2008 — 1 December: Monday — (frozen) rabbits!
We've been trying to work out a walk that doesn't involve drowning in a muddy bog. Report to follow, no doubt. Meanwhile, it's a little after midnight and time for tonight's picture of Christa — I took it in May 1975 in Penn at my parent's house. Both John and his brother-in-law David were also in the shot but (given what they were wearing) I'll save that for another day — this shot is thus 32 years earlier than yesterday's:
As ever, just look at that wonderful smile!
G'night, at 00:33 or so. Though — it turns out — sleep eluded me until well after 02:00 <Sigh>
Still, at least it's sunny...
... as I bestir, as it were, at 09:18 or so. Time ticks along. Breakfast beckons, as does a cuppa and the packing of a lunch.1 I think today's will be a lamb sandwich and some fruit.
Safely back after a delightful 5 and a bit miles under sunny blue skies, though it was rather chilly. Both my web and email servers seem very sluggish. Not much I can do to kick machines that live in Texas, of course. Oh well, time (14:02) for a cuppa and gentle contemplation of my next activity! Which won't be worrying about pension benefits in excess of the Standard Lifetime Allowance that a snailmail from IBM is wittering on about. Funnily enough, I fall quite a few pence short of the £1.50 million limit.
This chap has been sending me invitations to spend vast amounts of money2 for many years, since I bought one of his fat, deliciously-illustrated, catalogues in the early 1990s. Coming up is some artwork from the first Dan Dare story — £9,500! — if only dear Mama hadn't thrown my precious horde of such trash out, maybe I'd be a bit nearer that mysterious SLA?
And CS Lewis's Perelandra as an opera, music by Donald Swann? Crikey! Amazing what you can glean from the ever-reliable Ansible. Including this! Let alone this!!!
Upon reflection...
I was trying (with Mike's camera) to go for an Escher-type3 effect:
New Forest pool, December 2008
Upon reflection(!) I need a polarising filter, methinks.
Moonless night in the small town, starless and bible-black...
... having pacified that relentless inner man for the time being, I just (17:58) nipped out and around the house with my trusty camera, on the lookout for the moon, which has (I gather) just passed in front of Venus and which is also in close visual proximity to Jupiter. No chance with the current cloud cover, I fear, and it's too damn' cold to stay out there for long in my slippers! Back to the simple pleasures.
Right! I've sorted and labelled the easy minidiscs and updated my database accordingly. Now I'm moving on to the uneasy ones. I must say, I'm just as much of an acquisitive squirrel as Christa ever was. Still, I'm listening to some amazing stuff. Tom Lehrer at the moment, for example. But Time's ticking on — it's 20:44 somehow.
Oh, rats! I've just cracked off the side of a tooth. I think I know where I'll be going in the near future — again. <Sigh> I've also given up on what was described as the unseen "treasure trove" of old Bernard Braden filmed interviews from the late 1960s. There's just no pleasing some folk, is there?
