Recent media consumption

I don't think I live within convenient driving distance of a real movie theater anymore. You know, one that has stadium seating and first-run movies. That limits what I'm actually seeing, since I now have the time and freedom to catch the occasional film.

Instead, I have been checking out movies and shows from the library like mad! They have the largest selection I have ever seen (or imagined) at a public library. Incredibly well curated too. The librarian that managed the collection must have been a mad, mad genius.

So far...

Serenity (film)

Yes, I know. I have seen it four times now, but it never fails to hurt when Wash...Oh, don't make me get weepy now. I'm a little embarrassed by how much dialog and expression from the ,movie and show have worked their way into my everyday built-in vocabulary. For goram shame!

Deadwood (film)

I'm midway through season three and the language stills gets me. My ex-partner talked just like that. Otherwise, Ian McShane is absolutely amazing to watch. The man has talent and range like-whoa. For reasons best left to the imagination, I'm watching the show with subtitles. It's an interesting experience. Try it some time.

Ready Player One (audio book)

I just started this last week and am loving it! I think it will eventually end up on my recommended-reads list. My current library has it shelved in young adult; my former posting, adult fiction. Anyway, I'm only on disc two, but I am enthralled by the gaming culture, technology, social problems, and the nostalgia for the late 1980s.

Eve by Anna Carey (book)

This was on my to-read list forever. I'm just over half finished with it and am largely unimpressed. But a good ending could still save it!

I've also read some rightist political stuff in the last couple months on the recommendation of a dear friend. I'm not inclined to review it, but I must admit that the tenor of certain parts of that wing is becoming easier to stomach as they discover that you get more flies with honey than with vinegar.

I'll talk about my own politics later, but I still daydream of geritocracy. I promise.

To come:

I hope to see The Mazerunner and to reread the Bhagavad Gita soon.

Update!

Let's see...since my unplanned hiatus I have:

1. Finished graduate school
2. Uncoupled and lost my shepherd
3. Got a smaller dog
4. Got a new job in my field
5. Moved 500 miles away
6. Got a very small tattoo

What does any of that mean for this blog?

I don't know yet, but I feel like writing and posting pictures again.

Anyway, don't expect me to name the city I'm living in these days. I want to keep that as much on the QT as possible. See #2 above and let your imagination run wild, kids. You won't be far off.

Spring is on its way. Expect pictures. Hope for ranting, if you dare.

Thanks for all the visits during the unscheduled break in programming!

For the loss - first sunburn of the season

Somehow, I managed to get a wicked neck-arm sunburn at the dog park today. Yes, even though it is in fact only just March.

Ouch.

I also had the great displeasure of seeing a large mixed breed mongrel dog absolutely maul a very, very tiny Corgi puppy. The owner of the big dog did NOTHING. Only an English bulldog and her owner managed to save the puppy. I hope the little Corgi is okay...but I really don't know.

At least one person got bit. :(

Gracie, unlike many other dogs, watched from a safe distance of about twenty feet or so.

Missionary Zeal

Partner and I had the discussion a couple nights ago around the dinner table: how many kids that you went to high school with became missionaries? I think the question was sparked by something on the television in the other room. Anyway, for him, the answer was zero; for me, the answer was six, including missionary spouses. That really surprised him - Yankee Catholic urbanite that he is verses former Southern Baptist suburbanite that I am.

And I also had the realization that I saw those kids on one side and me on the other now, that we play for completely different teams. They go for the authoritarian superstition represented by the church whereas I support the free flow of knowledge, ideas, and information represented by the public library (governmental services). Totally different ways of championing mostly incompatible value systems.

I'm not shocked that I haven't heard from any of these people in fifteen years. And I guess that adds another layer of explanation to why I feel no compulsion to reach out to my former classmates.

I just never really looked at their life course compared to mine before. I wouldn't have expected the overwhelming sense of surprise. You know?

Like a Bad Neighbor

I have a ton of things I would rather post about, including the Winter Olympics, local restaurants, and of course, my dog; however, here I am, stuck writing an unpleasant sort of post about the place I live and the people there.

Tangentially, this is about my dog. As a puppy of about 8.5 weeks old, she ran up to my neighbor's shrew wife, barking her head off, after jumping out of the car and darting away from me. Gracie is nothing if not enthusiastic and people-oriented. My neighbors threw a huge bitch-fit about being scared of dogs. I have sympathy for people who are scared of dogs. I was one of them for the first three decades of my life! But even at my worst, I was never scared of puppies. Seriously, people, a puppy? Actually, I doubt they are afraid of dogs at all, but are rather disapproving of something else...

Anyway, that was right at two years ago now. I do my best to keep her on a leash, even if it is a bit longer than the oh-so traditional six-footer. My partner is has at times been markedly less compliant in this, primarily in the name of training, recall, and exercise. He wants her to learn. I would rather him consider where we are.

My neighbor has repeatedly accused us of allowing Gracie into his yard. Other than a couple loose-puppy forays, all well over a year and a half ago now, that's a lie. We do have several roving dogs in the neighborhood - an American bulldog, two medium-sized pitbulls, and a pit-Labrador (pitador) mix - but Gracie doesn't go toward their yard even when she does manage to seize a few minutes of freedom from her too-trusting handlers. She heads for the woods where the deer are, more often than not dragging her leash behind her (and laughing, I'm sure). End of story.

Several months ago my partner had a clash with the neighbor about some Sunday evening yard noise, which ended with the neighbor hurling some racist slurs at my partner and calling the police to report our dog for trespassing - again, like I said, he's a liar and I would print his name if only I knew it for sure.

Early this evening, we had Gracie tethered at the back door for about ten minutes because we both got in too late this afternoon to take her anywhere to play or go on a long walk. She barked a couple times, so partner stepped out. Dickhead next door was standing at the property line with his cell phone, recording her. We think he must have done something to antagonize her, as Gracie isn't a huge barker, except in the car. We also saw him outside at the curb in front of our house, taking pictures or recording, about twenty minutes later.

Now, here's something really odd. One day this week - either Tuesday or Wednesday, I think - something upset Gracie enough for her to paw at the front blinds. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out when we aren't home, so I'm wondering if the neighbor came into the yard or maybe even peered in through our windows. But if so, why? We have a great security system, for which Gracie is an adequate back-up, and no obvious signs of undue affluence. It's a poorer neighbor with periodic crime issues. What would have been the motive? She was still very upset when partner got home.

I can't prove the guy next door did anything. It's only our word against his for the filming and pictures. I could quietly file a report, or I could in a decent area, but I'm not sure about here. Partner is mega-upset, but after dealing with the police last time, their treatment has made him reluctant to go to them for assistance, especially given the racial issues at play in our neighborhood and community as a whole.

The reason I'm posting this is primarily to have some record of our concerns in case the neighbor does anything rash. I don't know that it would ever be found, if we were killed or something, but the Internet has long been the repository of everything. Let it keep this account too.

Advice is welcome.

The less fun side of winter

I live south of Atlanta, so not surprisingly I'm without power right now and have been for about 13 hours. Except for 20 minutes of power in the mid afternoon. Thanks for that, GA power, for that false hope. Partner cooked dinner in the fireplace. We raided every closet for spare blankets. If not for our dog, we would have gone to a hotel. Not many pet friendly options out there.

It isn't exactly the kind of fun we had two weeks ago.

We're sleeping downstairs with the dog tonight.

Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

I don't know if our little bitty snow storm made news outside the area, but in Georgia 2 - 3 inches is a huge deal. I was sent home from work at 1:45 and partner couldn't finish his business out there and ended up taking two hours to drive seven miles! This is what it looked like near the woods behind the house. Not too shabby, but still...not exactly epic, right?

Gracie loved it! She had never seen more than a few errant flakes before. She totally digs the snow, despite greeting it with a warning growl at first. Plus the cold doesn't seem to phase her at all, but then, she was bred for the weather of central Europe, including some of its more elevated areas. 

She especially enjoyed rolling in the snow and then shaking it off her coat. I wish she had held still a bit more, so I could get some cute greeting card shots for next Christmas, but she's a puppy and never holds still for anything. Ever.

I'm so glad she got to have this experience. Not every dog lives long enough to see this sort of snowfall in our part of Georgia.

Lucky girl.