas dancing on the ledge behind the tables. The staff, from the waitresses to the two chefs behind the counter, all wore red and black tunics, like very short yukata in general design. The food was delicious. Mom had the spicy chicken bento, with tempura veggies and California rolls. Philip had the Sushi Deluxe, which was much like mine but bigger. I had the Nigiri set, which was various fish on rice balls with California rolls. It was really good, with the best pieces being the crab, the eel, and the California rolls. On the side they gave us wasabi and ginger to taste--the colors puzzled Mom, because the ginger was red.  Philip and I both had leftovers, which went home to Grandma.

After we got home, afraid to move in case we overflowed, Philip and I watched Mission: Impossible. It was pretty good--especially nice, again, to see the original of all the parodies. I did somewhat object to the way they went for drama--if there was the least possibility for suspense, for danger, for drama, they used it. 

We finished the movie about four, and once Philip headed out for Golden Lark and I took our walk. Not before time; she was bringing me balls all through the movie, poor thing. We met a few people: a woman with a Golden named Tiber, both rather uninterested; a young man on a bike, who hmph'ed as he passed us; and a man with two Goldendoodles, all rather familiar. I don't think he recognized us, though--if he had, he'd have known that I was aware his dog jumps. Remember the nose to the stomach at high velocity? Yeah. This time I got his collar before he got me, though.

I got home to hear that Sid had called. I called her back, and she said she had something for me, and did I want to come over or should she come here? I would be happy to go over. She was making dinner, but on the bar lay an envelope and a box. I opened the envelope first. Sid had made for me, out of pictures she'd taken of me and Isaac, a birthday card. It was great. On the cover she'd put various pictures of me, looking like a wild woman, wrestling Isaac on the couch the other night. Various fighting sound effects accompanied these. On the inside, opposite the birthday message, was a picture of me, standing very firm, looking after Isaac, whose posture was rather less.....sturdy. Written underneath was the caption, "And next time, don't send a boy to do a man's job!" Uuuuuh.....thanks. It cracked everybody up, though--me, then Grandma and Mom. I'm not sure Philip's going to see it, though.

Dinner was an omelet with fruit salad. Rather a perfunctory affair, but just as well, I suppose. I ready for bed now--tired, sore throat, etc. It's not even eight, though. Pity I don't have any activities I can do with my eyes closed. No comp, no book, no read. Dear me.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Well, Mom stayed home from church, having brought Owen's cold with her. Philip and I got there in good time, although the psalm tunes did not make me happy about this. Sigh. The sermon text was Colossians 1:3, discussing prayer and its inseparable elements, thanksgiving and petition. It was pretty good. Oh, and they had Communion today. We stayed for a bit afterwards, to talk to a few people.

After lunch, leftover chicken salad with bagels and birthday plans, Lark and I went out. We took Thursday's walk in reverse, taking the road up the mountain and going down the slope as usual. It was pretty uneventful, although Lark was perhaps a little antsy after we left the parking lot to head home.

Mom and I were down in the sitting room, having been looking at pictures, when Owen called. It was like a breath of home just listening to Mom talk to them. Peter, of course, asked after Lark, who at the time was engaged in her vendetta against the miller moths.

Had a nap, woke up for dinner. Spent the evening reading All About Aussies, until Mom handed me No Bad Dogs. It's a serious book, but it's hilarious because it's such a character study. Barbara Woodhouse is certainly the basis for Sybil Vimes' character, and her firm, no-nonsense voice pervades the book.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Golden and a....Yorkie?

Well, Isaac called pretty early to ask if I could come play. I told him I had to go get groceries with Philip, but I'd come over when we got back. Grandma tells me he called again while we were gone, but when I got back he and Sid were on a bike ride. He came over as soon as they got home, and Lark and I headed over.

There wasn't a lot to do. We played checkers; in the end one of my three kings had cornered his last remaining king and he surrendered. I was rather relieved--in the beginning I had had to sacrifice several pieces just to keep the game going. After that we ended up watching cartoons again. Sigh. Then Sid got up from her nap, and Isaac and I went for a hike.

He wanted to take the way we went last time, but this time he was ready to turn back by the time we were at the dike, so we looped back there. We spent several minutes at the culvert there, as Isaac tortured snails and I got a drink. My backpack and Lark's water were laid out on the ground, and I was at the culvert with Isaac, when I heard Lark begins to growl. I looked around, and there was a Golden coming around to bend in the trail. The only reason Lark had to growl was my stuff, laid out with only her protection. She stopped when I came to her, as the Golden's owners followed him with, on a leash, what may have been a Yorkie. Maybe a cross between a Yorkie and a cat. Or a Yorkie with a short haircut, I suppose....

Isaac was consistently obnoxious all the way home, eventually deciding that the best way to get me out of my mature, boring attitude would be to steal my glasses. It worked. KILLCRUSHDESTROY.......ahem. So we went home, and once Mom got in we had dinner. Lark was delighted to see her, dancing in and out of the garage, whirling like an ex-ballerina dervish. The chicken salad was ready and the table was set by then, and we had Boonzaijer's desserts.

I went over to Sid's for the movie at seven-twenty-five. Isaac was just finishing up eating, and we got started pretty quickly. It started out pretty slowly, with Sid pausing to explain backstory as the characters laid it out in dialogue, in the best established manner. But then Jiao Long stole Li Mu Bai's sword, and it got going all right. The fights weren't bad, although I think they could have done a much better job of disguising the ropes for jumps and things. You can't actually see them, credit them with more skill than that, but the quality of the movements betray them. It's a pretty good movie, but I did not like the ending. If there are two couples, than I expect both of them to get a happy ending. Grr. 

Isaac and I enjoyed the movie, but Sid preferred the show afterwards. I grabbed Isaac as he was heading for bed, and it escalated from there. Sid took lots of pictures, consisting largely of me adjusting my hold to immobilize both his arms and his head, so that he can neither lick me nor lick his hands and then touch me. Blech. It was almost ten when he walked me home. The grass was wet with rain, and when Lark came back from walking him home she had to be toweled all over.

The Matrix

The Matrix

Well, it is a fun movie. There are worrying bits, mainly whenever Agents are about, but battle scenes are just plain fun. Er, especially if you're not expecting someone to die. Trinity.....well, I can understand why Philip says he had a crush on her. The woman is very, very cool. My favorite scene would have to be when she and Neo are breaking in to save Morpheus. That scene is pure style. It's not about realism, it's not about physics. It is all about style.
Aaaaand I regret to say I can't get the underline to turn off. Guess I'll just have to be content with text that isn't bright blue.

Sigh. I can't get the image small enough to fit, either. You have to click on it to see the whole thing.

Friday, June 12, 2009

dog
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Dang, one of 'em's cropped. Click on the picture to see the whole. Hm--they're all tiger-eyed, aren't they? Lark's color, I mean.
Well, I did end up watching Batman Begins last night. I think my favorite supporting characters would be Alfred, Lucius Fox, and Jim Gordon. Hm. Anyway, Yay main char getting to train with ninjas! :haha:

Mum emailed this morning to say she'll come out tomorrow. It was nice to hear her voice again, even in writing--I'd been thinking about calling her, over the last few days. PM's from Doug were becoming inadequate. It does sound like a mess back home, though. I wonder if Dad'll end up replacing the pump? Oh, and they're having to get water out to the hogs, too....dear me.

Philip hasn't appeared yet. I've still got two math lessons to do, and I've run out of anything but word problems. Oops. I think I'll save these for when I've got help.....

Lark and I got out about ten-thirty. It was pretty bright out, but as it's supposed to rain this afternoon I figured I might as well get it over with. If it's nice light ran and I feel like it we might go out again later. We took the Heller trail loop, ending up at the dig site, which had sprouted some diggers while we were on the trail. Michaela wasn't there, but I did talk to the young man who she was with the first time I stopped by. This time he petted Beautiful. :D

Most of the afternoon was spent online, in Tolkien, and watching (I confess) for Philip. Drat the man.

At five to four I called Sid to ask if I could bring back the tupperware from last night's cole slaw. She said sure, but wait ten minutes for us to get our guests gone. In the intervening time Philip materialized, so that it was four fifteen when I got myself hence. I then proceeded to spend half an hour chatting with the Seamans. It's always fun talking to them--subjects discussed include Philip, birthdays, robots, Mom coming, expectations, and psalms. When I came home, it was with the tupperware again, this time containing a different salad. Good thing, too, because when Philip isn't playing Iron Chef with expensive fish he just thaws out a pizza.

I'm reading Jodi Meadow's livejournal. I see her around a lot, as she's one of Robin's core from her blog, but I didn't know about much beyond the yarn and the ferrets. Well, it turns out she's a lit agent's assistant, and is meanwhile trying to sell several books of her own. Nor does she have Robin's qualms about making cryptic comments about how the writing's going and what she's doing with the plot. Cryptic--no spoilers--but it's something Robin doesn't feel she can do. Add this to the ferrets, the cat, the husband, and the yarn, and I'm enjoying myself. Maybe I should read Southdowner's lj--she's the one with seven dogs, after all.

We're going to watch The Matrix tonight, but PC is going to cut in before we finish, so I'm going to have to write about that tomorrow. 

Thursday, June 11, 2009

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Coyote

0.o This one was a winner. It started out with me and Lark walking to Lincoln, although I think perhaps I had a scooter or something. It ended up with me as Rayne, fighting some relations who'd stolen a family business or something. I'm not sure why he ended up shopping for snow traversal equipment, though. For one thing, I don't think there was any snow on the ground. I wonder if my subconscious is telling me the only adventures I can have are vicarious?

Well, Karen came sometime after ten-thirty to take an INR that seems to have disturbed her. She's going to try to come back later today, if she manages. We'll see. Diane came after that, and we all talked about pets during lunch. Lark took enthusiastic part in the discussion. I was petting her with my right hand and had to use my spoon with my left.

We engaged in a spot of reconnaissance for our walk today. The original plan had been to do this down at the far end of Rockhurst, where there would appear to be something in the nature of a store. However, we set out at about two-thirty, Grandma wanted us back by four, and it was three o'clock when we hit the road where we usually come off it. At this point I should explain our route. I was trying to save time, so we went along the driveway that runs behind the house, taking the opportunity to find the best way to get off it and strike across towards the dorms. Having ascertained the lay of the land in this area, we then proceeded to further acquaint ourselves with the slope we're in the habit of descending. Ground looks very different going up from its appearance going down. In the end, we hit an open spot some distance above our objective, and at this point simply went down a little way to the road. Then, still according to the original plan, we headed up the road, until I looked at my watch and decided we didn't have enough time. There was no way we could go up to Rockhurst, down it a mile or so, back up, and then down the gravel road to Grandma's, because after that there was no way I would be able to mind my feet going down the secret passage. So I decided this would be an opportune moment to follow the last two stretches of the gravel road, which I'd always skipped and which bothered me rather, nagging at me as unexplored ways tend to do these days. So we went that way. It's a winding road, with large expanses of trees and scrub between the stretches. In theory I was aware that there were coyotes living in there. I was still surprised when we encountered one by the side of the road, on the last stretch, within a shout of the dorms. I saw it when I turned to look back at a movement, and then Lark spotted it. She charged over. I said, very firmly, "No. Come on. Leave it," and began to walk away. She followed, somewhat to my relieved surprise, but then the coyote came out into the road, looking to me as though it would come after us. I turned and advanced on it a little, shouting at it to leave my dog alone. It thought better of coming and sheered off into the brush on the other side of the road. Lark, idiot, followed, but she came when I called her back, and we began to walk toward the dorms. I kept a wary eye out for the coyote, and tracked his cautious stalk of us long after Lark had apparently forgotten all about it. He was out of sight when we reached the gate, having apparently stayed at one post where there was a screen of brush once we were at a certain distance.

I could still see the coyote when I started hearing the sound of a basketball from the little paved area with a hoop behind the dorm. Lark headed for the boy with a ball as soon as she ducked under the gate, and I followed her, more slowly and a little uncertainly. He proved to be willing to put up with a little dog after his ball, and we stayed there for a while, exchanging occasional comments while he and Lark played, until he had to go.He was nice--diffident, and I think also uncertain. 

Jinn came over to chat, bringing some experimental soup to try on us. Apparently she had obtained (after several attempts met by a closed gift shop) the soup cookbook sold by a monastery called, if I recall correctly, Christ in the Desert. *googles* ......Well, I suppose it could be the one in New Mexico.....Anyway. Someone managed to buy the cookbook for her, and she is now happily trying out recipes, and brought the fruits of one such endeavor to us, as test audience. So we're going to have that for dinner.

After Jinn left Sid called to tell me she had some extra cole slaw, and would we be interested? We would indeed. I wish these people would quit worrying about whether I'll like something, though. I'll eat it, okay? Don't worry about it. So Lark and I went over to Sid's, with direction from the home base to come right back. Lark hung back to dally a bit with the cat, and a fascinating burrow under a tree, but I did, assisted somewhat by the presence of Ralph's brother John. There's a certain family resemblance, a similar head shape, but they don't cultivate it at all. Where Ralph has the remaining hair on the sides of his head buzz cut, John has a thick sheet of silver hair combed straight over his head. He doesn't wear glasses, and his expression is cooler than Ralph's. He doesn't smile as much or as warmly. To top it off, I'm pretty sure this is the brother Ralph mentioned as not liking Mitch, which strongly reinforces my impression. He was polite, I suppose, if cool, and thought he might have met me before. Ralph said he was thinking of Philip. I'm inclined to agree.

But speaking of Sid, she's been planning on renting Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to watch with Isaac. She got it, and they plan to watch it on Saturday night. I'm invited, acceptance pending approval by my chain of command. The top said "probably," so now it only remains to be seen if Philip has anything better to do. It seems unlikely--his plans tend to be for Friday nights, so Saturday should be free. I hope so. I'd like to watch a movie with Isaac; I might get a retort out of it, for when Philip complains about people who talk during movies. Besides that, I'd like to see this movie, and possibly Isaac's relations along with. I don't know who else will be there, but it seems probable that Sid's going to have another gathering on.

Well, I think I'll go watch Batman Begins now.