DLand - Mmm, Wet Dog Hair

It has been pouring buckets today. The cowpokes in my current read would say it's a real "turd floater." But I braved the rain to head to K-Mart all the same. Now I really hate Super K-Mart. Mostly because they rarely have what I want (ironic, for being such a big store) and the people there are very clueless. But I had a pretty positive experience there. They just installed those self-checkout lines. I rang up my own stuff, bagged it myself, swiped my card and was off like a prom dress. None of my bread was crushed. The cashier (moi) recognized all the produce without asking. And the bleach didn't get put in the same bag as food. Amazing.

I'm not sure if I should feel robbed by paying to not have any help there, but so far no help has been better than really crappy help. It was even sorta fun.

I also find it ironic that Mike and Sue's dog, Solo is named as such given his magnetic attraction to me. He's probably just lonely and confused as to why he's been abandoned (he's at Dog Camp at our house while they move). And he's had a good time playing with Sarah (my stupid mutt). But I think in some magical world he could pass as my familiar given his proximity to me or Jeremy at all times. It will just be our little secret, Solo, how I let you sleep in the bed with me. But quit hogging the covers.

DLand - Conversations with Isis

I bought a box of King Vitaman the other day in the store because it reminded me of Keilyn. I was wandering down the cereal aisle and saw this box and had an instant flashback. I think it was a Thanksgiving we were at and she was talking about running away from home. So her parents helped her and her siblings pack and they took a fresh box of King Vitamin with them for rations. There was some rule about how Keilyn wasn't old enough to cross the street by herself, though, so she could only run away as far as the end of the block. There are other fascinating pieces to that story that have all escaped my feeble brain, but I like to sit in my kitchen and eat King Vitaman because it reminds me of Keilyn. I miss you, my sweet. Remind me what parts I've forgotten. In other news our tax check came today. It was made out to Mr. and Mrs. Sweetpea and GenieAlisa. It's already sitting in our bank account. Mmmm, dirty money.

I've been having some fascinating conversations with Isis (my sweet black goddess of a kitten) lately. Usually it's something like:

Isis: (telepathically communicating with the front door) Open ze door.

Me: No, you just came in. There are cat hawks out there and you know you'll get rained on. Stay inside and eat cat food. Live the good life.

Isis: (telepathy with a slight nod in my direction) Open ze door. Now.

Me: No!

Isis: Meow!

Me: No, I'm not giving in. I'm stronger than you.

Isis: Meow!

Me: No!

Isis: Meow! (which begins to sound a lot like "no", itself - she's sassing me!)

Me: Hmm, Sue says that saying no only makes her son Zach thinks it's a game. I'll try something else. Hot! (blowing on the door)

Isis: Mur?

Repeat this about 15 times every night. The variations are usually only on my part. My lines change to things like \"I know the laptop is cozy and warm but I have to read diaries on it, sugar lump.\" or \"Please don't nuzzle the pencil while I'm trying to write down phone numbers, my little lamb.\" Cuteness is her secret weapon.

DLand - Reading Galore

I finally finished the Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman. It was a long road of reading due to several side streets I meandered down in non-fiction (I must have read 6 other random books while reading this one). For a while I was ready to just give up. But I picked it back up Friday night and finished it by Saturday. Overall, a good novel and I give Pullman's trilogy a thumbs up. Some say it's like Harry Potter, only more dark. I wouldn't compare it to Harry Potter, but give it credit as its own literary style. One of the best parts of the book is a small sub-slot towards the very end when Mary is talking about leaving the church and giving up her life as a nun. She says that she had never been in love. "Being in love was like China: you knew it was there, and no doubt it was very interesting, and some people went there, but I never would. I'd spend all my life without ever going to China, but it wouldn't matter, because there was all the rest of the world to visit." But the taste of marzipan brings her back to a time as a young girl when she had been in love. She realizes she had been to China and that it was more than that, it was paradise. So sitting in a restaurant 20 years later, she remembers what love is.

The story has many more fascinating themes in it concerning religion and nature and death. But the one section where Mary finds love again really struck me.

On a somewhat similar note, I've been reading a lot on Buddhism lately. The religion (philosophy?) is truly fascinating. Albert Einstein said: "The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal god and avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual and a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs, it would be Buddhism."

I'm just doing my homework right now. But so far, it's been a very fulfilling research project of mine. Too much to get into in one diary entry, but if you're interests are piqued, try these sites:

the Essentials of Buddhism Buddha Net Anything written by Thich Nhat Hanh

And in the fiction arena, I've started Lonesome Dove. It's excellent so far and I'm only a few chapters into it.