Category: Nature

Marcus Aurelius

Chipper sent this link to me under the rather cryptic header “Big Head”.  Marcus Aurelius was a great writer and his contribution to the philosophy of Stoicism should not be forgotten. Here’s a link to the Meditations.

I’m off to see Music Man tonight.  I am starting to think about writing a musical and rather than having a discernable plot, it’s a thirties style attempt to jam about 100 songs with the most minimal amount of plot or discursive linking possible into 2 hours. Like, my parents hate the plot and fast forward to the musical numbers.  Eddie Izzard in an enormous red ball gown as the Master of Ceremonies?  A little girl asking for pirates and ninjas, and she gets the pirates but you never see the ninjas? Of such is the coloured marzipan from which I wish to confect a musical….  A giant squid sings a sad song about the depths of the sea, with its limbs operated by the cast members?  I even have a name for the opus.

OMG. Gizmo, when he’s cleaning his nether regions, makes a noise like the quacking of a really subdued duck.  He just gave about five demonstrations in a row. The quack he emitted on the sofa last night cracked me and Jeff up.

Soon, the mandolin lessons.

PARTAY

We saw Brian C off to his new job in fine style – and I used the opportunity to record Buy me a Beer in front of a live audience.  Yes, I got permission from Party Boy and the management of the Golf Course first, so I may be a self-involved putz, but I’m not entirely without a clue. Also, I distributed neck rubs all round, except for the people who said NO, and it’s amazing how many of them I just said, “I know YOU’RE passing” to, and they just looked at me… then the next person would openly mock them and thank their good fortune.  This happened more than once, so the cumulative effect was quite funny.  One of the people I worked on had been shit on by a crow, but I worked on her ANYWAY because the crow was considerate enough to let fly along her spine well below her shoulders.  Also recorded Housewife’s Lament.  There were forty people there at the height of the festivities, largest turnout I’ve seen in 11 years of employment…. Maybe 45.  There was a LOT of people there.  I was going to do a guest list.  LTGW gave me, Jeff, Keith and Patricia rides home, or roughly home- the 25 bus was waiting for us at Brentwood, as if it was meant to be.

Another NCIS blowout day.  I made waffles for breakfast, unbelievably good meatloaf for dinner, wiped off the back deck table, wiped off the kitchen counters, folded some laundry (which Jeff did, and thanks cats! for urinating on Keith’s bedclothes!) and otherwise did squat.  I’m having a lazy day.

Tomorrow Scary Clown and Keith and Jeff and I are going to eat brunch down on Main St.  Then in the afternoon I hope to see daughter Katie, who really is a very nice woman to talk to on the phone.  And I talked to Peggy, and I talked to my mother, and Mike called to tell me that Bounce’s clone, in the form of a 5 month old male kitten, has cruised into his life.  He’s been adopted.  That makes him happy.  Happier making still is that it’s Jerome’s stag tonight.  Mike vaguely quoted the email saying something about how Jerome didn’t want anything too stupid or strange, but uh, anytime I’VE ever gone drinking with those guys, magically delicious, improbably fun things happen, so seeing as how they will be drinking AND the Dalai Jarmo will be there, I suspect a good time will be had by all.

Jeff bought an elcheapo camera to record the antics of the cats in the living room, as time without number one of the cats has done something unutterably cute and we’re blocks from a camera.  It lives in the living room now.

I watched my newly posted video a couple of times, and about halfway through the video (deleted as being pretentious bushwah, with a side of smug).

The air conditioner is running.  A Kenyan took gold in the marathon.  The world is okay.

Eddie

Eddie must be getting desperate – what with Jeff being gone.  Last night he came into my room, jumped up on the bed, and criss crossed it a number of times looking for the perfect place to sleep.  I was a little taken aback when that turned out to be wedged between my thighs, but oh well.  He was curled up there for a couple of hours.  I sometimes wonder how much is behind Eddie’s almost vacant stare but I’m beginning to suspect the vestiges of a sense of humour.

Then he woke up at four am and knocked everything he could off my desk.  Bastard.

rattling around

House shure feels empty.

Meadow came to say goodbye yesterday.  The moving truck came and went and it’s been powerfully quiet, so I am assuming that’s the last I’ll see of that little dog.  I kept a bunch of dried meat snackies around for her and she hoovered them back with every sign of joy.  (I know I should not have and she gets fed at home…) The cats ignored her.

Well, I have to shower and power out of here.  Everybody have a good day!

Meadow visits

That’s twice so far today and it isn’t even dinnertime yet.  I am starting to be afraid that the downstairs neighbours are going to abandon the dog, you know, sort of accidentally on purpose, when they move.  Meadow was gazing me adoringly just now as I repeatedly tried to play Bbm.  Any dog who can sit through that cacophony while ignoring her master’s whistle is really trying hard to get adopted.  I don’t mind, but I have to wash my hands every time I touch her – she is not particularly dirty for a dog but Jeff and I are both susceptible to animal dander…. I didn’t want her in the house because she eats the cat food and it’s obvious she gets fed at home.  Meadow may not be the happiest dog in the world but nobody is beating or starving her.  So I sat outside on the deck and communed with her for a while, before she started getting all enthusiastic and trying to play with Giz, who’s having none of that, thanks.  Damned dogs, not even smart enough to snooze on the deck….

Friends and video

Tammy’s got a chronic ailment.  She’s in research mode because that’s what she does when she gets bad news, but the thing that made me cry after I got off the phone was that her big thing was that it not affect our trip to France.  Her health is so much more important than the trip…

Crashed early again last night.  Saw a guinea pig and a puppy in Brentwood Town Centre Station last night.  I’ve seen more critters there than in most zoos. Bought veggies and made tuna salad for supper – too hot for anything else.  I THINK I MIGHT BE WINNING against the dreaded video editing issue.  It says it’s going to take 1400 minutes to convert the file, but that might just be blowing smoke into my eye.  Anyway, I have 15 hours of family video – at least – to boil down, like I NEEDED another fracking project.  Spoke briefly to Katie last night.  Picked huckleberries and – get this – saskatoon berries yesterday at lunch (me, Trevor, Patricia, ScaryClown and Robof9) as well as grabbing salmonberries on the way by.  Watched the video Patricia took of the raccoons in Stanley Park – cute.  Anyway, let’s see if I can load the damned file once the import into iMovie is done.  1400 minutes?!  Zow. I am beginning to see how Loki might have been spending his time when he first converted the files from tape to VOB!