2/23/2021: Up at 6 AM, after
many dreams. Prayers and Bible. Cartoons
and caught up diary. Now take medicine. Took with a moon pie.
A little before 8 AM went
out to wait. Started to bring the recycle bin in, but just at that moment the trashmen
drove up and Andy came down the driveway. He waited and took the trash bins up,
then Kam came out. Waited with Kam for bus, then finally took the recycle bin
in.
At 9 AM I went to FD and got
a few things like paper towels, chicken soup, peach slices, and Vitamin C
gummies. Cleaned up, swept, opened the house, then started listening to Corey
Olsen on YT from the beginning of his analysis of LOTR. Made an order for HEB
and Thursday.
At 1 PM I went out and
collected Kam and had a turkey and cheese sandwich. About 3 PM I started on the
cabbage fry. Finished at 4:30 PM. Kam helped me and talked much about his
philological studies; the boy does have a flair for comparing words and figuring
out their relationships. If only we could turn that into some career!
At 7 PM I went in to clean
up and made Kam liverwurst and cream cheese sandwiches for his supper. S&A
came home, and Susan cautioned me about the sparsity of bread we had. I should
have bought a loaf at FD! Rosary at 8 PM.
Spent the evening writing a
post for NOT and then a few pages for Autumn Festival, which I then sent to
John. It’s now almost 10 PM and reading (Russian fairy tales) and bedtime
approach.
2/24/2021: Where is the year
going? Almost a sixth gone already. Up at 5 AM and knew I wasn’t sleeping
anymore, so watched Dragnet, and wouldn’t you know it, it was one of the
few I’d actually seen. “My Three Sons” on now, which I can only
tolerate. Put on my shoes and began prayers, then Bible.
Cartoons, Campbell’s Chicken
Noodle Soup with Ritz Crackers, medicine, then wrote a short bridge between Yad
and the Harvest Feast section. It’s now 7:26 AM.
Writing and researching on
McQueeney School, then posting. It’s now 9:05 AM. Posted it, then laid down for
a while. Up about 11:45 AM, started listening to Corey Olsen Ep. 5 a little
after 12.
Kam came home a little after
1 PM as usual. I was getting ready to make stuffed peppers when Andy called me
and said they wanted lasagna and bread sticks tonight. Put those in the oven
about 3 PM and they were ready at 4:50 PM. The plumber came over later and
worked on the washer and the sink. I finally went in at about 8:30 PM (after he
was finally done) and got my share of lasagna and washed up. I listened to more
Olsen, then stopped at 9:30 PM or so. Time for rosary, then bed. Legs still
giving me the pip, the right leg now more so.
2/25/2021: Up at 6:10 AM or
so; that seems to be my default time for now. Prayers and Bible. Shower and
cartoons. Went out with Kam at 8 AM, to a light misty precipitation. After
Susan left, I headed out to FD; got masking tape, a belt of many holes, a
2-liter Diet Coke, some Spam, hot dog buns, some chips and dip, and a Tijuana
Mama hot sausage. Got home, started listening to Corey Olsen, the “Tolkien
Professor”, and ate Spam dogs and chips and dip while drinking soda. Energized,
I began working on the window, taping it up, throwing away the shredded
curtain, sweeping up a couple of cupfuls of caterpillars, and moving the
medieval flag to cover the window. It
gives the house a new feel, airier, especially around the kitchen.
At 1 PM went out and let Kam
in and started preparing the stuffed bell peppers. Went in about 2 PM, then
went out at 3 PM to pop everything into the oven. The groceries arrived about
3:15 PM. Took them to my house, then waited until 4:15 PM, when I sauced the
peppers and fed the pets. At 4:45 PM finished cooking and took my meal out.
Gave S&A some Vitamin C gummies. 5:04 PM and time to eat.
Went in at 5:30 PM and told
Susan about the groceries Kam had brought home. She said Andy would be a little
late. More listening to TP (Tolkien Professor – Corey Olsen LOTRO) and dipping
into METV until 8:20 PM when I went in to wash up. Bed about 9:30 PM.
2/26/2021: Woke up about 3
AM and knew I was awake. Prayers and Bible.
Caught up diary. Set alarm clock. Mean to do a few chores like
straighten the kitchen drawer and maybe I’ll get sleepy again. With all the
preliminaries done perhaps I’ll be able to dedicate myself to finishing AF
today. Wrote and posted on NOT about my first day of school. Now 4:30 AM and
ready to try to sleep.
Up at 6 AM and watched
cartoons. At 7 AM I made ramen (with onions and bell pepper from yesterday),
wrote notes for the end of AF, took medicine.
Went out a little before 8
AM and talked to Andy briefly about getting the stuff for a cake for Susan’s
birthday (March 2). Waited with Kam for bus, then went in. Ordered cake making
stuff, egg rolls, and Big Red from HEB. Listened to TP and ate deviled ham with
ritz crackers. It’s now 9:40 AM and I think I may lay down a while. Still can’t
get over how different the house looks with just a few changes of window
arrangements. I’ve radically moved the furniture several times without this
effect.
My HEB order arrived about
10 minutes before Kam was home at 1:15 PM. Started frying taters at 2 PM and
was only finished about 7 PM. Andy called about 3 PM to make squash. Went in
about 4 PM to start the fish and squash. Fish done by 4:45 PM. Took S&A’s
taters in at 5:45 PM. Checked my Covid-19 card and seen my second shot is on
March 5. Washed up a little after 7:20 PM. Rosary at 8 PM. Now 9 PM and I feel
ready to hit the hay. I’ve put off writing (real writing) on AF.
2/27/2021: Woke up a little
after 7 AM, in time to miss the Popeye cartoons and I didn’t care to watch MGM
cartoons. Prayers and Bible. Ate peaches, then chicken noodle soup with Ritz
crackers. Spent much time with the “First Grade Reading List” and was surprised
to find I could find pictures of most of them, and especially delighted to find
the one with “The Straw Ox”. Made some spring rolls. More listening to LOTRO,
then Andy brought me a couple of tacos. Laid down for a nap about 11 AM.
Up sometime in the
midafternoon, continued TP LOTRO. Able to write 3 paragraphs of AF. More spring
rolls. Took some trash out. The day is overcast but warm, and rather windy.
It’s now 4 PM.
It’s now 11:30 PM. I’ve been
watching a show given by the Signum University on FB for children, about “The
Hobbit”. It covers two chapters per hour. I’ve had no supper per se but
I’ve been sipping Big Red Zero and eating prunes. Although the day has been
warm, I have felt shivery, so at sunset I closed the windows and put the heater
on, although it will be about 60 degrees all night. The internet connection
just went off, so I am starting my rosary. My legs are hurting, and I am just
out of my metformin, so I am pondering if I will go to church tomorrow or not.
I’ve set my clock for 6 AM anyway, so we’ll see how I feel in the morning.
Well. It’s 2 AM now and I’ve
finished the series. I don’t really feel sleepy and my right leg hurts like the
billy-o.
2/28/2021: Awake again about
6:30 AM. Leg a little better, but not much. Prayers and read the readings for
the day out of the missalette. For breakfast had liverwurst and cream cheese on
Ritz crackers. Watched some Phineas and Ferb and Duck Tales.
Listened to more LOTR TP. At 1 PM Andy brought out some leftovers. Made some
spaghetti using chopped spinach and mushrooms. Wrote a few paragraphs on AF and
then reread PWOGR [The Peculiar Wooing of General Roth], which I was more
impressed with than I remembered. Laid down for a nap then up again about 4 PM.
Took out some recycling. Day warm but looks like rain clouds gathering.
I settled down, put on my
sweater because I was shivering and plugged in the heater. I started my rosary,
then Andy brought me the ends of some burritos. Ate, finished rosary, then
looked at some Sunday animations. Meh. Can I sleep?
3/1/2021: After a night of
pain and intermittent sleep, I was up about 5:45 AM. Prayers, getting dressed,
cartoons. At 7:30 AM took my wash out and started it, then at 8 AM stood with
Kam waiting for the bus. The weather is windy and cold and overcast, but no
rain as such. Listening to more of LOTRO TP and briefly slept. At 9:20 AM went
in and boiled eggs and changed wash. Made a liverwurst and cream cheese
sandwich and got a jug of water. Now almost 10:30 AM. Got clothes in and
listened to GGACP.
Went in about 12:30 PM and
made cucumber salad, then Kam came home. More LOTRO TP. Went in at 4 PM and
made couscous and fish. More LOTRO. In about 7:45 PM and washed up and made
Kam’s supper. Raccoon on porch. Now 8:25 PM. Rosary. Bed about 10 PM.
3/2/2012: Susan’s Birthday.
Awake at 6 AM. Prayers. Cartoons. Ordered medicine from HEB. Had soup with
leftover couscous. Over at 8 AM to wait with Kameron for the bus. Weather clear
and sunny, but a bit windy/cool. Went at 9 AM to buy butter and a birthday card
from FD and ended up also getting Easter candy. Home and baked the pineapple
upside-down cake for Susan’s birthday and made out the card. Back in and
listening to LOTRO TP and had 2 cans of ravioli. Ready at 1 PM to let Kam in.
Went in about 3 PM to peel
carrots and potatoes and cut onions and lettuce (no mushrooms this week). Put
sausages in the oven. About 4 PM the exterminator turns up, then Andy, and they
do that, penning the dogs up. I go in about 4:30 PM, eating my supper. A little
before 7 PM Andy comes in to get me, and I go in and we sing Happy Birthday and
we have cake. A pleasant little interlude altogether. S tells me KT&R are
coming tomorrow. I clean up early, then spend much of the evening with LOTRO TP
(we have finally got to Bree) and waiting for Kam to call for his supper, which
he never does. Rosary, then fall asleep.
Notes
Susan's birthday, coming as it does at the beginning of the month, always kind of surprises me. And February, short as it is, seems to make for short entries.
The Allegory of Love - A
Study in Medieval Tradition Paperback – January 1, 1963
by C.
S. Lewis (Author)
Love is the commonest theme
of serious imaginative literature and is still generally regarded as noble and
ennobling passion. Love has not always taken such precedence, however, and it
was in fact not until the eleventh century that French poets first began to
express the romantic species of passion which English poets were still writing
about in the nineteenth century. This book is intended for students of medieval
literature from A-level upwards. Anyone interested in the "Courtly
Love" tradition. Fans of C.S. Lewis's writings. – Amazon
I’ve had a copy of this for
donkey’s years: badly marked up and with a cracked spine. The copy I got yesterday
was just as old, and except for some fading on the cover is almost pristine.
The vagaries of time, eh? I guess I can retire the ‘old’ one.
The Golden Ass: The
Transformations of Lucius (FSG Classics) Paperback – March 31, 2009
by Apuleius (Author), Robert
Graves (Translator)
The story of The
Golden Ass is that of Lucius Apuleius, a young man of good birth who
encountered many strange adventures while disporting himself along the roads to
Thessaly. Not the least of these occurred when Apuleius offended a priestess of
the White Goddess, who turned him into an ass. The tale of how Apuleius dealt
with this misfortune and eventually resumed human form is conveyed by Robert
Graves in modern English that is infused with a bawdy wit and sense of
adventure that is "itself a small masterpiece of twentieth-century
prose" (Kenneth Rexroth, Saturday Review). - Amazon
I have an unwieldy copy of
this. The fact that this was a Robert Graves translation really drove the sale.
The Crystal Cave by Mary
Stewart (Author)
Born the bastard son of a
Welsh princess, Myridden Emrys -- or as he would later be known, Merlin --
leads a perilous childhood, haunted by portents and visions. But destiny has
great plans for this no-man's-son, taking him from prophesying before the High
King Vortigern to the crowning of Uther Pendragon . . . and the conception of
Arthur -- king for once and always. – Amazon
Getting a hardback copy that
looks exactly like the copy I read back in middle school is great. Should be
easier (certainly more nostalgic) to read than in my aging paperback.
The Dilbert Future: Thriving
on Business Stupidity in the 21st Century
by Scott
Adams (Author)
Step aside, Bill Gates! Here
comes today′s real technology guru and his totally original, laugh-out-loud New
York Times bestseller that looks at the approaching new millennium and boldly
predicts: more stupidity ahead.
In The Dilbert Principle
and Dogbert′s Top Secret Management Handbook, Scott Adams skewered the
absurdities of the corporate world. Now he takes the next logical step, turning
his keen analytical focus on how human greed, stupidity and horniness will
shape the future. Featuring the same irresistible amalgam of essays and cartoons
that made Adams previous works so singularly entertaining, this uproariously
funny, dead-on-target tome offers half-truthful, half-farcical predictions that
push all of today′s hot buttons - from business and technology to society and
government.
Children - they are our
future, so we′re pretty much hosed. Tip: Grab what you can while they′re still
too little to stop us.
Human Potential - we′ll
finally learn to use the 90 percent of the brain we don′t use today, and find
out that there wasn′t anything in that part.
Computers - Technology and
homeliness will combine to form a powerful type of birth control. – Amazon
With the recent passing of Scott
Adams, I’ve become more keenly aware of the need to sip deeply from the coffee
cup of knowledge, and since we have no longer the living fount, we at least
have in his books "the precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed
and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life", as it were. There is
an AI version of the man online which John tells me is good, but I’m still a
little suspicious that extraneous content might start leaking in. I’m stodgy
enough to trust books more for now.
Walt Kelly's Pogo Revisited:
Instant Pogo / The Jack Acid Society Black Book / The Pogo Poop
Book Paperback – June 25, 1974
by Walt
Kelly (Author)
The cartoon antics of Pogo
the Possum and his friends in Okefenokee provide a witty and satirical view of
American politics, morality, social values, and behavior. -Amazon
Now this, this is probably
the jewel in the crown of our day’s harvesting. Pogo books were hard to come by
in the days of our youth, and only got scarcer and harder to obtain as the
years went by. To actually get an old volume (and in very good shape, too) for
so little seems nothing short of a miracle. Jack Acid and Poop? You sly old
dog, Mr. Kelly!
The Works of Josephus Hardcover – Unabridged
by Flavius
Josephus (Author), William
Whiston (Translator)
Josephus’s writings on
ancient Jewish thought, background, and history are now more accessible than
ever!
This renowned reference book has served scholars, pastors, students, and those
interested in the background of the New Testament for years. The insight given
into the Essene community, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the
interpretations and traditions of the Old Testament in first century Judaism is
invaluable. The outlook of Josephus, a late-first-century Pharisee and
historian, on Jesus and the New Testament documents is enlightening and
provocative. As an original reference, The Works of Josephus is
essential to a full understanding of the first century, the time of Christ, and
the New Testament. - Amazon
I’ve been wanting to get a
volume of Josephus for a long time but have never found one for the right price
(practically nil). To have all his work, in hardback, in one book – amazing.
Sure, it’s in teeny-tiny eye-strain-o-vision, but nobody’s perfect. It’s a
handy and intriguing doorstopper from the Ancient World.
Dilbert Gives You the
Business (Paperback – January 1, 1999)
by Scott
Adams (Author)
Dilbert in ... business!!?? –
Amazon’s succinct review. A collection of business and office-themed comic
strips, arranged by category, from Bosses to Teamwork.
Riddle of Stars (The Quest
of the Riddle-Master Trilogy) Hardcover – October 1, 1979
Issued by the Science
Fiction Book Club in October 1979. Collects the three books in the trilogy for
the first time; The Riddle-Master of Hed (1976), Heir of Sea and Fire
(1977) and Harpist in the Wind (1979). With an essay, "People and
Places" by the author. - Amazon
I sold my old copy a few
years back, but to find one in library binding, to have all three books in one
cover (I have them in separate paperbacks), well I found that suddenly
irresistible. I passed it by the last time we went; if it had been gone that
would have been that. But to be presented with a second bite at the apple! I
also have the lame excuse that it would make a good loner copy.
So we went to the Second Chance Bookstore near Geronimo before we had Movie Night (it was Network (1975), a film I had never seen, but one of John’s favorites) yesterday, and this time Kameron was with us. So I found these books, and I bought Kameron 4, and since John only found 1 we added it to the pile for ease of ringing up. To remind you of the deal, books here are sold by weight, $2 for every pound. The total was a tad over $32, so about 16 pounds of books. You can hardly order one new book for under $32. A steal of a deal! As I explained to Kameron, you can’t go in hoping to find one expected book; the joys of the place are the unexpected windfalls and the thrill of the hunt.
