Golden Retriever, pughuahua?

Finished Three Came Home last night. Oops. Hadn't meant to do that. Oh well.....

Spent some time petting the cat, whose people should be returning today. Maybe I should call Brook and ask when.... 

Larked in good time, with the air still nice and cool. Met an elderly lady and her elderly Golden at the gate--Lark growled at him for coming too close to me.....this really is not good. Oh, and we saw a weasel; which is to say, Lark saw it and jumped, and then a couple seconds later I saw it about fifteen feet up a tree. Heh. It was a sort of reddish brown, with a pale grey underside. Yay new wildlife! Anyway, he looked pretty much like the top picture on this page. Although I have to say I don't think I've ever heard that version of "Pop! goes the weasel" before.....

Ah, and there was some sort of big truck, of the utilities variety, at the Heller Center. We were almost to the trail when he drove out, and I grabbed Lark's collar and got us there while the driver waited. Mm. Met another older lady out on the trail, then didn't see anyone until we got home. And we keep coming home when it's (objectively) still cool out, so no swamp cooler....

Quiet afternoon. Found an Ogden Nash collection and Kate Greenaway's Language of Flowers, printed in 1879 but all the young ladies in the illustrations are wearing Regency styles. Also it vindicates my side of the argument about flower languages: Mom says authors just make it all up as they go, with which I disagree. And here's this. Muahaha.

Philip got in as I was getting the mail while hoping the rice would dry out a bit. Last night's was some of the worst fried rice I have ever produced. Sigh. We ate it, though. With watermelon afterwards. I was about to take Lark out afterwards when Syd got home and came over, with a couple of granddaughters in tow--I assume they'd come with their mother to get Syd and Ralph from the airport. Lark, who was already excited about going for a walk, absolutely exploded. It was like when you blow up a balloon and then let it loose to zip around. Lol. Oh, and I got paid.....too much, but I'm not going to complain.

After that we larked. Philip had a movie scheduled close to eight, but we had plenty of time--I think it was about seven when we got home. In the meantime, it began to rain lightly shortly after we got out. We met a couple people--more than on a hot day--a woman with a dog, which looked very much like a cross between a pug and a chihuahua. Lark was a bit aggressive--he yelped, I grabbed her, they departed, I gave her a talking-to. For all the difference it's likely to make. Geh. Later there was a young guy out jogging, too--pretty cute, in a bland kind of way. It rained the entire time we were out.

We got home and Philip told me I ad to be ready to go in fifteen minutes. We were going to see Moon, which was only showing downtown and therefore required time to get there. Philip, please note, got into the shower only after I got home, and could reasonably be expected to use the bathroom. I ended up getting dressed in the studio, as soon as he was firmly in the shower.

Moon is suspense and sci-fi, with some mystery and a bit of psychological, I guess. Not my thing on so many levels, but I suppose it was a good movie. Pretty open-ended, but at the same time it doesn't feel like the answers to those questions would really fit. He goes back to Earth, and that's it? Well, no, but that's a story for another day--maybe. For our imaginations, maybe.

We got home about ten, and Philip promptly hooked the laptop up to the TV for another episode of Castle. I think the plot was a bit better in this one; in the last one, with our mystery writer tagging along with the cop the entire point of the plot was that it be something a mystery writer could predict, and therefore, it follows, a reader too. At least if you've read as many of the greats as I have, the writers who created these plots and cliches. Anyway, episode 2 was a bit less predictable, and our novelist shines slightly less in the revelation of plot points; this one took him by surprise, too. We are, however, discovering more about our lovely cop, although I object rather to having it laid out clearly for more obtuse viewers on Castle's laptop, as it is likewise revealed about the character in his new series, the ostensible reason for his tagging along behind Beckett on her cases. Besides the Mayor's being a fan, anyway--the man has fans everywhere, and uses them to a disgusting but expediting degree.

Incline tomorrow--so not prepared in any way, shape, or form.....

Big brown mix with black shading again

Up a bit late. The cat was glad to see me. Had to spray some ants--Syd left the can out, with the request to use it if necessary. There were more this afternoon, this time focussing on the food dish rather than the counter. Sprayed those too. Syd's coming home tomorrow--and everything's still alive....(To "everything's" Spellcheck says: "Are you sure about that?" Yes, thank you.)

An uneventful morning walk. It was sunny out, although not, technically, hot, and nobody else was out. Phooey. I'd been hoping for the lady and the Golden, at least. I like 'em. Lark disapproves of Jackson, though. "Get away from her!" she says when I pet him. Sigh. I'm not sure whether to call this an advance in our relationship or not, but either way I disapprove. Gonna have to figure out what to do about it--she can't just tell me not to pet other dogs; I mean, she talks to other people.....I'm sorry, dear, petting is not an exclusive part of a relationship any more than conversation. Live with it.

Ended up not getting on the comp 'til after three, with one thing and another. I regretted the delay once I got on--Doug had been on all morning, talking into thin air. Oops. He seems to be into Russian Novelists at the moment: having cut a swathe through Solzhenitsyn, he's now reading Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. None of these names are acknowledged as legit by Spellcheck--so helpful....

Clouded up by dinnertime, with rain threatening by the time we larked. We met the iPod-bearing jogger with the big brown mix again; he doesn't leash his dog, but always reaches for his collar when he sees us. Last time we ran into him, we were in his blind spot, coming down the creek bed as he came down the main path; he stopped and grabbed for his (obediently heeling) dog as soon as he was aware. I think I disapprove of earbuds while out: there's so much else to pay attention to, and in the end it's rather a liability. Perhaps a sturdy man in good shape, accompanied by a large dog, doesn't need to be quite so alert as a woman whose dog is as petite as she is, but it's always good to be aware of what's going on around you. We also met the Asian/Caucasian couple, who I begin to suspect go on walks for Serious Discussions. That's what it's always sounded like as I approach, although I'm glad to say not too serious. It may just be the natural tendency of his voice to sound like he's talking about something important, though. I don't know. I have every expectation that this will remain the case, nor would I want it otherwise. One family's problems are enough.

Reading Three Came Home. I wasn't at all sure I wanted to read a prison camp book just now, but Keith has a terrific style of her own, amusing and serious in turns, and very sympathetic. I can't find Mom's other recommendation, Christ Stopped at Eboli, but I did find Wuthering Heights. It's on the table for consideration, while I read Three Came Home. I am not at all sure I want to start reading the darker/crazier English classics--Grandma and I were talking about Thomas Hardy at dinner--but I've been thinking about it, and will no doubt continue to do so. A book about three men making sheep's eyes at an ice queen fails to attract me, large supporting cast of actual sheep notwithstanding.

15 pushups, form improving; 16 situps, having realized how pointless it is to continue after my abs have quit and left all the work to back and (somehow) shoulders; 5 standing elbow-to-knees; 3......a bit like an arabesque but I'm holding the outstretched leg at the ankle. All of which are no doubt very good for me, but they don't seem to do much for the Incline-afflicted muscles. Hm.