Ponies

As a horse-mad child, I scorned My Little Pony. I liked my toy horses to have some verisimilitude, and purple ponies with long pink manes had nothing to do with the animals I adored. For me, there were no pink ponies, only strawberry roans. Commercials for the toys annoyed me, and I never discovered the TV series.

Now I am less horse-mad, and three of my four brothers watch My Little Pony. In my defense, it's not quite the same as the MLP I despised. The theme song has changed, and the ponies are even less realistic. I still twitch occasionally, I admit. The characters are just a little too dextrous with those hooves, and some of the poses bother me a bit. For the most part, though, I can relax and enjoy it. It's become so unrealistic that I can dismiss most standards of reality while watching it, doing my best to suspend all disbelief while Pinkie Pie and Apple Blossom make cupcakes, or Rainbow Dash herds clouds to shape the weather.

Rhodesian Ridgeback, a brace of terriers, and a Lab

   This morning's walk was pretty crowded, with all three of the boys along. What remains of the snow is icy in spots, which made for interesting terrain. It was sunny, though, and after awhile I had to take off my jacket. We ran into three dogs at the head of the trail, near the road; the Rhodesian Ridgeback was nice, but the terriers--leashed--were a bit hostile. We made the full circuit, in under an hour, and met a nice black Lab on the way back, with a teenager and a middle-aged woman who was probably his mom.

  At home it was time to work on food. We were committed to contributing rolls and some veggies to Syd and Ralph's Thanksgiving dinner; Mom made rolls while I cut green beans and Philip baked squash. At noon we went over with the food, that being the opening of the house. It was really nice to see the Seamans again. Isaac and Sydney appeared eventually, and the goofing off began right there. My feet are sore. X_X The food was good, though. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing (not as good as Mom's), salad, and various pies. Various nice relatives. Mom and Philip had a nice chat with a well-turned-out blonde with nice cheekbones. Helen from southern Colorado may have been Isaac's grandma. I'm none too clear on various relationships. Oh and Dylan was there. The hair is no longer purple, but the front is blonde. He enjoyed New Moon. I'd actually been wondering if he was into Twilight, and there you go. Oh, well. Apparently Bella's with the werewolf in this one. I'd no idea there was anything approaching a love triangle. Interesting.

   The rest of the day was spent with a food-and-exercise hangover. Read some Campion. We watched Men in Black after the football game, which I tried to sleep through. Oh, and there was an ep of Hogan's Heroes on TV before Phil started trying to watch the game. In the end he gave up, and they listened to it on the radio while playing Monopoly. By that time I had a headache, though, and nobody tried to get me to play.

Home again

Watched The Pelican Brief last night. It was really good--I'd like to watch it again. Oh, and another ep of Castle--jewel thefts/poker pride.

Spent the morning packing. I was mostly packed already, from last week's aborted departure, but there were still a number of things, plus the car to load. And I ended up forgetting my mudboots and bomber jacket. Gah.

It was a fairly short trip, subjectively speaking. We listened to The Forever War and various music off the iPhone, alternatively. Didn't finish the book. Owen called a number of times, interrupting whatever we were listening to. I was supposed to call him when we got into Nebraska, but I never got around to it. We'd been in-state for quite awhile, and were sitting waiting for direction at a construction zone, when I rolled down the window, inhaling the warm, humid air, and suddenly felt that I was home. It was a good feeling.

I think all the boys have grown. I know all the sheep have, even the previously underfed ewes; the lambs are enormous. The garden is a jungle and the melon patch overflowing.

Border collie/pointer, Golden, dachshund, Aussie

We did the Incline first thing. It did not get off to a good start; we parked at an extreme distance, up in the residential area. It was a long walk. On the way we met another woman/dog pair headed that way. The dog was a Border collie/ pointer cross, his body leaning toward pointer and his coat an interesting patchwork of black and white, as if it couldn't decided whether to be solid or speckled, and had compromised. They were the first of many climbers--it was sunny and warm, and a lot of people were doing the climb. We leapfrogged with a young woman from Louisiana who'd been in Colorado for two weeks and was beginning her high-altitude exercise regimen with an attempt at the Incline, having more or less recovered from giving birth a few weeks ago. She made it all the way up. Oh, and a man passed us on his way down with a Golden and this tiny dachshund with really short legs. The Golden was doing fine, and the dachshund was keeping up, in a game hopping scramble. I hope it was carried up, because I have no idea how that dog could have gotten up some of those steps. We made it up in an hour and thirty-one minutes, eleven minutes more than last time, which miffed Phil rather. We sat in the shade at the top for awhile, cooling off, and then headed down the trail. That was when my feet began to hurt, that trail being by no stretch of the imagination flat, level, or even smooth. In most areas your feet are on slopes which run down to the gully in the center of the path. One foot began to drop broad hints about pulled muscles. We kept going. The End Was In Sight--no, not by a long shot; but we were aware of its presence. We passed a number of people, going both up and down. Going up was the older couple with the Aussie. She was big, with easily twenty pounds or more on Lark (although more pounds than she should have, for her inches), and she was a beautiful black tri, with a wide white collar over the back of her neck. She was lovely. She was also shortly to overheat, as her coat was considerably thicker than Lark's--almost winter weight. I hope they didn't go far. We had quite a ways to go yet: down the trail to the parking lot, down from there to the road, along the road to the uphill branch that led to the car. We stopped on the way at the Iron Spring, where, every few seconds, water spurts out of a hose from a structure like a glorified wellhead. Of greater interest to me was the creek; Lark and I scrambled carefully down to the water, and Lark, after cautious consideration, walked into the water. It was, for the most part, only a couple of inches deep, but the current was very fast. She cooled her paws all the same, which was what I'd had in mind. We climbed back up to the pavement and rested. Philip got a Nalgene out of the pack--I think all the good water was gone, excluding the dog water--and got some of the water from the spring.  It was really strong and tasted fairly awful. It wouldn't have been so bad, though, if the minerals hadn't stuck to my tongue. Glech. After that we continued, more or less refreshed, up to the car, and thence to Boonzaijer's. Rosie from church was manning the counter and took our order: and eclair each for me and Grandma, and the last fruit croissandwich for Philip. It was rather like the fruit cups, with the same fruit and cream, but the pastry base was an enormous croissant, the top dusted with powdered sugar. It looked delicious. Philip confirmed this estimate. We ate at the bakery and then went to King Sooper's for a few things--Grandma had called us at Boonzaijer's to say she was out of Vaseline, and I already had a small shopping list. We didn't take long, and then rejoined Lark in the car with a SoBe for me and a Gatorade for Phil. Then we went home. And crashed. I'm pretty sure Phil went to sleep, but I had computing to do and didn't really want to take a nap.

At about five o'clock Philip and I went out to dinner. We started at Trinity Brewery, a lively little place with a Colorado atmosphere and an emphasis on the drinks. The waiting was pretty informal, with a get-your-own-plate principle, but they were impressively green, with (main point) a bin for food scraps, labeled "scraps for the piggies." We asked about it, and the waitress told us that the scraps go to a farm, but tend to end up with the chickens, as pigs don't discriminate and are like to eat a toothpick. We sat at a table with high bar stools, and Philip had a beer ("Drinkable") and I had a root beer. It was mild and not very fizzy, with some resemblance to a cream soda, but I liked it. We had sliders to eat, which are basically mini hamburgers. Those were very good. Philip, who seemed to look on the evening as an exercise in criticism, made me rate the place. Three or four stars.

Shuga's was next, a nice little cafe on Cascade. We ate outside, ordering a cup each of the spicy shrimp soup, and Philip had a cocktail--I don't recall the name, unfortunately. The soup was good, not too spicy, but by the time I'd gotten half way through mine the inside of my mouth had had enough. We talked more than we ate there, but it was a nice place, with a comfortable atmosphere. Three or four stars.

After Shuga's we went to Amanda's Fonda, a Mexican-style family restaurant with a lot of business. We waited perhaps an hour for a table, until Philip went and collared a waitress--we were served immediately. The outside eating area was on a large porch on the far side from the road; it was well-guarded from mosquitoes by torches, a very real necessity, as a creek ran just below. The sound was a pleasant undercurrent to the conversation and music. We ordered the seafood enchiladas, and shared; they weren't bad, but I can think of better uses for seafood. We left once Philip finished his grande margarita, which he'd bought at the bar at the beginning of our wait. I had a few sips, at intervals, and liked it; the initial flavor, of citrus, gradually giving way in your mouth to a mildly alcoholic taste, was a pleasant effect. Three stars.

The plan for the fourth stop was an Irish pub-style restaurant downtown. We found the place, only to discover that, at ten o'clock on a Saturday night, they were carding everyone at the door. We kept walking, and ended up at Josh & Jon's ice cream parlor. There was a chalk board next to the line, where lots of people had left messages--there was one, "Call Cameron for a good time--719-337-0075"--it was pretty fun to look at. We ordered a butter pecan sundae, with hot fudge, whipped cream, and two cherries, to share. It was really good. Sarah Debenedittis says we should have gotten Yellow Cake, though--she says the ice cream tastes exactly like cake. The butter pecan was good, all the same. Afterwards we walked around a bit more, as my legs grew increasingly mutinous, and it was a relief to sit down when we reached the car and went home.

Castle, episode 6. Mystery: jewel theft. Personal: Cinderella comes to the ball. Funfunfun.

Golden Retriever, sheltie

Had to get up and get moving, because Philip had assigned housework before the bridge ladies came. I'd vacuumed upstairs and was starting on the bathroom when Stephanie appeared unexpectedly. By the time I was waiting for Syd to come for the lark, Lee was here too--albeit expected. 

It was a pretty good walk. We ran first of all into Jackson and his lady, followed shortly by the woman I'd met just before the second snake; she was accompanied by a man who might have been her husband. The next meeting was under the trees; a(n older) teenager with his sheltie stopped to engage in wary conversation with Lark. After that it was just us. When we got home I came over to Syd's to get some library books; I'd given them to her to take back, but as Philip was retreating into town while the bridge group was here, I took advantage of the opportunity to go to the library. Syd and I decided I might as well take the books back while I was at it. While I was there Syd had a video for me to watch, and then I showed her and Ralph the wedding video. They were pretty appreciative. Then Phil called and said we were leaving in ten minutes. I came home to find him sitting outside.

The library was pretty busy. Beguilement is still not available at East branch, so I found another Loretta Chase and sat down. It wasn't bad, but my favorite is still Mr. Impossible. I think I need to read more Carsington books, though--so far I've only seen two of the brothers catch it, and I know there are at least two more with their own books. Anyway, we ended up checking out and going home for lunch. (Philip had an Ian Banks.)

Larked after dinner. It was pretty cool out, and we weren't the only ones out. The Serious Discussion couple ran into us at the curve by the pond. Lark seemed unusually uncertain about greeting them, though. She was less uncertain about charging off into the scrub on the far side of the creek; there was one very impressive bound straight into the air at one point, as she tried to get a better look at her quarry. Unlike the doe earlier, this quarry turned around. The next I knew of it, Lark was charging out of the scrub, pursued by a coyote. It saw me and did an impressive about-face; Lark promptly did the same and started to chase it. I used the Voice. She came back, without having gotten very far. Possibly she is beginning to take coyotes seriously, although I somehow doubt it. Sigh. After that we didn't meet anyone until passing the couple on their way back, near the gate.

Watched Silence of the Lambs. I guess it was pretty good, but I don't deal with creeps very well.

Episode 6 of Castle: "Always Buy Retail." Mystery: occult. Personal: ex-wife trouble.

Brace of German Shepherds

Quiet morning. Philip went off to get the car serviced and stuff, and then I think he has to take Grandma for her INR. I put off Lark's walk because I thought we were doing the Incline, but I'm not sure when it's going to happen. It's a nice cool day, though, so if it turns out we're not doing the Incline I can just take her out. We might want to beware the kid on the motorbike who's been buzzing around outside for the past two hours or so, though.

Well, it had warmed up quite a bit by the time I found out Philip had done the Incline without me. In the meantime Lark was bouncing off the walls. At three-thirty the sun went behind a cloud, and I seized the moment and took her out. It was nice and cool, too, with a few drops of a rain and a little thunder. That had quit by the time we were almost to the pond, where I met a man with two extremely handsome German Shepherds in hand. Lark came running to me when she saw them (from a safe distance) and growled a very little and one as she tried to convince me to pick her up. I didn't, but the attempt put her head a couple of inches higher than theirs, so she was satisfied to leave it at that until we went on. After that the sun came out, and by the time we got home it was hot again.

Philip and I were talking on the couch, and the conversation, through circuitous routes, ended on Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly. Philip decided that I should watch an episode, and he picked "Our Mrs. Reynolds," episode eight, I believe. I think I like Richard Castle better, if we're talking Nathan Fillion, but it's pretty fun. Especially when you have the XKCD skateboard comics to remember while watching.

After dinner I fell asleep and didn't wake 'till ten. -_-; We cleaned up the kitchen and watched Castle 5, the resurrected case, "A Chill Runs Through Her Veins." They were lucky--the case was only five years old. I think Poirot's was forty.

After that I read the Mary Higgins Clark which has been lying around. Two Little Girls In Blue is suspense, and not much else. The writing is serviceable, with occasional sentences that make you stop and reconstruct them. The suspense is effective, and would make a good distraction if you were waiting somewhere and had nothing else to read; otherwise it's pretty pointless. Also there were too many characters, given a momentary voice and then abandoned, except for a page of two later on. Very few characters were permitted much development. It's pretty much a plot-driven book, with little support from the other elements.

It was ten when we larked, and pretty hot. We met no one on the first leg, but early in the second leg there was a teenager and his.....man, I don't know. Grandma? I didn't get a very good look. They remained within earshot behind us for most of the second leg. The boy sounded like he was talking a mile a minute, but I'm not sure what about. Maybe the weather--Lark and I were broiled by the time we got back.

After lunch Philip had me work on the SAT. I finished that practice test, and he totaled my score, although I don't think he scored the essay, which I finished. Oh, right--gotta post that for Mom. I think, besides that, my score was 1150, though. Not counting the essay. I took half-an-hour to write it, without referring to my last attempt (and going in a somewhat different direction). My arm was cramping before I finished.

About four we left to go to the church barbecue at Bear Creek. We took nearly an hour getting there, having an inadequate idea which of the various roads claiming to be a part of Bear Creek Park actually led to the park facilities. We found it eventually, however, and I played volleyball with some of the other kids/young adults (in the more literal sense) until it was time to eat. Rachel and Liz Debenedittis and several people I didn't know were on my side, with Sarah and Abby, Elise Mann, Matt, and some more people I don't know on the other team. Ben stood at the net and hit from either side--'libero' playing taken to a new extreme. I was getting fairly decent by the time we quit. We ate at six, I think, sitting with Abby, Ben, Matt, and Rachel opposite, and I think Josh Mann on Philip's far side. After dinner I watched everybody play Frisbee until it was time to go at seven. There should have been plenty of time to walk the dog before dark, but it started raining, and then thundering, so we went along the road almost to the trail and then turned back. I'm beginning to hate thunder, especially when I'm outside.

Philip and I then proceeded to spend at least an hour wrestling with the math problems on the SAT practice test that I missed. It was pretty interesting. There was one that he missed, and a few that he said I didn't need to learn just then, sometimes because I was just getting there in algebra and sometimes because he just didn't want to mess with it.

After that we did what he calls calisthenics, the same program as last night. I did better,  but crunches are.....geh. Abs + crunches = jelly, for lack of a better description.

Then we got floats and watched episode 4 of Castle, which was the politicians one. "Hell Hath No Fury" is the episode name--possibly because the murder was arranged/accompliced by the guy's wife, with assistance from his campaign manager, who did the deed for her.

Then I read some Waverley, started Wickford Point, and went to bed.

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.....

I don't feel so good.....like my circulation is inadequate or something...... =_= Bleah. Haven't felt this bad in weeks. Dreamed I found a new issue of Shojo Beat in a store....but both covers were ads, and I don't remember any manga inside. I've come to the conclusion my subconscious doesn't have enough to do around here. At least I don't remember any Bara no Tame ni dreams--those would probably be pretty weird.

From Doug: 

"And in other news: Looks like I may well be going to Hank's for a month. If nothing comes up between now and next Monday, I gather. I'm looking forwards to it, I suppose. I mean, working from 8 A.M. to 2 A.M. sounds rather daunting, but the worst I'm worried about is my level of fitness dropping quite a bit... Well, we'll see... We'll see..."

What, I go so kick Doug out too? I feel sorry for Mom already, with just Peter and Owen....

Larked at nine, after Diane got here. Planned to take the long way again, but it was an oven so we took the short way. It took almost as long as I'd expected the long way to take, too. Met a middle-aged couple in great shape jogging. Women, take care of your fitness level and your appearance will look after itself.....at least, that's what I think. 

Carole came today. She's going to Missouri for someone's wedding tomorrow through Sunday, so she scheduled today before she left. I like talking to her. Did I ever tell the story from when I was reading Out of Africa? I'd been reading in the kitchen while she did the studio, so after she finished I was walking by carrying it. "Oh, that's a good book," she said. A very small incident, but it still amuses me.

Decided I'd spent enough time mucking about with equations and went on to square roots today. Considering my mental abilities today, this was probably easier anyway. When trying to think feels like moving through a swamp, it's much easier to go "oh, okay, radicand," than actually try to solve anything. Although I did a fair amount of reading when the math wouldn't work and I was trying to stay awake. Especially during the period when the Net went out.

At five I succumbed to the nap attack that'd been threatening most of the day, figuring since I'd have to wake up for dinner, I wouldn't get enough sleep to seriously interfere with my sleep cycle. I think in the end I got half an hour of uninterrupted sleep, and then I had to start coming to some form of consciousness every five minutes to throw a tennis ball. At least it meant I wasn't completely asleep when Grandma came in. I was adequately conscious to catch the television saying the Nova program tonight would be (in fancy font) "The Secrets--of Samurai Swords." Oh, hey, that looks interesting. So after dinner (salmon) I held Lark off and watched it. It was pretty interesting, really. On the one hand you have professors and scientists from various Western universities talking about atomic structures of steel, and on the other you have Japanese craftsmen explaining about the shrine in the forge. Cool. There were lots of fight scenes, too, interesting mainly for the costumes, and they had a kendo master and his daughter demonstrating this ritual--I'm not too clear on what it was, actually, but it involved the master's daughter shooting at him with a Japanese longbow, and the master had to cut the arrow before it hit him--and it could easily have killed him. He did, too. And there were no fail-safes or anything. They were kinda late in the program, though--it started with smelting the steel, in a clay furnace called a tatara, like the name of Sarasa's brother in The Legend of Basara. I wonder if Tamura-sensei had that in mind? After that was the swordsmith--I was amused to see that the apprentices do stuff like hammering. Very efficient. After him was the polisher, and then they started talking about collectors and museums. Oh well. There were movie clips, though, and did I mention the fight scenes? And the costumes? Mmmm. 

At eight the program ended, and I couldn't hold Lark off any longer, so we left. It was just the first leg again, and very buggy it was. I had to let my hair down first thing. We met three lady joggers who may have been three generations of a family. The ages seemed about right. We made it home about nine, I think.

Fifteen nonstop pushups on hard; twenty nonstop situps.

Well, I managed to wake up this morning, having gotten to bed at a more or less reasonable time considering I didn't remember I needed to wash my hair until I was actually in the bathroom. So no dizzy while making coffee and stuff. Diane came and spent some time with Grandma. I don't know what all they were doing, but I know that the door into the garage was open and the light on when I went for my walk. 

After lunch I went next door, where Kylie and Riley, the younger granddaughters, were entrenched. Their mom was there talking to Ralph, but when Sid got home she offered to keep the girls while Ashley mowed her lawn, her initial visit apparently having something to do with a lawn mower blade. Okay. So Sid and Lark and I played with--I think it's Kylie--for awhile, until Kylie said she wanted to watch TV. So we watched a little of Smart House, apparently the latest made-for-TV Disney movie. That was bad, but then we switched to SpongeBob. We ended up with an old episode of Batman. I could still feel my brain going to sleep, but at least it wasn't SpongeBob. And let me tell you, there have been worse epitaphs for a cartoon series.

As soon as we got home I got my boots on and we went out again. The archaeologists were back, and we chatted some, on the way in and the way out. Apparently they aren't really looking for anything specific ("No, we're looking for the Ark. We think the Hellers bought it") and they haven't found as much as they hoped. ("Just kidding. We're looking for the Grail.") In fact, the finds seem to consist mainly of the eyes of stuffed animals. Poor things. They looked pretty tired by the time they finished up, too. It had been threatening rain when we set out, but the sun came out long before we finished and everyone, archaeologists and dog-walker alike, was pretty hot by the time they went home--about when we did. I made it into the driveway just when their professor was getting onto Eagle Rock. We waved to each other.

Phil came in about ten or so, and I got off the computer to talk to him. This proved to be something of a mistake, as he ended up taking the monitor cable so he could watch the Daily Show from his laptop. In the end I have to post this next morning. >.>