Snow day!

Today is my winter ideal: a blizzard outside, Mom and Doug home, the fire going. The lambs are both big enough to keep themselves warm and none of the pregnant ladies are quite ready to give birth yet. (I hope.) They are, of course, waiting for the night when the temperature gets down to negative eight Fahrenheit, but I'll cross that bridge (survive that night, rather) when I come to it.

And, in the way of news, I got an email last night from the Digital Manga Guild, to whom I submitted my application months ago, saying that I had passed the editor's skill test and was welcome to their team. Something like that. Anyway, now I have to go find myself a translator and a typesetter to form a group with. *grin*

Medium brown dog, German Shepherd/Golden; short black poodly creature

B called. She was asking for my address again, which is pleasantly suspicious, but I think we ended up talking for half an hour, at least. Somehow it figures that if I'm going to get conflicting advice, some of it will be B's. I like Mr. Marble's advice better, anyway. So with that, it was almost ten when I got dressed to take the dog out. Trina says when there's no school, she sometimes stays in PJ's all day. Somehow, even with no livestock, I still can't do this. Interesting. Anyway, it was pretty hot by the time I gave up on finishing the first leg, and roasting when we got home to find Ralph gassing his mower at the end of the drive. Grandma asked him to mow all her long grass, because of the snakes. Sigh.

On a Cake kick.

Asked Ralph if he would give me some driving lessons. He said yes, if Grandma says yes. Grandma said yes. What did I just do?

Pat finally showed up to fix the swamp cooler. Yaaaaaay, cool air.....

Started Hellsing. I hope the art changes.*

Ten pushups in the middle of the afternoon....

*Whaddaya know, it does. That's better.

Walked the Lark after dinner, about seven-thirty or so. It was pretty nice out, but with an unhappy knee and stomachache, I didn't really enjoy it. Made the full circuit, though. We ran into a fair crowd in the willows along the road, though--four teenagers on bikes had stopped to ask directions of an early-middle-aged couple with two dogs. Fortunately the dogs were leashed, and Lark stayed out of range, because the brown one seemed a bit aggressive. I leashed her and dragged her off, but we didn't get enough of a head start, because once they started moving too the dogs could see each other again. Lark wanted to go back, and the brown dog barked. By the time we were on the road outside the gate I had had to carry her, because she sat down and I didn't want to drag her. Grrrrr. When we got to Eagle Rock they turned down the street, fortunately, and I could put the idiot dog down. Grr. I was beat when we got inside.

"Blue" came up on Pandora--for the first time, evidently; nobody'd thumbed it. This is no longer the case. :D

Ten more pushups, twenty situps.

Husky/Sheltie, golden, dachshund

Larked at ten to nine. It was much too hot by the time we got home. We met the Husky/sheltie again, though. Her mistress asked if Grandma had kicked me out early again. Yeah, kinda, except it isn't even early anymore. Legacy thought she had to protect her mistress from Lark. Yeesh, and my dog hasn't even realized I need protecting from anything. Possibly just as well......

Started a series I've had on the wishlist for months. Watashitachi no Shiawasena Jikan, Our Happy Hours, is a manga adaptation of a Korean novel, with Sahara Mizu in charge. I've always liked Sahara Mizu; her works leave me with an indescribable feeling, a sort of disturbed peace. This one is no exception. It's the story of a young woman who doesn't play the piano any more and a young man on death row. As they open up to each other, we learn their stories, feeling their pain as they feel one another's. And as they teach each other to find meaning in life again, these two people, who have both tried to commit suicide several times, learn to hope--and to fear. There's one more chapter untranslated in the series, and it'll probably be a couple weeks before they release it.

Sahara Mizu is the only mangaka whose multiple tragedies I'll read, knowing for certain that they are tragic. --What is that word?It's a strange word.....What are its parts, how do they fit together? Maybe it's Greek.... Excuse me a moment...........Hm. Apparently the unreadable Greek root meant "goat-song." Latin derived from it "tragaedia," which came to Old French as "tragedie." Should've seen that coming.

I was reading Hourou Musuko by the time the man came to work on the swamp cooler. Patrick is a middle-aged Japanese man, shorter than I am, and he said the cooler has a bearings problem, which he will fix tomorrow. Right. Okay.

Mike came by after three to talk to Grandma. She brought one of the watermelons Grandma likes, Dulcinea from Safeway. I balled it for a watermelon salad, like the other night's. Mom got here about five, in time for dinner, and there was enough time for me to take Lark for a quick run before that--with the result that I was extra hungry, of course. 

We larked again at eight. Saw a woman out biking, who passed us quickly. Lark followed her, though, and when she was getting out of sight at the bend in the end of the slope I started to jog. Just as well, too--she'd met up with a dog. He was this little, hilariously round black and red dachshund. His people were on the turnoff to Nevada, with a golden wondering if he wanted to come over too. In the end, the dachshund went back to them, and they talked the goldie into coming while I told Lark she didn't need to go over. We, again, didn't even go all the way along the first leg. It was really buggy, and I had to have us back before dark. There was a young red buck feeding in the willows on the way back. He watched us suspiciously, not bolting even when Lark galloped past. I love it when the deer just watch....

Fifteen pushups again, no breaks, urgh. Twenty situps--getting easier. I have to take a break after the pushups or I don't make any progress with the situps, though.

They were playing Dvorak's New World Symphony when I went to bed. I lay awake listening trying to figure out what it was--my first guess had been Dvorak, but then there was plenty of time for second-guessing before the ninth movement, which is the bit I know really well--and then I think as soon as it got to the ninth movement and I went, "Oh, so it was Dvorak," and relaxed, I went to sleep. Oh well.

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.

Husky puppy, Maltese

Gurgh. I've only been reading this manga for two days, and I'm having dreams about it. Abnormally fast results, those. I woke up at three a.m. from one and lay awake for several minutes convincing myself that those shadows weren't ghosts. Sigh. The subconscious is a terrible thing. I don't know whether they were the ones from Ghost Hunt or not, but at least there were some nice characters in my dreams.

At nine o'clock, after letting Lee in, I went over to Sid's to return her milk and get paid. I ended up staying for an hour, with the result that I went home about the time I should've gotten home from walking the dog. By the time Jinn came to take Grandma to the eye-doctor and we got going, it was pretty hot. We took the usual way through the Heller estate, where, by the way, there was still a big scuffed place in the path. I went ahead and wrote "AKUMETSU" with the edge of my boot. We continued up past the pond. I decided on the spur of the moment that we'd take the residential way home. I hate it when I do this, because it always means I have no water, and spend the entire way wondering if Lark's going to be okay. I also ended up worrying about myself for a bit, which is rare because I don't get as hot as Lark does, but I was fine after a house with a spigot on the front and no ground-level windows. The lawn was so soggy it squished, so I didn't even feel very guilty. That didn't help Lark, though, because there was nothing for her to drink from. I think I'm going to start carrying a plastic bag to line my hat for her. A couple puddles tided her over until we hit the drainage below the dorms. There was a very big puddle in the bottom of the depression there. I sat on the dike plotting our advance while Lark splashed around, attacking the columns she produced and ending by tearing around in circles through the water--which may have been three to six inches at the deepest point. Our course was originally set for the Pole's driveway, at the closest point. This course was rendered inadvisable by the presence of a woman on the balcony, having a deep discussion on the telephone. I did not think she would be happy to meet me, so we went along the outside of the fence until the pines blocked her view. I should perhaps add that I don't think she ever noticed us. Anyway, we ended up going along below the curve of the rise until we were in the next neighbor's yard. Lark led the way, being familiar with the territory, until I decided we could get up to the drive. We followed it home and came in across the lawn. Interestingly, I think it took less than an hour and a half--even with the boots' weight, I'm still covering ground substantially faster than I was. Interesting.

Oh. Yeah. And we met a woman with the most adorable little husky on a leash. I think she's trying to train him not to pull while he's still small--good luck to her. He had really soft fur, though, and blue eyes. His ears were the best, though. It was like a cross between a rabbit and a mule. The effect was adorable. He realized shortly that Lark had possibilities, but when he stood up against the collar, waving his forepaws at her, she backed out of reach and watched him suspiciously. I took ourselves off.

Finished Ghost Hunter. Somebody made a comment about Bara no Tame ni that I didn't remember happening, and I started thinking about it....so now I'm rereading that. Better hope I don't end up rereading Berserk. 

Lark and I went for our walk at about seven-twenty. We met the lady from next door to the Seamans, Donnice (sp?), out walking their Maltese. Telling Grandma about it, she said, "Yes, Donnice is cute."   ........Okay. Anyway, it was nice and cool, but buggy, so I let my hair down. I think I lost two Apparent Maturity levels and gained three Apparent Weirdness levels, but hey, I also gained five Pest Repellant levels, so it was worth it all the way. Besides, I only saw two people on the way home--Ralph Seaman was talking to someone in an SUV. Oh well.

"Brianstorm" by the Arctic Monkeys had me humming a bit from the Weird Al AMV for most of the walk. =_= Dan dan, dudadudadudadudadu dan dan..... never mind.

Fifteen pushups, lower and harder than usual. Broke once or twice, no pattern. Fifteen situps, could probably start doing more if I didn't do 'em right after pushups.

Dalmatian-Dachshund, coyote, and three deer

Well, I did get my own adventure in this morning's dream....and it was depressing. Very depressing. Reminds me of the beginning of Mission: Impossible. Feh.

We larked at ten to nine. It was pleasantly cool, but heated up fast. Ther was a lovely red doe on the road, in the bend shaded by willows and cottonwoods. Lark saw her before I managed to get close enough to see around the tree in the way. Sigh. We met the funniest dog, though, out walking with a couple of women at the first bend in the trail after the creek bed. He was white, all over black spots, and had a Dalmatian head, but he also had the shortest little bow-legs. "Dalmatian-beagle?" I hazarded. "Ah--Dalmatian-dachshund," one of the women said. Oh. Of course. I should have guessed. It was exactly that sort of body. Maybe the Dalmatian head distracted me, or maybe I just didn't want to think about such a crossing. I still don't, but that dog was hilariously cute. They almost caught up with us while we were at the watering hole, but we dodged up to the other trail and I don't think they saw us.

Decided to finish Beauty Pop, now that it's been completed for yonks. I hadn't remembered quite how much fun some of the characters are.....

Was thinking at lunch that the Dalmadoxy could be a legitimate hybrid. I'm sure it could be popular.

Buckets of rain after we got the mail. Was that at four? Hm. It was lightening up when I finished BP, anyway. Well, it'll probably be muddy on tonight's walk, though. 

Mom called during dinner. I talked to her while Grandma finished eating--so nice. She says they've put the paddock back together, and are separating the lambs from the ewes. Glad to hear it.

We went for our last run about seven-thirty. It was reasonably cool, with clouds advancing to regain the ground lost in a retreat after this afternoon's rain. There was a very handsome buck standing near the road, screened from Lark by a stand of trees. I didn't see him at all until I was nearly past, then the flick of an ear, perhaps, caught my eye, and I twitched. He calmly observed as I went a few more steps, at a normal gait, then carefully backtracked to greet him. He watched and listened, undisturbed, at I chatted him up and looked him over. He was the red type, very handsome, with what I understand to be four-point antlers, still velvety. I stayed for a few moments, until Lark began to get suspicious, and then I went on, feeling that it would be fearfully impolite to let her chase him. Makes me wonder if hunting is allowed, down there--although he may have felt safe simply because of the season.

Our walk continued uneventfully for the full loop until we were almost out into the creek bed, still in the little scrubby area where the little crick probably flows once a year into the wide wash. I was watching Lark run into the brush around the creek bed, where she would probably meet me when I came out, when a movement caught my eye through the scrub. A deer? The movement was pretty low, though, and of a different type--I waited for the animal to come clear: it was a coyote. Heading for Lark. I yelled for her to come, and she did, promptly, possibly having developed an ear for hysterical summonses by now. So she came, and looked back, and--oh, cool, what's that? Hey, (running over) what are you? LARK! Come! Huh? Oh, Sorry, gotta go, Mom's calling. And she came. Thank you. She even stayed close all the way out of the long grass ("Don't go in the long grass! Velociraptors!") and into the Heller road. I kept a frantic eye on her, having no hope of tracking the coyote in the scrub, brush, and tall grass, and by the time she was tired of surveillance I was beginning to tell myself things like, "Well, he looked like he was going somewhere. He won't take the trouble to follow us, will he? Probably not." She did disappear, though, in the scrub oaks a fair way up the road, and I had calmed down sufficiently that I hadn't freaked out by the time I saw another buck, of the gray variety this time, bounding along the fence line that runs down to the gate. There seemed to be a small black streak on the grass some distance behind him, and I focused on the next clear view. Yes, Lark was after him. I continued, no longer worried except in the automatic, almost casual way of any mother while their child is doing something stimulating. Do deer kick? Elk and moose kick. Nah, she's always too far behind. I doubt a deer would fight, anyway. Well, probably a mother would, if she had fawns nearby. Not a buck, though. Deer are supposed to be defenseless--but defencelessness doesn't mean you can't be an aggressor, with the right attitude.--She came when I whistled from out past the gate, coming down the slope and under the rail fence up there. When I called her for the leash, she said, Are you kidding? Give me a break. Oh, fine. Whatever.--And she lay down to pant until I'd clipped the leash on. I've been making her sit for the leash, past few days, and she apparently felt drop was less demanding. We made it home, anyway.

New manga, Teppen!. Showbiz, which is okay. Girl trying to find unknown family member, with a comedy tag. Hm, potential. Dorm-room gender-bender--well why didn't you say so?! Wheeeee! Good, strong heroine, too--personality-wise, I mean, and being a boy was more of a misunderstanding than anything else. Did I say whee? Wheeee! Only three chapters so far, though. I hope they don't make it twenty volumes--five should be about right, I'd say. Anyway, bai now! :D

Three sets of five each situps and pushups, just before showering. Lark administered first aid after the pushups, until I was ready for situps. Oog......

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.

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!

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.

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....

"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.

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....

Golden Retriever

Somehow it seems like the earlier I go to sleep the more weird dreams I have. Maybe I just remember more. 

My book came--All About Aussies, the blue edition. Aesthetically I prefer this one, but....the content of the red one is more exhaustive. Oh well. Collect 'em all, I guess. Oh, and I finished off the cereal, and it's only Wednesday. Bagels for breakfast for the next two mornings, I guess. 

Lee was here while I did math. They've got me solving for x now....took me a bit to figure out what they wanted, but I got there eventually.

Lark and I took the long way 'round, stopping first at the Heller dig. Michaela--no longer braids girl--ended up asking my age. -_-; The conversation went something like this: "She really likes this wilderness, doesn't she?" "Yeah--back home it's all cornfields." "Oh, so where're you from?" "Nebraska." "So what are you doing there?" "Uh--I'm a student." I knew where this was going. "Oh, really! What's your major?" "Um, I'm homeschooled." "Oh!" Something occurred to her. "Wait--how old are you?" I admitted that I was not quite sixteen. She was pretty surprised. The question now, though, is whether she tells anybody, or if I can continue with the others. Well, we'll see.

 

We continued along the path, seeing a couple of dog/walker pairs--a golden and a schnauzer, I think. It was otherwise uneventful until we hit the park on Rockhurst and a lady with a golden came in. He was a wondrously gargantuan dog. I think he weighed more than Baron. Besides that, he oozed personality. His lady had a green plastic ball thrower, rather like a clay pigeon thrower but designed to fit a tennis ball, and perhaps a little springier. He came to the park carrying it, with the ball in the cup--I don't think his mom had to touch the thing once, which I'm sure she was very happy about. His name was Zebulon, and while he was a bit curious about the little dog whose person was discussing him with his lady, his main interest was in the ball. It was pretty funny--when she threw it, Lark would go about half-way after him, and then you could see her think, "All right, I am not going that far away from Mom to try to wrestle a giant like that for his ball. No way." And she'd come trotting back to us. Eventually Zeb decided it was time to go home, which decision he demonstrated by picking up his ball and thrower and proudly carrying it to the corner, where he waited for his lady. She came, he sat in front of her until the street was clear, and then he trotted along for a block, his lady walking behind, until the next crossing, where he waited again. It was great.

We made it home around one-thirty, as rain began to fall in a desultory fashion. Carole was here, to clean house, and as Grandma just told me that she lived in Japan for a while I am contemplating going and asking questions.......Ah. Five years, in the eighties. Air Force base outside Tokyo. She used to watch Candy Candy and Sailor Moon. Her sons only watch the Cartoon Network anime, though. Pokemon and Bakugan and stuff. No adultswim.

I read the Breed History chapter to Grandma when we were having floats. She told me there had been two "little blue dogs" on the ranch in Walden when she was small, back in the thirties. (Will "the thirties" be to my kids what "the nineties" are to me?) There was Blue, and then when he was old there was Pups, a female who looks like one of the black-and-white photos in the History chapter. It's hard to tell, but the dog in the picture may have been a black tri. On the other hand, she could have been anything from black and white to red tri. Color photographs were one of the truly great inventions. Oh, well. I was telling Grandma about the later edition of All About Aussies, too; we came to the conclusion that I'm going to have to start a library of  Aussie info. Maybe I should buy Palika, too.

Evening spent at the Derbyshire Writers' Guild again. Cindy C. has spent productively the time I've been away. I'd like to edit for her--she's really good at imitating Heyer's voice, but sometimes her style breaks down and she needs someone to catch it. She could probably make some money off all the Heyer addicts who want new hits--she's still a modern author, and it shows, but you don't have to see it if you don't want to, and she's much better than some other Regency authors I've read. Otherwise, however, I'd like to see what else she can write, if she gets her own voice. She's not bad at plot, good at humor, good at characterization and voice. And she's certainly gotten good practice with the Regencies.

Aussie....

Well, for once I had an excuse for being a zombie, this morning. Having gone to bed at eleven, I was awoken about two-thirty (Sid's reckoning) by the dog. Not having had a walk yesterday, she was full of energy, and it was after three when she finally deigned to come in. (Incoherent sputtering.) This morning she was bouncing off the walls, so, the morning being cool and a bit showery, we went for our walk about nine-thirty, while Lee was with Grandma. It started to rain lightly almost immediately, but I was wearing my jacket and a hat, and Lark never cares anyway. She was bounding about, imitating the airs above the ground at every step. We took the usual way, meeting a couple of older gentlemen near the pond. The first greeted Lark and kept going, but the second had his priorities in order. As soon as he was comfortably within earshot, he asked Lark's name, and promptly called her when I told him. She looked to me, and when I started toward him she bounded forward, ending on her stomach at his feet, in her typical posture of abasement, just short of rolling over. He petted her, and was very appreciative when she exploded into motion, tearing in wild loops around us like an express train on a track of Bloody Stupid Johnson's designing. It was when he asked her age that I realized that today is her birthday.

There was, once again, a fair amount of activity around the Heller buildings, and today I gave into curiosity and went to enquire. The nice girl I ended up talking to told me, in between exclaiming over Lark, that it was a one-month archaeology field class. She had lovely long hair, in braids nearly reaching her waist. Oh, and she asked me if I was in the Army. I leave it to you to guess which pants I was wearing today......Her digging partner, a young man with a careful air, asked me several questions, along the lines of, "So, you live in this immediate area?" I'm not at all sure why he asked; his tone wasn't so much conversational as interrogatory, but quite polite, I think. Although perhaps not as polite as they would have been if he'd managed a more casual air. Oh, well. I neglected to ask whether they had any expectation of finding anything, and haven't decided yet whether to make a habit of talking to them. There will probably be no actual decision involved: I'll probably just go up there on the spur of the moment again.

The afternoon passed quietly. I read The Curse of Chalion, finishing just before dinner. Naturally I didn't think to get Paladin of Souls.... T_T The weather cleared up for the most part, which is to say it warmed up and the sun came out. It was raining again by dinnertime, though. There was even a little hail. It was just nice, steady rain by the time I took Lark for a short walk after dinner, though. I had my bomber jacket and a hat, and was barely damp about the legs, but she was really wet by the time we got back. Had some cactus spines in one forepaw, too. It amazes me how good that dog is at times like this.

Started Please Save My Earth. There was still plenty of time before bedtime. It was still a colossally stupid thing to do. I mean, twelve volumes, Trina put me on to it, and I started it after dinner? After eight, in fact? Stupid. Really stupid. But hey, at least now I know what Oyayubihime Infinity's mangaka was addicted to in her youth. I admit, there are plenty of substantial differences--for example, OI is more fantasy than SF, and was on a much smaller scale--at least when I quit it still was. There are also some sensible characters who don't want to get carried away by their past lives, too--something PSME is notably lacking, so far. Sure, they say stuff like, "Is this really a good idea?" but in the meantime they're still in love with the person they loved in the last life. Sigh. Poor guy. Guys. All three of 'em, so far. Although one of those was a girl in the life as aliens living on a moon colony watching over Earth. Sigh. Nice art. I like several of the characters, notably excluding the psychotic one. Apparently the insanity of the last few years of his life carried over. Seemed like such a nice guy before everybody else died off and he spent the next nine years alone with the corpses of his friends. Actually, mainly I really like the heroine. It's just that the psycho lives next door and would be stalking her if she weren't perfectly willing to play with the neighbor's kid. Please note, the poor sap is nine years behind everyone else.....not that he let this get in his way. Siiigh.

I would be in bed by now if it weren't for this. Maybe I should head in that direction now.....yeah, the next OMGNOTENVOLUMESTOGOHEEEEEEELP!!!! .......can wait until morning. *cough* You know, I was hoping I'd gotten farther than that....

.....Black tri Aussie.....

Today was, for the most part, quiet. Philip and I got to church in good time (Psalm 148--waaaaaah!) and didn't really stay to talk afterwards. The sermon was still on the first couple of verses of Colossians, analyzing the second part of Paul's greeting: Grace and peace be unto you, in the name of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. I was interested to learn that this was a melding of Greek and Jewish greetings into something peculiarly Christian.

Once we got home things were pretty slow. I read Black Sheep, Philip napped, Grandma did the same. We had salmon again for lunch, with more lemon in the rice this time. It all came out well. I started Densha Otoko, a sweet seinen romance based on a series of threads on 2ch, the Japanese forum equivalent to English 4chan. An Akibahara otaku met a nice girl on a train and broke his lurking habits to ask for advice on the forums. The people on the forum talked him through the first phone call, the first date, the first visit to her house.....I understand they talked the couple all the way through to the wedding and beyond, although I haven't gotten that far yet. It's very sweet and cute, and very funny. I believe there's a novel, a manga, an anime, and a movie. One has to wonder what the original Train Man thinks of it all; hopefully his marriage is still going strong, anyway.

Philip left a bit after dinner, after rendering some small assistance in the ordering of my Aussie book. I think Grandma and I are going to try to do some dog training. Two birds with one stone: get Grandma into the sunshine, develop some of that underused canine intellect, and exercise the dog. Oops, that's three. There will probably be more. This occurred to me a bit before dinner, when Grandma and I had been playing a sort of cross between catch and volleyball: two people throw the ball back and forth, and the dog tries to knock it out of the air. This game grew out of simply playing gargantuan exercise ball with the dog: it's not scary, see you can herd it, see, try and move it with your paws. By the end she was knocking it down and hustling it into the corner where I keep my backpack and books. This was the red ball, about the size of a beach ball.

I've also been listening to Pandora a lot lately. I was trying to get the channels on my account to reflect the ones on Doug's. I ended up getting jazz and anime music. Doug gave me his account info, but I'm discovering that his channels don't necessarily deliver the music I want either. I've gotten several YoKan favorites; the first paragraph of this post was written to "Rise" by Origa; but I wasn't quite looking for Gorillaz and Coldplay. Oh, well. I'm good. Besides, if I really want the nice shoujo ones, I can ask Owen for his......

Now, Densha Otoko or The Curse of Chalion? Considering I'm supposed to aim for ten-thirty tonight, Densha Otoko seems a better choice. I've only got about twelve chapters to go, and I think they're pretty short.

EDIT: Omigosh, he showed her the thread! He ended up showing her the thread! In the last chapter! And it still had a happy ending! ......I think they'd been officially together, as opposed to dating, about a week by then......Is good manga! And historical proof that nerds can get girls too! Er....that nerds can become cool and get girls, actually.....

SECOND EDIT: Whoa. There are two shounens and a shoujo version, besides the seinen. I wish I thought the original 2ch poster got paid for this story.

A Doberman, a Shiba, and a Dane

Philip asked if I was ready to go to the store right after I'd had breakfast, still sitting at the table, head on arms, in my bathrobe. "I'll go get dressed," I mumbled. He took the time, while I did so, to eat breakfast himself. I was still ready before he was. We went to Walmart, got my watch pin replaced, some gel pads for my boots, more socks, and the latest Shojo Beat. While we were at the jewelry counter for my watch, Philip said casually, "While we're here we could get an engagement ring." "That would be a good idea," the lady at the counter said, promptly. "And did you have a particular girl in mind?" I enquired. "Oh, I just thought I'd get the ring first and then get a girl to go with it." I suggested the girl might like to help choose it. "Ah, I'll just find a girl who matches it." The clerk said, "My husband picked out my ring and hm, three of our houses by himself." I asked what she'd thought about this. "Eh, it was fine. He knew what he was doing." So much for support.

We went to the library, too, where they were having a sale. The only thing I found was Terry Pratchett's Strata, proof that libraries are insane. Every Discworld fan needs to know how he got started with this! Sheesh. They appear to have sold a lot of other crucial books too. There were hardly any Lois Bujolds, the only copy of Cordelia's Honor being down in Fountain. All the new Sharing Knife books are either checked out or reserved, too. I ended up with Warrior's Apprentice, The Curse of Chalion, and a couple of Heyers I've been craving lately. I looked for Hartnagle's All About Aussies, but its absence was no tragedy, as Grandma has decided I need to buy it online, using her credit card and paying her back. *wide grin* Abebooks has a copy at a reasonable price.

After lunch and Beat (with Pocky), I took Lark and Phil up the way we went yesterday to see that nice Dane. The humans were all inside, but when I rang the doorbell the man let Gabby out. He was in the middle of something, though, and after a bit Phil puts the dogs back in and we headed home. It was nice and cool, with clouds, so I was in slightly better shape for commandoing across the hillside to the road behind our house. The new gel pads are a definite improvement, although still with a tendency to shift which I'll have to work on--it may be solvable without use of glue.

We got home and Phil promptly hijacked the monitor cable. We ended up watching Blast from the Past, on his laptop via the terebi. It's......pretty good. The plot....heh/geh/keh. It starts in the sixties. This fairly wealthy genius has built the mother of all fallout shelters in his backyard. He and his very pregnant wife hunker down after a television address from President Kennedy. An airplane crashes in the back yard, convincing Mr. Webber that the bomb has hit--to do him justice, there were flames coming down the hatches. Closing the door was justified. Setting the time-lock for thirty-five years.....well, as far as he knew it was justified. His wife didn't entirely agree. Fast forward thirty-five years. Their son, Adam, is well-educated, well-mannered, well.....built. A very nice boy, in fact, albeit thirty-five. His father, having reconnoitred topside, has come to the conclusion that all the survivors are messed up one way or another, and there's no reason whatever to come out for another ten years. There is, however, the little matter of supplies. For one thing, Adam's mother is nearly out of alcohol--currently a staple, given her underground existence and her husband's well-worn tapes of "The Honeymooners." So Adam is sent topside  to bring back supplies--and, hopefully, a nice girl, from Pasadena if possible. Buying supplies was easy, once he'd sold one or two of his father's old baseball cards and found a nice girl to help drive U-Hauls and rent lockers. Getting it all back to the shelter was harder, especially considering he'd promptly gotten lost, in the first place, and in the second place, the nice girl, being not entirely nice, refused to believe she'd fallen for a guy who, while looking exactly her type, reminded her like a lost puppy. It all.........works out. Of course. Mostly. I do wonder if Adam's mother ever took the butcher knife to her husband, when for example she learned there'd never been any nuclear attack--something her bunker-building husband never came to believe.

After dinner Phil and I went to see the new Pixar movie, UP. It was pretty good. Not great, but good. Hmmmm......a good family movie. I think my favorite bits were the dogs, and after that Carl's wife.....a character with live appearances only in the prologue. This story takes place largely after her death, you see. Anyway. Come to think of it, the only other major female character is the bird--Kevin. Yeah. But it's a fun movie, and I was happy to take the chance to dress up; Sid gave me a really nice black top that I've been wanting to wear with the red skirt. It was perfect. It doesn't even have many white dog hairs on it, now that Lark's finally assimilated the fact that I have once more returned to her life. Which reminds me--the dogs really impressed me. Not just the characterization, which was terrific, but the animation. The expressions, conveyed perfectly through caricatured canine bodies. The textures, so that I knew exactly what it would feel like to touch one of those lolling pink tongues. Heck, even the voices, through the special collars that communicated the dogs' thoughts, simultaneously permitting them to communicate both verbally and physically, without the disruption of moving mouths. Alpha, the scary Doberman, sounded like, when the collar was working properly, Toy Story's Zurg. So.....it was fun. It was good. It wasn't great.

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.

Two Golden Retrievers, a spaniel and a pit bull

So, having gotten myself to sleep by about 11:15, I woke up at a quarter to seven this morning to discover that my alarm clock had reset a couple of hours ago. I reset everything, including the alarm, and dozed off until Lark scratched at the front door and we went and got the paper. It was seven when we got back in, and I gave up. I got dressed and made coffee, and as Grandma seems to be still asleep, Lark and I had some cuddle time. ......Grandma woke up about eight. Wow.

Lee and Karen came by this morning. Lee had Grandma practice using her cane, and Karen set up a telemonitoring system that takes Grandma's vitals and sends them to an office somewhere that decides whether or not to worry about them. Karen left about eleven-thirty, and then we had lunch off leftover chicken pasta casserole from Joan night before last. I love that stuff.

We left on our walk about 1:10, with Grandma asleep and one goal in mind. I wanted to see if, from the Heller estate, one could reach the dirt road that we took down the mountain yesterday. So we started on the Heller walk, taking the trail that loops around a tiny pond until it branched, a hundred yards or so past the water. There is a large rock at the branching, with a tree opposite it on he far side of the path. I stopped here to distribute fluids (I had decided that if Lark and I were going to be going on walks this long I would have to carry water) and here another hiker passed us. He had been trying to avoid us ever since we first glimpsed one another out in the open, but unfortunately for him the path he had taken looped around a hill and rejoined the trail shortly after we passed. He gave up and passed us--going by on the far side of the tree--and giving me an opportunity to make sure that it was a man, because he had long, thick hair, of a very light brown or a dark blonde, and was not particularly muscular. If it makes him feel any better I will say that once I got a decent look I was pretty sure he was male. The close-up just confirmed it. I called Lark away from him, he looked so uncomfortable. Possibly he had been hoping for a completely solitary hike. He shouldn't have picked that trail. Anyway, we took the branch leading southeast, my goal being the well-off neighborhoods that lined the valley on the far side of the mountains behind Magpie Hill. I found them, eventually, and we wandered through, now both tired, and with Lark leashed once more. A golden cocker spaniel barked at us from behind the corner of his house. I think he was tied up back there, so that he could just get his head around the corner. We stopped at a park and I offered Lark water again. She took a few swallows and then knocked over the tupperware with her leash. Lovely. We continued uphill, me wondering if I had enough water to get us home if it was still a long way, and Lark wondering how much farther before she could flop on the nearest cool surface. Fortunately, as I was wondering whether to take a downhill road through an apartment complex or investigate a "No Outlet" area that looked rather like the cul-de-sac I had found my road from, a nice youngish lady came out of the apartment complex with an extremely large, somewhat overweight and middle-aged Golden Retriever and a sleek white pit bull with brown patches on his head. I asked if there was an outdoor spigot (not that she had seen) and we exchanged compliments on our dogs. I asked about the road I was looking for, and she told me the cul-de-sac I had been eyeing was the place. I followed her in that direction, Lark hiding behind me whenever the middle-aged gallant made advances. We encountered a lady with a well-grown Golden puppy carrying a stuffed frog (I think. You know how it is with plushies) who made cheerfully swaggering advances toward me. I petted him while Lark investigated something else, enjoying the privileges of those with only one leash to hold. If it comes to that, the pit bull was probably stronger, though, and her Golden was about as easy to restrain as a horse. Anyway, the woman with the two dogs pointed me in the right direction, I thanked her, and the rest of the trip was about the same as yesterday, except for the human variety. There was a well-muscled young man apparently loading an expensive-looking (I draw this conclusion from my glimpse of the interior, which was of the two-seater cockpit variety) silver sports car, with an unfamiliar form of rap thumping from its speakers. The best moment was as we trudged down Stanton, though. A series of cars had whipped by, and Lark was looking increasingly miserable. I offered my arm for her leg up, if interested, and she gave me the look that says, "Oh, I'd love to but I just don't have the energy to get up there!" Right. -_-;; So I crouched and picked her up. As I was straightening another car went by, and I had a very good view of the driver's face. His mouth was open. :o I carried her about twenty yards or so, and set her down at the end of Jackie Adcock's driveway to offer water. She conveyed that water would be all very well in the kitchen at home. Otherwise, no thank you. I poured it back into her Nalgene and we walked on. We got home at a quarter to three.

......And I fell asleep on Grandma's bed. Oops.

Dinner was provided by Carol, I think her name was: a largeish lady undergoing treatment for cancer and consequently eating out most of the time. Tonight's dinner was at the Black-eyed Pea; it was roast beef with mashed potatoes and green beans. Speaking as someone who hasn't had to cook a meal the whole time I've been here, it was great. She provided vegetables, drinks, even dessert. She even brought plastic utensils. Speaking as someone who listened to Ruth Reichl from Cortland to Colorado Springs, it was pretty bad. The roast beef tasted odd, the green beans tasted like they'd been cooked with the beef, and the dessert was blueberry cobbler of unmitigated sweetness and uncomfortably crunchy seeds. The mashed potatoes were the best part, followed by the white rolls. To top it all off, Carol even made me glad we hadn't gone out with them as she had suggested by joking that I would probably have preferred a hamburger and fries by now. I am perfectly capable of enjoying a decent meal, thank you, and, so far, preferably home-cooked. Grrrr.

As Grandma was finishing up with dinner (she barely touched her meat) and after I had read a delightfully short chapter of The View From the Folding Chairs, Madeline-the-cat appeared, once more out of bounds. This is the signal for me to put my sandals on and call Lark, and we charge out to chase Maddy back where she belongs. Lark really enjoys it, and I always get to chat for a bit with the Seamans, as the cat only comes out when they do--in this case, as they had dinner. They were down to drinks when we came, and we had a nice talk about various things. I came back just in time to help Grandma get her pajamas on, and she's just gone to bed, having reiterated her position on the beneficial qualities of going to bed before eleven. Yes, ma'am. I'm workin' on it, ma'am. Kinda. She also asked if I showered on a particular day, which had the effect of reassuring me about waking her up at night while I'm in the bathroom. It was when I mentioned this that she mentioned earlier bedtimes. Mwerf.

Yummy updates and rereads. Shower now. Nighty night.

(Until Death Do Us Part; Kiss ni Hayaku; rereads: Kirai; Kare Kano.)

Should I do a post an update, or stick to a post a day?

Doberman Pinscher

Well, I went to bed rather later last night than.....scheduled, with the result that I jumped out of bed as soon as the alarm went off, pumped with adrenaline at the knowledge that I would sleep in if I didn't. I am now feeling miserably sleep-deprived....hopefully I can snatch some sleep before I walk Lark, because otherwise I will be death on toast.

Lark and I went over to chat with the Seamans for a bit, standing in the driveway in bare feet. They have sharp gravel, but it was nice talking. Ralph is, wonder of wonders, being careful with his shoulder--he says he doesn't want to have to do the surgery again. How surprisingly sensible.

Lark has been enjoying my discovery that I can just let her out and usually see her from the greenhouse. Supervised unsupervision for the win. :p

I'm reading a webcomic titled "Alien Dice". It's not particularly original, the accompanying writing is so stylistically awful that I mostly just read the comic, and the occasional flashes of greatness in the art are all that keeps me going. I'm also rereading The Corinthian, and, because it's finally completed, finishing Houkago Hokenshitsu-- After School Nightmare--Setona Mizushiro's most harrowing work, as far as I'm concerned. Diamond Head was pretty angsty too, a bit worse than my favorite so far, Shoujo Ningyo, Doll Girl. 

Well, Philip called just before lunch to check up on us, and then Grandma's hairdresser called to try to find out how to reach Grandma. I told her that Grandma's home now, and I believe she made an appointment to cut Grandma's hair here. Then while Grandma was still on the phone Linda, the occupational therapist, rang the doorbell. She was talking to Grandma when Carole showed up. :D It was kinda funny. Carole is a tallish (which is to say, taller than me, though maybe not that much) woman with brown hair cut to her shoulders, currently wearing a bright t-shirt and a long denim jumper with sunflowers embroidered on the front. Not quite as impressive as Lee's blue and green coordination, but rather nice.

We went for our walk while Grandma was in the shower, about one-thirty, perhaps, and got back close to three-thirty. We went by the Seamans' first, and spent some time chatting while Lark and Madeline played Pop goes the Weasel through the house. It was pretty funny--whenver Lark retreated, which wasn't often, Maddy advanced unobtrusively. Sid told me to come by on our way back as she had some clothes I might like, and then we went up to the top of the ridge, with Lark leading the way a great deal of the time. I asserted myself occasionally, as for instance when she went in entirely the wrong vertical direction, or took a path under very low branches. But it was pretty well up to her all the way to the top. Once up we followed the trail along the ridge, as usual not bothering with finding the Treasure. We followed the trail to its end in a wealthy neighborhood where I leashed Lark and tried to keep her off lawns and well-mulched flowerbeds. As we went through a young Doberman ran out on its lawn and barked at us. A human followed it to the door, and it did not come out in the street. They were the only visible life as we went along the loosely-defined block--we had come out into a cul-de-sac--and found a road that seemed to go in the right direction. It looked like a dead end, but closer inspection discovered the red dirt road I had seen from the ridge, leading down to the dormitory parking lot. It was posted--"University of Colorado Property. NO TRESPASSING. Violators Will Be Prosecuted."--but it went where I wanted to go and it looked like nothing else did. It went down the mountain in three stretches, zig-zag-zig, and after periodic consideration of the slopes we ended up just going off the road at the end of the first zig. It was fairly easy ground for all its near-verticality, and I maintained control until the last six feet, which were landscaped and steep. These were easily traversed with that run where you just try to move your feet fast enough to keep up with your body, and we made it to the parking lot. I'm considering stopping going through there. There are too many young people, and a lot of the guys look at me. Compliment or not, it's unnerving. This problem extends along Stanton as we walk home, with Lark exhausted and me worrying about getting a drink for her. I'm going to have to carry water if we keep this up, which I intend to. We made it to Sid's, where she supplied water, and then a fairly large heap of clothing. The best part was the fabrics. She finds the most amazing fabrics. So we chatted awhile, and then she escorted me home with an armful of clothes, a book set in WWII Japan, and a potted palm that had been in Grandma's sitting room and is now there once again. Anyway, she and Grandma chatted for awhile--apparently she has some hope of a new medication that may help her pain go away and possibly even let her hike again, which is relevant to my interests. She was here almost an hour, I think, and shortly after she left Harriet appeared with pork chops, roasted veggies, and watermelon chunks--all in disposable dishes. Wonderful woman.

Dinner was easy to prepare: thank you, Harriet. I went out twice, during the sitting-after-dinner and the sitting-after-dessert periods, to herd--to assist Lark in herding Sid's Maddy-cat back to her. Maddy seems to have an unfortunate interest in the bank along the road behind the house, and she went too far along it both times. Lark was delighted to remedy the situation.

Well, having gotten out of the shower just at eleven, I am now headed for bed. Please, keep me from going back to Cousin Kate......No fear, I'm too tired.

 

Rottweiler

I'm having to write this Sunday, as the Mac was down all Saturday afternoon. >.> (Doug's translation)

Philip got in about twelve-thirty and crashed on the couch, which was vacant while Mom slept in Grandma's room. I didn't even realize he was here until I let Lark out about six and saw the Vic.

We brought Grandma home in the morning, after rather more time than I expected spent packing up and doing paperwork for the nurse. I didn't see Rocker again, but I wouldn't have been able to give him much attention so oh well.  I spent a lot of time riding the elevator, as Grandma was on the third floor and I made a lot of trips between her room and the car, carrying clothes, potted flowers, and books. We made it out about nine-thirty, having spent about an hour waiting, on Mom's part, for the nurse to bring the papers. We got home just as Norma, one of Grandma's neighbors, showed up with a pan of lemon bars, part of the conspiracy to fatten Grandma up. I'm afraid they're going to succeed better with me. She stayed and chatted awhile; Lark was very well-behaved, refraining from jumping and licking.

While Grandma napped Mom and I went shopping for groceries. We went to King Soopers because Philip said they had the best chance of carrying Starbucks ice cream. They didn't, but there was a coupon for it on our receipt, so we'll have to try again.

After lunch, kindly supplied by Jinn (leading member of the aforementioned conspiracy), we watched the Preakness Stakes on Grandma's TV. It was much better quality than the Derby we watched a few years ago, and there was lots of footage of the beautiful horses. I was hoping for Mine That Bird, the winner of the Derby; unfortunately, he made his bid too late, and came in second to Rachel Alexandra, the first filly to win the Preakness since Nellie Morse, eighty-five years ago. Good for her, but no Triple Crown again this year. :/

It was late afternoon by the time Lark got her walk. We went down on the Heller Center trail, taking a side-trail off the main road. It turned out to lead past a very small pond, the probable home of the heron Mom and I saw when we first drove in. We passed a group of boys on that trail; the youngest was primarily interested in Lark, remarking the first time we passed, "That's the same dog as ours!" The second time we were on the same trail passing each other, and he got a much better look as he brought up the rear of his group: "I don't think that's a Bernese." "No," I said softly, "She's an Aussie." I feel better about that exchange than those toward the front of the cavalcade. The first boy apologized when Lark bumped his nose on his leg, which was nice of him, and I really wish I had been able to say something along the lines of "It's okay." And I really wish I had thought to tell the boy who shrieked and drew back when we came past not to be a wimp. He annoyed me, and I only thought of anything but ignoring him when they had been gone a full minute. Oh well. Such are the trials of human interaction. 

The trials of canine interaction were, in this case, a lack thereof, and came as we were heading back along the main trail. I heard voices when I had almost reached the turn where the trail goes uphill, and I turned around to see a gloriously enormous Rottweiler come bounding out of that side-trail. His master called him back, and the second time I saw him he was coming out with two people. They went along the under-construction actual road, and were well along it when the dog spotted Lark and began to sheer in our direction. I hoped he would come talk to us, but his master called him back without seeing what he was going toward, and I didn't get to meet him. As the two people with him were college-age boys carrying their shirts, my disappointment is mixed with a little relief.

The evening ended with me rereading Heyer, in particular Powder and Patch. It's one of her earlier novels, a Georgian, and while it's not quite up to her later standard I had forgotten just how entertaining it is. It also left me with the strong desire to read The Masqueraders, ever my favorite of her heroine-in-disguise stories. When Philip and Mom finally finished War of the Worlds on Phil's laptop via the TV, I got the monitor cable back and managed to check the manga.  There were several good updates. :3