birdbrains

Have you ever noticed that people with bird feeders hate squirrels? Cuddly, beautiful, smart little animals. But they prefer the flashy and noisy birds. They loathe squirrels.

What’s to like about Virginia? I should give it that side of the story. Well, it’s hot and damp. The plants and animals enjoy the heck out of that. Verdant, green, growing, full of life. Cardinals, robins, chipmunks, raccoons. Fireflies! Those are pretty.

And there’s the hills. I don’t really appreciate the combination of hills and high humidity, but I’m getting incredible exercise out of my daily walks. A mile here is worth three anywhere else, if you want to be in good shape. I actually ran part of the way, yesterday. Not for long, no. But the idea would have been improbable a month ago.

Went past a lady on the way to the store. She said, “You’re harrassing me! White men are always harrassing me! I’ve talked to my neighbors!” …was she talking on the phone? No, she meant me. I kept moving. “I won’t put up with it! You’ve got to stop this!” …right, lady. Whatever.

Welcome to the dismal state

Virginia.

A thing I liked about Arizona was, almost every day, you could count on being greeted by a wide, blue, sunny sky.

This week’s outlook is good, in Virginia. Partly sunny, Cloudy, Thunderstorm, Showers, Thunderstorms. You can count on being greeted by a small gray haze in what, in other parts of the world, would be a sky.

Sigh…

Sunny day chasin’ our cares away

They say- and they’ve lied before- but they say it will get up to 78F today. Almost like real weather. Going to see if I can’t absorb some of this misty vapor they call sunshine out here.

All hail the sun god
sure is a fun god
Ra! Ra! Ra!

The Soviet Experience of the Community College

In order to make myself more generally marketable in my field, I am attempting to take some courses at my local community college. It is turning out to be somewhat of a surreal experience. They are noticeably less efficient than the local DMV, and it is often quite a guessing game as to what they have in mind.

To apply to this college, you must enter an application by computer. This application then must be printed out and taken to the college administrative office which, after making you wait indefinitely for a clerk, will ignore the mandatory print-out and go directly to the computer application. In the event that there is any error in the application, you must fill out a new one at the computer, and print it out, and get back in line.

sunshine like weak tea

The sun came out today, for a wonder. It’s been very shy for the last few weeks. It must be said that the pale thing that constitutes sunlight, in Virginia, is more of a tease than a thirst-slaker, but I’ll take anything right now. Light! Let there be light!

The haruspex alleges that tomorrow will not only be sunny but, indeed, will get up to a raucous and wild 75F. Saints preserve us.

My latest find in deviled eggs is a James Beard recipe. “Mexican” deviled eggs, he says. To my tastes, they could use rather more jalapeños, and I’m using the last of my good Mexican jalapeños here… the original recipe must have been extremely bland. I’ll see if I can’t tweak the recipe a bit. I’ve already added onions, which was The Right Thing. I’ll post a recipe when it does more than just hint that it ought to be wonderful.

The spring was gray and everlasting

Well, pardon me, but this is no Phoenix. It’s chilly and raining again. The region is thinking of Spring but, not with any great focus or enthusiasm.

The equally dismal economy is, for a wonder, actually affecting me for once. My career specialties are a bit obscure and, to some extent, dated. I’ll be taking classes to brush up a bit.

A significant portion of the available jobs requires SQL, a tedious and powerful (indeed, powerfully tedious) database management language, so that will be a useful emergency option to have at my disposal. Filthy business, though. Database programming smells of mildew and mothballs. It degrades the soul.

In the meantime, it’s all about eBay sales and small-time consulting contracts. It’s a living. Sort of. Barely.

Actors: they’re acting. And the smoking thing.

A basic truth, isn’t it? Actors are playing a part. Probably, it really shouldn’t matter, but I find myself really disenchanted from a show when it turns out that the actor is a complete asshole or, perhaps he’s playing a genius on TV but turns out to need to buy a vowel to fill in the word “d_h”. I’m not going to name any names. Enjoy your fantasies.

Rambling man

Saw my favorite green-eyed boy today. Of course, he’s actually the only green-eyed boy I’ve ever seen. Startling eyes. It’s not the weird green from tinted contacts, it’s a kind of sea-green that makes me think of romping half-naked on beaches. Well, that amongst the more printable notions.

Philip Jose Farmer has died. Probably, you’ve never heard of him. He was a bad hack science fiction writer, some decades back, who actually managed to win a writing award, for reasons that may never become clear. It’s not customary to speak ill of the dead but, honestly, what does he care? He’s dead. And he was a terrible writer, and slavishly derivative. Boot to the head!

I’ve been experimenting with Fritos a bit, lately. Corn chips with a long list of additives and, allegedly, different flavors. Well, the flavors do differ a bit, although you’d be hard-pressed to discover why by reading the ingredients list. Chili/cheese flavor? Well, there’s plenty of cheese in all Fritos, but there isn’t any mention of chili in the ingredients. Spicy hot? Odd, there are no spices in the ingredients list, although these will rasp the back of your throat. Basically, you’re looking at salt and MSG on a corn and oil base, with any of these chips, plus some mystery ingredients labeled as “natural flavoring”.

The moon is a silver smile

…a bit lopsided, but one can forgive that. It has reason. Still, a curious crescent tonight. I don’t recall seeing it that way before.

Requiem for a fine umbrella

It’s cold and wet in Phoenix, this evening. It’s been raining, off and on, for the better part of a week, now. I’m not that fond of the wet, or the severe gray skies, but I don’t mind it so much, here. This is not a land that makes a habit of dampness.

Went out in my jacket, carrying my favorite umbrella. It’s modestly embarrassing to carry an umbrella, here. Few indeed are the people you’ll meet who are doing the same. They’re cold and wet, this evening. Not my fault, but I feel slightly guilty with my disproportionate fortune at actually owning a rain shield. Don’t know why they don’t buy umbrellas, actually, it’s just not such a Phoenix phenomenon.