Dispatch #16:

"Happy (Belated) Birthday! I'm glad you got the books. Am trying to see how to get more out to you. Apparently there are groups who donate them, so am contacting a couple. Next time I have more $$, will, of course send more. More Twain, maybe. Maybe Thucydides. Have you ever read Moby Dick? I think you'd *love* that. Or Plutarch, even. There's so much out there. Wow.

Rough week this week because the girl cat was very sick. Dealing w/it, though. (More later...please take care!)"

Girl cat's last wish may well be to outlive me. Two can play at that, though. Got some pill pockets, a love glove and some catnip today. Am going to kill the brat with kindness.

***

Didn't take long for her to figure out how to suck off pocket and spit the pill out. We're doomed.

Girl cat is very sick. Through some (in my opinion, extreme) heroics, she's been given another few months. This comes with a price, though: four different medications administered first three times, then twice daily. Girl cat does not like me much. She dislikes me even more when I'm trying to administer pills. She is very stubborn as well, often holding the pills in her mouth and pretending to swallow as many times as she thinks necessary to convince me to let her go. When free, she scuttles across the room and, looking at me all the while, spits the medicine out.

Since she's a serious fighter, I'm scared to death of either breaking her jaw or her neck during these wrestling matches. However, she's no compunction against biting me or scratching me up (even under a towel). I feel seriously out manned here. My hands are poked full of holes where the claws have dug in.

***

A dead French guy once said that, to better understand human nature in action, all one had to do was to observe a couple cats under close quarters. I agree, and will even go so far as to say that one can experience a lot with just one cat under close enough quarters. My struggles with girl cat are, in essence, the distillation of most of my interpersonal relations.

Sorry for the lack of attention lately. Have been really tired and sick; moreso than usual.

Faits Divers:

1.) Another batch of baby floofs showed up with the first sun. The racket!

2.) Paris is due in Boston early next week for the annual Summer exchange.

3.) Foss Park Pool is open! Really want to try it out this year.

Cambridgeport.

On leaving the doctor's office this afternoon, decided to turn in the opposite direction, partly for the sake of adventure, partly to lay up a stock of vitamin D for the upcoming days.



Always loved this sign; am glad that it didn't get torn down as was threatened some time ago. Does it still light up?



Orange Milkweed! The stuff that grows in my yard is a much more staid shade of mauve.



Okay, I'll bite: what the heck is "Educational Fairness?"



His Latin name is Mimus polyglottus, and what a polyglottal mime he was! We heard his impression of a robin, a titmouse, a cardinal, a couple bluejay calls, a catbird, a gull, a red winged blackbird and a flicker. (Those where the calls we could identify, anyway.)



Trash Day tomorrow (Somerville): Found Pavel standing over it, musing. "You know who'd really like this." "Do you want to carry it? If you'd like, I'll carry your groceries. Won't touch that. Oh, and you can't bring it into the house. Has bedbugs or fleas or God knows what written all over it." "Oh, I don't want to touch it. Why don't you just take a picture of it?"

Was very pleased to see that my little brother received the packet of stationery I sent. Sometimes stuff gets sent back if it's determined that he has too much or if something's inappropriate.

Was very happy to hear, too, that he's been reading a lot. Told me that he's reading a lot of mass market fiction (James Patterson, Michael Crichton, etc.). Also said that he's reading something on the Battle of Thermopylae.

Since I can send books directly from a publisher/bookseller and his Birthday's coming up soon, ordered some to be sent a week or so ago. Got him a good translation of the Bible (hey, get past the begats & whatall and it's some pretty good storytelling), a dictionary/thesaurus, a collection of poetry by Longfellow (patriotic spirit took over there), Twain's Roughing It, and a copy of the same translation of Herodotus's Histories as I have. (Cosmic, that last one.) This all ought to keep him busy for a while.

Dispatch #15:

"Happy (belated) Fourth! Hopefully you're doing OK. Here, we've had three days of gorgeous weather (but that's about to change: T-storms tomorrow). Wen up to Salem, MA for the fireworks - really nice. There was also a flyover: something that got canceled in Boston due to rain. Glad you got the designer stationery! Glad you liked the colors! Thanks for clearing the moose/elk thing up for me. I don't think that Ampersand really cared about the potholder. I just added it to my ever growing collection. You take care!"

Fourth of July, Salem, MA

A picture perfect end to what turned out to be a gift of a day:



Anna keeps insisting that her brother's adopted. I'm not convinced.



Flyover! The building in the lower left hand corner is the Salem Custom House, where Nathaniel Hawthorne (who, coincidentally, was born on the Fourth of July) worked for a spell.



Fireworks! Salem really put on a nice show. The moon offset rather than outshowed the rockets.

(More pictures here, in case you're interested.)

Happy Fourth!

A really good (albeit long - 15 min) interview with PJ O'Rourke on the Auto Industry, Regulation, Politicans in General. Enjoy!

Long, tiring week of rain, plaster dust and rather unexpected family guests. The construction work is done (for the moment) and the guests are gone. Got a bit of sun today, and am hoping for more over the course of the weekend.