November 2007

The Archives

Portland
Just wait five minutes
11.28.07 | Permalink | 1 Comment

Last week the weather turned cold. By cold I mean the mercury dipped below freezing in the middle of the night a few times. Last weekend was sunny but chilly, with whipping winds to make me grumble as I raked leaves. Then it began to rain again, so I cursed under my breath as I […]
Dogs, Music
Silver bells hangin’ on a string
11.26.07 | Permalink | Comment?

We had a house guest this Thanksgiving weekend just past — Camas, a husky-mix with one blue eye and one brown eye. Camas is a nice dog with a dumb name. Camas does not like other dogs much, so when his owners want to board him, he stays with us instead of at the dog […]
Politics
Across The River
11.20.07 | Permalink | Comment?

As a life-long Democrat who has felt in recent years as if his party has moved away from him, not the other way ’round, I currently find my electoral choices greatly curtailed. I have far too many policy differences to switch allegiance to the GOP, and yet the candidates offered to me by the Dems […]
Books
N.B.A.
11.16.07 | Permalink | Comment?

I see that Sherman Alexie has won a National Book Award this year. Good on him; it’s absurd but I feel a personal pride when a writer whose work I really like wins a major award. I suppose it’s the same feeling that comes from backing a winning horse, minus the payout and the years of […]
Walks with the dogs
The culprit used to jam and rock the mike, yo
11.10.07 | Permalink | 1 Comment

The other evening I led the dogs along a tricky part of a dark sidewalk along Burnside. A young lady in a car shouted, “Your dog is possessed!” as she passed. Well, thanks, but which one? Some people don’t know how to give advice. Or perhaps she is some obscure breed of troublemaker given to shouting weirdness at random passersby, then searching the intertubes for evidence that someone has posted about their provocations. In which case I have fallen into a trap and human free will must be re-examined.
Writing
Finif
11.06.07 | Permalink | Comment?

In which I receive $5 for writing an “abstract” of a Washington Post column. In my high school days we might have called that a précis. Either way, you too could earn a half-sawbuck or several, and I will introduce you to the opportunity by way of my work: http://www.brijit.com/abstract/6352/The-Globe,-Politically-Corrected. That it was a Geoffrey […]
General, Politics
Fear, Emptiness, Despair
11.06.07 | Permalink | Comment?

My mother-in-law is visiting. It is actually always pleasant to have her stay with us. Yesterday she and Mrs The Fyd spent some time baking and cleaning. The clean kitchen apparently meant that cooking dinner was unthinkable, so take-out from Fujin’s was the order of the day. I requested Mongolian Beef and so made out […]
Dogs, General
The Silence of Her Flatterers
11.02.07 | Permalink | 1 Comment

So I took a closer look at my valuable Canadian Quarter and discovered that the creature depicted thereon appears to be a moose, not an elk. Now I have never seen a moose but people I know who have experience with them invariably describe them as rather rude. Why a national mint would thus choose […]