Day 1042

It was quiet when I woke up this morning. Janet had already left for work and both dogs had returned to the bed after they finished their breakfast. I must have been quite tired last night. I didn't hear any of the normal Monday morning activities. There wasn't much reason to get up early anyway. I've got a couple of projects on deck for tomorrow, but today was very slow.

Since there wasn't anything better to do, I decided to watch the Prometheus DVD I got this weekend. I'll have to say that I was a bit disappointed when the whole thing turned out to be sort of a prequel to the Alien series of films. I would think that there will be a sequel to this film as well. Everything is left pretty open ended with the one surviving character sailing off to continue her quest in a recovered alien spacecraft.

Even though I tried, I couldn't kill the entire day doing nothing. I answered the weekend's e-mail messages, did some minor website revisions for one of my clients, and did a little research for tomorrow's projects. This week could actually turn out to be a busy one.

Now that I've been looking at the park with a critical eye for over a year with my camera, I've noticed that plants aren't the only things that follow seasonal cycles. Not only are the trees starting to turn color at exactly the same time as they did last year, the animals are starting to behave the same way as well. The squirrels have started gathering nuts for the winter again and are much easier to photograph. When these squirrels are focused on a nut, even the dogs don't distract them. Huge flocks of starlings are beginning to roost in trees again every evening around sunset. The only thing that has changed since last year, was that a year ago I thought these birds were crows. I'm not exactly James Audubon, but I do learn a few things here and there.

Like many of you, I will watch the final presidential debate this evening. I don't expect to learn anything new. One side will be saying bin Laden, bin Laden, bin Laden, while the other side will be saying bin Ghazi, bin Ghazi, bin Ghazi. Maybe they'll be some talk about China as well. China is really the elephant in the room when it comes to world affairs. Nobody seems happy that China makes all our stuff and owns most of our debt. I don't know what any politician can do about the situation though. Politicians don't understand the nature of a Pandora's Box. Once you open the box, you can't close it again.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1041

Sunday is cleaning day at our house. The floors get cleaned. The cars get cleaned. Even the dogs get cleaned. Although I could daydream in the shower until the hot water runs out, the dogs don't share my sentiments about getting clean. Dot and Dash both hate getting a bath. When we pull up in front of Vheas LaundroMutt, Dot glues herself to the back seat of the car and won't come out. It's quite an effort to get her out of the car, because she's gotten quite good at turning herself into an immovable object. Dash doesn't resist going into the bathing tubs, he just howls the entire time the water is running. Despite all the protesting, the dogs seem to enjoy being cleaner. They don't scratch as much and at least for a little while, their coats feel silky smooth.

I thought I had finished mowing the grass for the season, but our Indian Summer weather has caused the grass in the front yard to start growing again. The grass in the back yard would probably be growing too, if there was any grass. Maybe I ought to thank the armadillo for cutting my mowing chores in half. I can't imagine the warm weather staying around that much longer. Maybe this will finally be the last time I have to get the lawn mower out for the season.

I bought a DVD of that science fiction movie Prometheus when I was shopping this weekend. If you remember, this Ridley Scott film was finally going to get me back into a movie theater again. It didn't. Maybe nothing will ever get me back in a theater again. Movies look pretty darn good on a big flat screen in your house. I've gotten to the point where I just don't like dealing with crowds anymore.

It wasn't always this way. I used to love going to concerts. Crowd certainly didn't bother me when I saw The Who, Bruce Springsteen, Aerosmith, and the Stones. Of course, this was some time ago. Keith Moon was still playing drums when I saw The Who. Liv Tyler wasn't even born yet when I saw Aerosmith. Springsteen wasn't playing stadiums shows when I saw him. I think the theater in Seattle where I saw that concert only seated 3,000 people. I think the last live concert I saw was on August 20, 1983 when Simon & Garfunkel came to Dallas during their reunion tour. That was a good show.

Now, I just watch British comedies on PBS with the dogs. We like Reggie Perrin, Black Books, and Outnumbered. I think I've seen enough of Are You Being Served, however. I'm pretty sure that's what's on later tonight.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 917 - My Birthday

"Will you still need me, will you still feed me when I'm 64?" When I first heard these lyrics during the Sergeant Pepper summer of 67, I never dreamed I'd eventually be 64 myself. It was simply impossible. I was playing in a band at the time and thought I was ageless. My feelings of being impervious to age lasted a long, long time. I soon entered the world of advertising where youth is almost a prerequisite. When I was a 26 year old creative director, we used to wonder where they put the 40 somethings out to pasture. There simply weren't any old people in ad agency creative departments back then. Maybe there still aren't. At any rate, it should come as no surprise that I've always been reluctant to reveal my age. I have always looked younger than I am and have used this to my advantage for many years.

I think the jig is up, unfortunately. When you wake up feeling 70, it's hard to pretend you're 40 anymore. In the inner recesses of my mind, I may still be 18, but my body begs to differ. What a compendium of aches and pains I have become. There is a pill for every perceived problem, but I'm not really fond of pills. I think its actually the dogs that have kept me alive. I walk Dot and Dash five miles each and every day. Dalmatians are very strong and active animals. The daily exercise keeps the dogs happy and helps keep me in much better shape than I would be otherwise. As an added benefit, everything else I do during the day seems easy by comparison.

I was thinking of going to a daytime movie as a birthday treat. Janet doesn't really like science fiction and it would be nice to see Ridley Scott's new Prometheus prequel on a big screen. I should have known better. By the time I finished the day's writing and website work, a movie was out of the question. As usual, when the work is finished, the day is usually over. I heated up a pizza in the microwave and treated myself to the remaining Shiner beer in the refrigerator. When Janet came home from work later in the evening, she brought Sprinkles Cupcakes with her and we had a little party. All in all, it was a good day to turn 64. Even the stock market was up today.

Ironically, if I had been born one day earlier, I would have shared a birthday with Paul McCartney, who wrote the song I can't help humming today.

Inky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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