A five o'clock morning

A five o'clock morning, essentially. When I let the last cat out this morning, with the temperature above fifty degrees, I saw it was five and remembered how it used to be common for me to have to wake up this early, but I trusted this would not be a problem now. Then I couldn't sleep. After trying for an hour, I enjoyed some early time with Bukoswki at my desk. I feel good now, but I'm sure I'll feel bad at around ten, and will probably go for a mid-morning nap.

At least there was no acid reflux. Though, I am going to forget about enjoying a sweet breakfast this morning, despite that new red velvet cake sitting pretty in the cupboard.

Cat Baths

In the big room. Sweet little Ash sits in a square of sunlight filtering through the window, and I'm thinking about how the cats have never had a bath in the three years of their existence, and never will, even if they live to be twenty. They are beautiful, but a good bath would leave them that much lovelier. But I cannot imagine a way to carry that off. If I tried it, I'm sure I would wind up in the emergency room; just thinking about trying it makes me wince in pain. The rich probably have a service that can take care of it, a team of expert animal-control people, a thousand dollars not counting the tip. It is not meant to be.

Scarlett

“I don’t believe in new years resolutions,” explains Scarlett.

“I think they just set you up for guilt for the rest of the year.”

-- ONTD

My new year's resolution is to print out that picture and wank on her pretty face.

June 9, 2003, Monday, 1228

Nostalgia weekend. As promised I'm going to do a weekend of two of Blurty entries, though I find less of a pull to do this, since those entries are already on the Internet, and it seems like a better use of time to code up the entries from the old pen & paper diaries, so that I can then play with them as I please. Nevertheless, I do want to relive those times. I am coming close to the time when I start butting comments with Gabe and Sugar.

*******

Monk winces, "Oh, God!" He now sees what may be a number of baby birds sticking their heads out of the nest. Some of them have something in their beaks, and he sees an adult bird swoop back to make another delivery of food, so one presumes. And to see that one baby that didn't have anything in its beak squawk when that adult swooped back . . .

Daimon mocks, "What's the matter, Monk? Too much drama for you?"

"Yes. I'd rather not be witness to this vulnerable struggle for life. I hope that they will soon leave, so that I will no longer have to be party to their hard fate. It's bad enough that I must deal with my own drama, without having to see the pangs and blows of sweeter innocence."

Pi smiles and shakes her head, "Aww! You should take it in, Monk. It can help you to rise above your drama, to see the fuller general reality of which you are but a part."

"I'd rather try to avoid it as much as possible. I only like dealing with such drama when it is safely and neatly composed in books. That I can handle! Not the mushy, needy stuff of actual living, breathing beings -- including myself. I would hate to have to see their tiny corpses as they die of thirst, for instance."

Daimon snickers, "Well, then I guess that this is just going to have to be part of your drama. You have no choice but to deal with it -- like your life."

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

December 31, 2011

I am reminded that we did not have any of those birds last spring and summer, the first year we went without them since we started getting them. It remains to be seen whether they will try to nest here in the next few months. I hope not. My cats do not need to add baby birds to their diet.

up from a good nap

Just up from a good nap, I was getting ready to slide into that laid-back fifteen minutes with a show, "The Black Scorpion", but Pop just pulls into the driveway, and I have to go out to collect the water bottle.

Aging...

That is both funny and sad.

June 9, 2003, Monday, 1813

We just got another one of those calls where a chipper sounding older woman announces that we won an opportunity to play a dating game. She breathlessly declares,"Congratulations! . . . You're going to have the time of your life on your date with the person who is most irresistible to you." We are told that upon calling back we will get to hear three profiles from which to choose who one wants to go out with first.

Daimon chuckles, "And, of course, you are more than a little intrigued by the idea."

Pi waps Daimon, "Leave him be!"

Monk says, "Well, aside from the obvious, I do wonder why they call as often as they do. I swear that it must be about a dozen times over the past year or so."

"So, why don't you just call one time and see if you learn anything more?" Daimon teases.

"Nah. Besides not being able to do anything even if it were a genuine offer, I wonder whether this may be only a more creative tactic of my collectors. It would explain why they call so often."

Daimon says, "And not such a bad tactic, right? I mean, from your own standpoint. You get a little dream for the trouble."

"Sure."

Daimon continues, "Yet, it's really more for Simple Tree, isn't it."

Monk nods, "Yeah. I remember, when we first got these calls, thinking that he might be moved to give it a shot. I suppose that Buzzer has shown him the way to access the stripper circuit, so that he needn't feel the press of temptation."

Daimon says, "Lucky, huh?"

"I don't know. I suppose that I am glad that I haven't had to deal with the reality of learning how to live with another woman in the house."

Daimon says, "That would be pretty bad, huh?"

"I don't know. It's not like it's up to me. As with much of everything else, I am pretty dependent on Fate, having to ride out whatever I am given. But, sure, I prefer to keep things simple. After all, It's not like happiness is an option."

Daimon says, "Maybe not for you, but what about for him?"

Monk turns away.

National Defense Authoriztion Act

The controversial National Defense Authoriztion Act has been signed into law.

_ _ _

The legislation has drawn severe criticism from civil liberties groups, many Democrats, along with Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, who called it “a slip into tyranny.” Recently two retired four-star Marine generals called on the president to veto the bill in a New York Times op-ed, deeming it “misguided and unnecessary.”

“Due process would be a thing of the past,” wrote Gens Charles C. Krulak and Joseph P. Hoar. “Current law empowers the military to detain people caught on the battlefield, but this provision would expand the battlefield to include the United States – and hand Osama bin Laden an unearned victory long after his well-earned demise.”

The president defended his action, writing that he signed the act, “chiefly because it authorizes funding for the defense of the United States and its interests abroad, crucial services for service members and their families, and vital national security programs that must be renewed.”

-- LJ/ABC

_ _ _

It is going to keep getting worse, you know. Don't be shocked if we see environmentalists and people protesting Wall Street getting put away in military garrisons indefinitely. When Republicans take office.

washing his clothes during my time

Pop has started washing his clothes during my time in the big room, again. The second time. Probably part of his routine now. I'm tempted to wash clothes in the evening when he is in here watching TV. But I suppose it is asking a lot that he stay cooped up in his office for so many hours of the day.

hurting for a movie

I was hurting for a movie to go with my dinner. I have over a hundred movies recorded on the DVR, but, once again, choice was my enemy. I was frozen and couldn't choose.

Then I remembered my old card deck of fortune, and dealt a card to pick out a random movie for me. "Rodger Dodger" came out. Not being a terribly bad choice, I went with it.

And I don't have to watch it all. I can let the cards pick another movie tomorrow. I know these movies too well, which is part of the problem. So, I can just watch a part of a movie by itself. A few months down the road, if "Rodger Doger" comes up again, I can watch from where I left it last night. You see, I don't care to see the whole movie at once, not even across meal times, but I can see the first twenty minutes tonight, and the next twenty minutes months from now, or never, and so on. That's doable.

Problem solved!

robust display of fireworks

A pretty robust display of fireworks in the neighborhood on this New Year's. And even the tooting of horns. We have the cats in for the night, which is too bad, since it's one of those apparently rare nights that is both dry and moderate in temperature.

Sugar

Now Sugar is writing about hockey in her blog. She seems to have overcome all intellectual pretension. I guess she is secure in her professional position and she simply wants to enjoy life.

Of course I miss the old days when she was all about the intellectual pretension. She was a good faker, especially for the interwebz. I miss the old days...