the wind

Although the temperature wasn't threatening to sink down into the lower forties, the wind was very blustery, like anything could happen, and so I was more than happy to get all three cats indoors at once and keep them inside, all the more so since Jack is suppose to do the lawn today.

that pouncy thing

Cute. Sammy bounces up so high now. I thought we had left behind the old kitty game of chase the rubber ball. But Sammy is feeling restless, being penned indoors, and has tons of energy. I don't mind.

Before Sammy goes in hot pursuit he does that pouncy thing, bounding up in the air. I don't get the effectiveness of the move. Sure, the pounce makes sense when you are going for the grab or attack directly, but it seems like a pointless gesture when you are just beginning your pursuit, and worse than that, I would think you are scaring away your prey, not to mention giving them that extra second to flee. But it's kind of cute to look at.

Though, Sammy now plays the game with a lot of kills under his belt. I don't want to excite him too much. He is not a harmless kitten anymore.

Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber has his first sex scandal. Even if he does not appear to be particularly manly, it's about time. I remember when I first saw this guy on my Friends Page on ONTD, I thought it was a joke. I couldn't believe that this paltry boy is suppose to be a singing sensation. But the name just kept getting bigger. It's just that I always think of Elvis, and how can this Bieber character even hold Elvis's cape? But apparently he's got the moves down.

( Read more... )

back pain

Owww, back pain. An unusual spot for me, though any back pain has actually been unknown for a good, long time. Lower-right, a bit below where I think my kidney is suppose to be.

I was hoping the little annoyance would be gone and forgotten in a few minutes, but, no, it looks like it wants to stay around and be part of my life for a while.

It's not bad. It's not throwing off my routine. But there is no such thing as good back pain, know what I mean? I hope it's gone by the end of the day.

Daimon says, "And the new mattress scarcely less than a week old."

"Hah, I'm pretty sure it's a coincidence. I think I first felt it when I got up from either my breakfast or my early blogging rounds at Pop's computer. But, yeah, I just can't win."

Get Drunk

How about porn and poetry?

1984 (2,2) Countryside Rendezvous

Winston is waiting for the girl at their countryside rendezvous. He is picking the bluebells that are misting the ground, as though he has an instinctual awareness, not entirely blunted by Big Brother, that a fellow ought to give flowers and gifts to his date in appreciation for her little flower.

_ _ _

He looked up. It was the girl. She shook her head, evidently as a warning that he must keep silent, then parted the bushes and quickly led the way along the narrow track into the wood. Obviously she had been that way before, for she dodged the boggy bits as though by habit. Winston followed, still clasping his bunch of flowers. His first feeling was relief, but as he watched the strong slender body moving in front of him, with the scarlet sash that was just tight enough to bring out the curve of her hips, the sense of his own inferiority was heavy upon him. Even now it seemed quite likely that when she turned round and looked at him she would draw back after all. The sweetness of the air and the greenness of the leaves daunted him. Already on the walk from the station the May sunshine had made him feel dirty and etiolated, a creature of indoors, with the sooty dust of London in the pores of his skin. It occurred to him that till now she had probably never seen him in broad daylight in the open. They came to the fallen tree that she had spoken of. The girl hopped over and forced apart the bushes, in which there did not seem to be an opening. When Winston followed her, he found that they were in a natural clearing, a tiny grassy knoll surrounded by tall saplings that shut it in completely. The girl stopped and turned.

'Here we are,' she said.

-- 1984

_ _ _

I love the way Orwell draws out Winston’s male insecurity before the young, nubile woman. It is another literary grace that gives his political novel a little depth.

Pi

"You're leaving us out, Monk," Pi says.

"I know. I was thinking about making it an all-the-time thing, at least for this blurty blog, but I came back the other way, and feel that rarer use will give our talks more charm."

1956 Nationalizing the Suez Canal

Nasser had staked a lot of his prestige on his promise to his people that he would see the Aswan Dam built. The fabulous expense of the project required international assistance. Eisenhower and the Americans had been dangling the cheese of financial assistance before Nasser, and the Soviet Union was also in the bidding, but everyone bailed out and left Nasser holding the bag. However, Nasser still had a card to play.

_ _ _

On Thursday, July, 26, 1956, Gamal Abdel Nasser delivered an emotional, three-hour anti-American speech to a cheering crowd in Alexandria. Near the end, Nasser announced what no American government official had anticipated - a presidential decree nationalizing the Suez Canal Company. He planned to use the proceeds from the operation of the canal to fund the Aswan Dam project. “The money is ours and the Suez Canal belongs to us,” the Egyptian leader declared. “The Suez Canal was built by Egyptians and 120,000 Egyptians died building it. Thus we shall build the High Dam our own way.”

-- David A. Nichols, “Eisenhower 1956”

==============

That also closes out the chapter. We came back to the book in the middle of the chapter, but, nevertheless, I think we should go ahead and have our little book talk on the chapter.

Daimon says, "This should be informative."

Yeah, I really only have one note to make, and this how surprised I am that Eisenhower was so debilitated during his administration. He had a heart attack and surgery, and then not much later, he had a serious intestinal problem that required additional surgery.

And this all occurred during the first term, so that there was always that issue whether he should run for a second term.

Though, the key issue that Nichols wants to raise is how much this illness may have distracted Eisenhower from staying on top of these major international affair, as his secretary of State, Dulles, was left to run free.

For instance, I get the impression that Nichols wants us to consider that Eisenhower would not of let the deal for the Aswan Dam to fall through if were on top of his game, but I don't buy that line. It seems clear, by Nichols's own account, that Congress was not going to let that support happen, no matter what. So, we still have the Suez crisis.

quote of the day

“What a great poem teaches you, and it’s not intellectual at all, is the resonance in the language that’s heard there. This goes back to the very origins of poetry and to the very origins of language. I think poetry is as old as language, and both come out of the same thing—an effort to try to express something that is inexpressible. If something can’t be said, what do you do? You scream.”

-- W. S. Merwin

non-porn

I could use a couple of more non-porn tumblrs.

Tumblr Discussion

A reader wrote to a porn-daddy:

hey, i'm 15 + i cannot begin to tell me how wet you make me feel. i now have a fetish for older men because of you and your blog. like really. i think about you when i'm going to sleep + i start to rub myself. seriously, i wish you were here right now so i could have you inside of me. you make me look at boys my age as if they don't even exist. i scroll through your blog ever night and think of all the things i want you to do to me.

He replied:

I am 90% certain you are a troll. But for the 10% chance I am wrong I have to ask you not to follow me since you are under 18. Thems the rules. Obviously I can’t make you stop but I have to ask you to. Secondly even if I were available you are as mentioned underage, and anyone who is over the age of consent who took you up on your offer would be risking not only jail time but jail time as a sex offender. Now I have slept with my share of women in my life, but none of them ever even came remotely close to being worth that.

So I thank you for your interest but would have to decline.

Smart guy! I should have so much sense. But, then, maybe I would if I had slept with my share of women in my life.

Daimon says, "I'm pretty sure he is just putting up a public front, Monk."

"Heh, could be."

thirties overnight

Jack is gone, but as I thought, the temperature is suppose to dip into the thirties overnight, so we are keeping the cats indoors tonight. Sammy is not happy about that, but I think we'll get along.

Quote of the Day

“I can live alone, if self-respect, and circumstances require me so to do. I need not sell my soul to buy bliss. I have an inward treasure born with me, which can keep me alive if all extraneous delights should be withheld, or offered only at a price I cannot afford to give.”

-- Charlotte Brontë

It is even easier when you have the Internet. In fact, going by my own experience, I do not believe that I could be my own island without the Internet. I was really going over the edge by the time Pop came home with our first computer nine years ago.