stop staring at my feet, you balkan freak

says a character on the shield in the episode called "Blowback." i've been watching reprehensible tv again, and it sure is enjoyable.

saturday was disgustingly hot. i spent a little while in the library and then a couple of hours ice skating. the ice skating was lots of fun once i pushed through the initial discomfort. it was ironic to have cold weather asthma even after i walked out of the rink back into the vilely hot and humid air.

The Old Man and the Sea

I'm listening to it on audiobook. My favorite author used to be Salman Rushdie, for phrases like (from memory, i.e. roughly) "the station wagon of despair." This phrase from early in Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" reminds me of Rushdie, although chronologically Rushdie follows Hemingway:

The sail was patched with flour sacks and, furled, it looked like the flag of permanent defeat

going to the mawl

yes, last night i visited the mall. i went for some hair dye (bright pink!) and it turns out that you go to the mall for that. so i went.

1) agghh!

2) the parking is insane. you park far far away. at least it makes people walk a little.

3) i saw a woman sitting in a wheel chair that was powered by bicycle pedals that her feet were pedaling. i wonder what the story with that is. what kind of illness makes you able to pedal but not able to stand? maybe something neurodegenerative that affects balance or coordination?

4) agghh!

Night Palms

I'm alwasy fascinated by the patterns of the lights on the palms. Last night I was in the lab past midnight, working and grading, and when I passed these on my way home I had enough energy to take a bunch of shots. I'm not totally happy with them, but they're not bad. 

Heartbreak

The dog in this picture, AR's dog, was killed today when she was hit by a car. She was a young dog, enormously sweet and enthusiastic. She was a therapy dog and, with AR, visited people at the hospital. She stayed with me several times.