(no subject)

Monk is shaking his old watch, holding it next to his ear. "Hey, guys, good morning."

Daimon asks, "Is something wrong? Or is that a new form of exercise, a little something for the limp-wristed liberal?"

Monk says, "It looks like my watch has given out. I am watering today, and rather than having to keep looking at unsychronized clocks, I thought I'd just put on my watch. It had been a long time. I haven't been going on my library trips. And I was afraid this might happen. Well, I guess I'll just have to go without it."

Pi says, "You aren't forgetting your morning post, are you?"

Monk says, "Yes, let's take care of that. It's a historical note."

Daimon says, "Oh, good, learning is such fun!"

Monk says, "Jefferson is back from France, ready to assume the mantle of secretary of state. Chernow is taking another shot at the wild inconsistency between Jefferson's oft expressed love for arcadian simplicity and his high-frenchified lifestyle. Jefferson even had Sally's slave-brother learn how to whip up fine french cuisine at the hands of a real french chef. I guess that's something of an honor, maybe?"

Daimon says, "Oh, sure! Have the sister suck you off in the dining room, under the table, while the brother is spitting in the food in the kitchen. Real Americana."

Monk says, "With that charming imagery in our heads, I will have my breakfast.

***

Pi says, "Cereal for breakfast. I suppose you'll never move into the adult diet."

Monk says, "Hey, there's an apple, not to mention the orange juice. We're not that terrible."

Daimon says,"So, what is Rachel Maddow hyperventilating over?"

Monk says, "The way people supposedly get so excited about anti-terrorism efforts that they are willing to let the government do anything to their information - even read their e-mails and spy on their web-surfing. I don't find it so shocking myself. Unless terrorism is no longer a real threat in our lives."

Pi says, "I liked the segment on newspapers more. About how anyone can pick up a newspapers or a news magazine for a song."

Monk says, "Yeah, she noted that decades ago, a newspaper organization would buy a baseball team, but today a baseball team is more likely to buy a newspaper."

Daimon says, "That doesn't sound so mysterious. Any liberal arts major can spout news and opinions. Only a precious few can throw a Major League pitch, or hit one over the fence."

Monk says, "It's a little more worrisome when right-wingers, such as the Koch brothers are buying up the journalism outlets, which they are doing."

***

Pi is petting Ash and grimacing.

Monk asks, "Is something wrong?"

She says, "God, Monk, these cats are filthy."

Monk nods, "I know. Coco is especially bad. They seem to have really burrowed in the dirt somewhere last night. I am slowly pecking the stuff off their coats, but there is a lot of it."

***

Pi says, "Busy, busy, watering."

Monk says, "Got to. We are in the middle of a long, looong string of hundred degree days, as dry as bone. And we only have one watering day a week."

Pi says, "The trees are getting a good drink."

Monk nods, "It just kills me, though, to know when we moved here, back in the mid-nineties, that there were a couple of trees in the front yard that had been cut down. If we had that one tree in the middle of the front yard, it would have blocked the direct sunlight of the afternoons. It would have blunted some of the heat on the house. And then there are the elephant ears. That tree would have done such a heavenly job of shielding them from the beating they take every summer day. The funny thing, if we did have that tree, we would have just taken it for granted, not appreciating the big break we got with it. Not having it, man, do we miss it. I miss it anyway."

***

Pi and Daimon step out with Monk to shut off the watering for the day.

Pi says, "Wow, that smell!"

Monk says, "It's not particularly great or very pleasing, is it?"

Pi says, "I don't know. It's natural. Considering how deserty everything is, I think it is at least natural, like life trying to live."

Daimon says, "Or like rotting corpses getting watered, like death trying to die."

Monk smiles, "The smell would be sweeter in the spring, that's for sure. But we definitely needed this watering. What this city would give for a good long storm about now!"

***

Monk says, "That was a good, heavy lunch."

Pi shakes her head, "It's good to see you watching your waistline."

Monk says, "Yes, it gets easier all the time."

Daimon asks, "Did Maddow say anything to excite you?"

Monk says, "She reported on the laundering of spy intelligence. Apparently, the government is indeed using all their surveillance capability to spy on domestic citizens and catch them in crimes, such as drug crimes, passing on the intel to the relevant police authorities to nab the bad guys, but asking them to be sure to cover up the source of their intelligence, by creating another evidentiary pathway that can plausibly lead to the arrest."

Daimon nods, "Shocking! Who would think that the government could be so duplicitous towards its citizenry? It bedazzles the imagination and moral conscience. Well, I trust they don't hassle the pillars of the community, namely, the rich and famous."

Monk smiles, "Probably not."

Pi says, "Just be careful about your porn, Monk!"

Daimon cracks up laughing.

Monk says, "I don't know what you're talking about. This is America and porn is sacred."

***

"Wow!" Pi exclaims. "After that big lunch, you have to break out the M&Ms and a coke?"

Monk says, "I know. I'm actually a little more worried about this than usual. I had such an intense craving for something sweet. I am afraid that, if I had diabetes, it has gotten worse, or if I did not have diabetes, I have it now. I have enjoyed such good health for so long, for decades, and now I am scared that that is going to dramatically change, and soon."

Daimon says, "Or maybe you just wanted some dessert and you have the willpower of a wind vane, Nelly."

Monk says, "I hope so. I really hope so."

***

Monk cries, "Oh, my god, Geena Davis at 57 years old!"



Daimon laughs, "I think you need to stop obsessing on aging celebrities. Get over it, dude! you are OLD."

Monk says, "I'd like to not care about it, but I suspect that, for we older types, aging is like the weather, just something to always talk about it, and to be awed by."

***

Daimon says, "Are we letting the evening pass us by in silence. Are we going to let this Monkeyverse business drop? Jolly good!"

Monk says, "Not so fast. I'm just not sure what to do with it, what to put in it, how much time to spend on it, what to focus on. Sometimes it is all I want to do, just talk with you guys, and sometimes ... I realize that this is just another form of jerking off."

Daimon says, "So, it is something you are good at, a natural."

Pi shakes her head and changes course. She says, "You were also pretty distracted today at PolitiCartoons."

Monk says, "Yes, I saw it was a very quiet morning at the community, and I sensed that there were some members stirring about looking to get their 'debate' on. So, I hunted up a cartoon and posted it. I thought the issue of raising the minimum wage might be good fodder, and I was right. That discussion is now at over 150 comments."

Monk continues, "That community represents the last fumes of my e-life, at least the sociable part. As it is, I am often debating with myself to let it go, especially since it is not like there is any chance that I will be able to kick off another round of truly satisfying e-friendships."

Daimon says, "So, why not let it go instead of pissing and moaning about it?"

Monk says, "Because if I do that, then that will be it. I cannot imagine ever finding another hub on the Internet where I can meaningfully join the party. Besides, that day will doubtlessly come, and probably sooner than later. So, you know, why not ride it out to its sad end, and lessen by that much the long reign of silence and total isolation that will follow."

Daimon says, "Well, than stop bitching about your unhappiness there and comment and post your heart away."

Monk says, "Oh, please, lamentations and jeremiads are how I keep my blood warm and flowing. What else do I got for passion?"

1790 Jefferson Back from France

Thomas Jefferson returns from France to New York to become Secretary of State. Chernow continues to remark on the tensions between Jefferson’s ideal of arcadian simplicity and his high-Paris lifestyle.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

On March 21, 1790, Jefferson moved into lodgings on Maiden Lane, where he was to live with something less than republican austerity. From Paris, he had shipped home eighty-six crates packed with costly French furniture, porcelain and silver, as well as books, paintings, and prints. He had brought home 288 bottles of French wine. To appease his craving for French food, he also brought along one of his slaves, James Hemings (Sally’s brother), who had studied fine cooking with a Parisian chef. While secretary of state, Jefferson maintained a household of five servants, four horses, and a maitre d’hotel imported from Paris.

In seeming contradiction to this patrician style, Jefferson cherished a vision of America as a place of arcadian innocence. “Indeed, madam, I know nothing as charming as our own country,” he had written to Angelica Church from Paris. “The learned say it is a new creation and I believe them, not for their reasons, but because it is made on an improved plan. Europe is a first idea, a crude production, before the master knew his trade, or had made up his mind as to what he wanted.” Settled in his palatial Parisian residence, Jefferson lamented reports of unspoiled Americans succumbing to luxurious ways. “I consider the extravagance which has seized them as a more baneful evil than toryism was during the war,” he told one correspondent.” Now he was eager to assess “the tone of sentiment” in America after his prolonged absence.

-- Ron Chernow, “Alexander Hamilton”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Casanova: Lucie (Part 6)

We conclude the Lucie story. Casanova tells Lucie that his love for her is so great that he cannot see her anymore and asks her not to come to his room ever again.

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Politics

"I am a neoconservative. But at some point, even if you are a neoconservative, you need to take a deep breath to ask if our strategies in the Middle East have succeeded. … It may be that our capacity to export democracy is a lot more limited than we thought."

-- Newt Gingrich

I just found this to be incredibly funny, albeit in a tragic sort of way.

Daily Fun

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