Lab-ish, something that reminded me of the golden/gsd

I finally get enough sleep, and I still want to fall over on the walk. What is wrong with me? Wasn't a very interesting walk, though.....

Did the grocery shopping with Philip. Grandma sent us to Whole Foods this time, which was interesting. Especially the deli area--the atmosphere is.....individual. With that out of the way, he dropped me at the library, while he took the groceries home and ran a few more errands. Typically, the library had Legacy but not Beguilement, continuing the trend of reading them in reverse order. Sigh. It's Beguilement that I particularly want, too. Oh well. Read Komarr until Philip called to say he was waiting.

After lunch Phil pinned me down for some math. I did another section of a practice test, and he walked me through all the geometry problems. Remains to be seen whether I remember any of it, but I guess it was interesting, and for the most part, comprehensible. There has got to be a better way to explain functions, though. "Little box that takes things in and spits things out" is not best calculated to latch onto something else in my head and stick to it.

Immediately after math Phil took me off the the dorm parking lot for a driving lesson. We were out about forty-five minutes, and at the end of it he had me drive home. Please note that this involves navigating the curve on Stanton, which freaks me out even when I'm not driving. I got us home, though. And into the garage, although Philip hit the parking brake at the same time I hit the driving brake. Insulting. Grandma laughed when I told her about it, though. Also when I mentioned that if I ever decide to pass for college-age with the bunch at the University, I have a much bigger chance of someone catching me than before. But anyway, I never even scraped the car.

Wonders will never cease. We were on our walk after dinner, Lark and I, and saw a doe. She was a lovely red, and her expressions reminded me irresistibly of a skittish sheep, her stare and the way she moved her head back. She was above us, some way up the slope, and I had hopes that Lark wouldn't see her. In vain. She saw the doe, and started toward her, not bounding but trotting, uncertain if she could chase. I called her back, telling her no, leave it, come, and, after some indecision ("But that looks chaseable!") she came. She did. She left a deer and came to me, and sat for her leash, and eagerly accepted a treat. She did strain rather at the leash, and went off hunting as soon as I let her off, but she did not, this time, see the doe, who had followed us suspiciously over the shoulder we'd gone around. She ended up deciding on her own to get out of there, and sprang away--in a somewhat deliberate manner, like a bounding jog--without being properly spooked. Lark did not pursue.

That was the main event, as far as I was concerned, but we met a couple--I think the woman was Japanese, and her smile made me think, "Oh, so that's why they draw the eyes as lines for smiles"--it was a very nice smile--and had a distant not-quite-encounter with a woman, two or three kids, and two dogs. I was in a position to make effective evasive maneuvers, so I did. The dogs were both larger than Lark, and while she's becoming more sociable she still doesn't appreciate situations like that. We got home with three songs to go on the CD I'd put in before leaving.

Up to episode 8 in Trigun. Ehehehe.

 

Loldogs again

Lee and Carole this morning. Ran out of cereal.....Took Lark out while Carole was helping Grandma shower. We went up past the Heller buildings, up the slope back there. Mornings are too hot! We got back and then Sid came over to chat with Grandma. She told me the website her brother posts his pictures to. Here's the junior group shot. The man scrapped every single shot with Lark in it.

Reading Beelzebub and listening to Franz. :D Then read Abara.

Cheryl, the INR nurse, called while I was watching FLCL. She made an appointment for Friday at 8 a.m. (I expect Philip'll be conked on the couch) to check Grandma's bloodwork again, and she told me to lower the Coumadin dose to seven milligrams. Also Grandma can take extra-strength Tylenol for pain, twice a day if necessary.

Ah, that's wrong. She called back, after the doctor called, to say that the Coumadin is seven and a half mg six days a week and five mg the seventh day. The doc arbitrarily designated Wednesday. And somebody tells me, after I've been feeding her salad for nearly two weeks now, that dark greens interfere with her Coumadin. Thanks, folks.

Finished FLCL about nine-fifteen. It was good, but something went wrong somewhere, because I never got high. It's exactly the right sort of anime for a high, but.....guess not. Strange. Just as well, I suppose, but still.....

Rereading Komarr.

Last night we watched 7 of Rain. It's the first time we've laughed so much. It's when they catch up to Cheza, Hana no Shoujo, and just watching how everyone reacts to her is hilarious. Tsume's expressions when somebody is blindly trusting her--eh.

Mom's on the phone with Dad right now.

Only wolves can find the way to paradise.....

Well, it's about wolves, yeah. It's very dark, so far. Two sympathetic speaking parts have died so far, and we've only finished the second episode. Well, the woman might still live, but I doubt it. The wolves can disguise themselves as humans, which Kiba didn't like at first. He was won over by the ancient argument of "What good is pride when you're dead?" There are two independent pairings at present. Tsume, the leader of rebels, has Toboe, the boy who is more of a dog. He behaves more like one. Kiba and Hige are more equal. I don't think we've met any females yet. No, wait, I think Cheza might be a wolf. Eh.

Today we're cleaning out the garage, since we're gonna need it for our sale. Taking a break presently. More thunderstorms today. It was actually sunny this morning, making the 100% likelihood for precipitation in the forecast rather amusing, if correct.

Lately we've been listening to the soundtrack for an anime called Wolf's Rain.We don't really know anything about the anime itself, but the music is by Yoko Kanno, who did Cowboy Bebop. Enjoyment is therefore near-guaranteed. At least one familiar singer, Steve Conte, is an extra bonus.

OneManga is promising an update of Karin and the addition of a few new series. I practically live there these days.

Mmm. The Ouran anime is pretty funny, but I wouldn't watch it for just the art. And--um--I'm playing the Gaia game. It's an even more elaborate game of dress-up than Yahoo avs is. Unfortunately clothes cost money, so it's a bit more than dress-up.

The boys are watching .hack Sign. The music is by the same person that did Noir's soundtrack. Emo.....

Been sorting the books from Owen's room. We're flat out of packaging tape. Running low on boxes the right size. Mom's going to work tonight, so Owen's probably going to have at least one tantrum. Actually, he already had one this morning, but I doubt we can count on his having exceeded his quota.

Watching Bleach 127. We now have Noir, Bleach, and Eureka Seven music on Della. It's a pain depending on Owen for blank discs, though. It helps that we're buying them from them, since then he can't claim that they're actually his and he only lent them to us.

Eh. The problem with Bleach is that since Ichigo and co. run into all the most powerful people, they keep getting beaten all the time. Constantly. And Ichigo agonizes about it, too (with some justification, admittedly). So it's really dark and painful and stuff. *sighs* Shoujo really is more what I want to read/watch. One Piece is about the best shounen gets. Well, maybe Claymore too, except I'm not consuming that. I don't know which category Rurouni Kenshin is in. I think it fits them both, really.

Well, B took Owen to spend the night as well as tomorrow at the farm, which is an enormous relief, because he is never at his best when Mom goes off and leaves the four of us with the computers. Rather the opposite, in fact. Especially tonight.

On ep. 121 of Bleach. It's about all I can do without Doug, that I'm in the middle of at present. Noir? We're doing that together. Rurouni Kenshin? Ditto. Ouran? That too. Mattaku ne....and I haven't much to do between turns, because I still don't have any new books. Moan. Except learn Japanese, and there are limits when it comes to studying on a half-holiday, or whatever it is.

Owen found an anime music download site, so now we can burn CDs of our favorite anime music. *happy* Furthermore, Mom got him some CD-Rs for his birthday, and since there isn't much that he wants, Doug and I can have some.

Yes, I've been gone awhile. When I get on, I'm usually reading manga, not blogging. Last time we went to B's, I think it was last Saturday, I got the latest issue of Shojo Beat from Walmart. About 25% more happiness than Shounen Jump there. Shoujo are the girl-oriented mangas. Shounen is for guys. So is ecchi, only it's for older guys. Theoretically.

I haven't been watching any anime. I like to watch my episodes all at once, and since nobody's supposed to be on I can't even minimize, so I'm still in the middle of four different animes, including Full Metal Panic.

Starting Rex Stout. Nero Wolfe and Archie are fun. Mom says I have to survive the weekend without anything new, though.

Anyway, I've been boxing books. It seems pretty likely that we're moving to Montana in about a month. Dad will have a pretty well-paying job with Hank, and Doug can earn ten bucks an hour working for Rick. We're probably going to spend the first year or so in a rental house, where we won't be able to have any livestock. I'll have to save the money from selling the flock so that I can buy some purebreds or something. Doug says that we're going to restart our goat herd with purebred Saanen ladies if he has to use his own money to do it. Which he probably will. We're going to ask B and Darrel to take Baby and Samantha in honorable retirement, and Susan goes to the sale with the sheep. The chickens will go along too. Dad thinks that B will give me a horse and pay for riding lessons. He presumes much, and how the heck am I supposed to bring it up? "Oh, B, Dad wants to know if I can have one of your horses to take to Montana, and will you get me some riding lessons in the month before we leave and I'll be too busy packing to take them anyway?"?!! Probably. *inarticulate noise of frustration* Doug is planning how he's going to smuggle his Bionicles, which should be fun. My own contraband ought to be a bit easier. We're going to B and Darrel's tomorrow, which will give me a chance to ask stuff.

And when we get there, Dad's going to get us a YMCA mem'ship and sign us up for karate lessons. And we're going to be meeting people. Like Hank's kids. And classmates. *screams* And you are going to post a comment and say that it will be good for us, and I will tell you to shut up. Right, Phil?

I found a website that has all three seasons of Full Metal Panic. Unfortunately, there's no point starting The Second Raid until after Doug gets back. If we get to watch before he goes, it'll be Noir or Rurouni Kenshin. The site

Well, we finally finished 5. We're on ep. 5 of Noir, too.

Mom ought to have gotten me some books tonight, dunno if she did. She did return the others, since I've finished 'em.

Yeeessss! We finally took those of the sheep that were to be sold to the sale barn! That was Val, since Tag's replacing him, and the three ewe lambs. We haven't enough land to expand the herd, so I didn't keep any. That leaves Tag, the girls, and the two meat wethers. As soon as we get the check I can update my records.
Dad wasn't very happy to learn that we have to pay the sale barn to tag their ears. Federal regulations, instituted since we sold Johnny and the kids. That's the thing about NAIS--it's voluntary, but you have to have it. As Dad likes to say. And he's gotten another job in Firth, fixing another washing machine. Yay! Doug's groaning that he has to go with. His education is suffering, though it really depends on which education we're talking about here. He's learning about fixing things, but he's not starting Spanish or doing his math. And tomorrow we're taking the hogs to slaughter, eight months late. Another yay. And finally, if we're really lucky, we might actually finish ep 5 of RK. Hopefully I'll finish the other two while Doug's in CO this weekend again. Bleach and One Piece are nagging at my conscience.

Standards? Huh?

Um, no, not really. But, you know, when one or two characters have no sense of humor, you can have plenty of ROFL moments, maybe more than otherwise; but when nobody has any sense of humor whatsoever, even LOL moments are rare. Interesting. Anyway, Doug wants to average an episode a night. We're only on 2. Sheesh. I think I'm gonna start Rurouni Kenshin, and then I can watch that the rest of the time.

Tomorrow we're going to town. I've done my chores in advance. This'll be the first time I've been to the library since the Colorado Springs libraries. Gonna have to stock up.......as if they'll last. Mmmm. Mercedes Lackey, hopefully Patricia C. Wrede, can't think of anything else.

Coming out this September: Full Metal Panic: Fighting Boy Meets Girl on the 11th; Making Money by Terry Pratchett on the 18th; and Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley on the 20th. You just gotta laugh at the FMP title. Which is the point, of course. I've been thinking about the liklihood of their coming out in hardback first, which would be a pain, 'cause it'd come out to something like forty-five bucks. Come to think of it, is that the English release date or the American for MM and Dragonhaven? Hmm, how many things can we think of to worry about?

It seems we've given up on Season 3 for the moment. Doug wants to watch Noir next, which means it's what I'm doing next. Doug doesn't watch on his own time. Is irritating. All I know about Noir is that it's anime, has great music, and has a mystery theme. Except that that's just what Doug says: we'll see. We'll see whether I want to watch more than one ep. Actually I wanted to start Rurouni Kenshin before Peter and Owen find it. Phooey.