the daily swim missed for 2 days

The weather stopped me yesterday and grumpiness stopped me today. Grumpiness edged with tiredness and the morning beginning with a dead rat at the end of the bed which didn't augur well for the rest of the day. Ah well, there's tomorrow.

Day 17 - Two for One

Looks like my computer is cooperating with me today.

First yesterday's, then today's.

Mitzi and the Dap Kings

Today I ran a sweaty 3.3k's down in the gym. I always start with the setting on a difficult "incline" (the ramp-thing is tilted at a hill angle); then as the jog gets more challenging I lower the level until I am running on a less gruelling angle.

Something keeping me going with the sweat-fest, other than being able to fit into my favourite local designer's clothes, is being able to report back. I freely admit that the ritual of exercise includes a little ... I wouldn't say bragging, but definitely validation. The need to clock on and off is a timeless human impulse.

Today I listened to Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, on a podcasted live concert from Newport Jazz (or Folk?) festival. The woman is a tiny dynamo, I saw her once here in Sydney. Her voice is rich in feeling and she clearly loves the chance to get an audience on their feet and grooving. Her song "100 Days, 100 Nights" is a total, hands down smash hit and the rest of her music is bloody great.

Late nite

At 12 my internet is unblocked and I can surf again. And it's not even always exclusively for porn.


Today, a new expository device: the embarrassingly talkative comedy character.

Act I

Scene 3

Lights up, Andrew's room. Andrew, Sarah, the Master. The Master is about 10 years older than Andrew. White hair. Distinguished. Softly commanding.

THE MASTER: So how are the young men?

SARAH: Fine, I think. Hard to tell with teenagers. Saul's growing up very nicely, I think…. Jacob's fifteen.

ANDREW: He's very into biology.

THE MASTER: We all were at that age!

ANDREW: He takes after his father.

Old friends, bad jokes.

MASTER: I recall. Of them both: You met on campus, didn't you?

ANDREW: We were friends.

MASTER: You and … er … Sean. My little eagles! Sarah is not a little eagle. And you've done well. How's the lab? Grant-getting hell? I'm out of that now. I just make occasional speeches. The higher up you get, the stupider they think you must be. I saw you got the European framework money. We tried for that, but.... We should have you here!

SARAH: It would be wonderful.

MASTER: And the – you do English. The English department is very strong.

SARAH: Well, that's why Saul applied. I think he's going to –

MASTER: And you can't beat the research atmosphere – Saul. Where is he?

ANDREW: I think he's changing.

MASTER: There's someone out there. Is that – oh no, he's having a cigarette.

Sarah rushes to the window. Not Andrew.

SARAH: It's Jacob.

ANDREW: Jacob? He rushes to the window.

SARAH: What, Saul does? Andrew shrugs. You have to tell me –

MASTER: Skulking in the bushes. Machiavellian intelligence. But he hasn't realised that smoke goes upward. Oh, he's been joined by someone. Does your boy have an older male friend?

All stare out of window. Should the window be facing the audience so they can face it as they look out? Seems weird though.

SARAH: That's Sean.

MASTER: You think? What a coincidence.

ANDREW: It can't be.

SARAH: It's him. They stop looking out of the window and look at each other.

MASTER oblivious: It can't be. He's in a monastery. They seem to have a lot to say to each other. Well, two biologists. You were all friends together, weren't you? Who knew each other first? Shall I call them up? No. They'd be embarrassed. Oh, they're coming up.

Different kinds of preparation.

Sean and Jacob enter.

Beat.

Who will introduce who?

JACOB: You must be the Master. I'm Jacob. This is Sean.

MASTER: I'm delighted to meet a fellow biologist. Call me John. Later when you're here you can call me the Master. If you get in. Sean. Handshake.

JACOB: Dad, Mum, I think you know Sean.

ANDREW: I can't believe it. They embrace. That really is a tonsure.

SEAN: It's growing out.

Sean and Sarah shake hands. Jacob watches.

 

I have been cleaning and decluttering all day, while watching three of my neighbors' four kids while their moving truck packs up their belongings to move to Texas (*sob*). I'm going to sit down for a minute, even though my kitchen island is still a mess, so I can take a break and do some photo organization.

I signed up for a trial of Carbonite to solve my backup issues. For $50 a year, it will provide me with an offsite backup of all of my files in case my laptop gets stolen or lost or whatever. Yes, I could do it myself with a USB hard drive, but I've tried that a bunch of times and I have trouble keeping up with it, and I really don't trust it. And if the house burns down, then where am I? Anyway, so Carbonite is uploading my 125GB of files right now. It should only take about 30 days. Ha!

En el que obtener ayuda gratuita ...

Mi estudiante estuvo tarde hoy porque ella (y su maestra de su clase de la mañana) fueron caminando al recinto olímpico.

Quiero ir. 

Creo que será interesante de ver las cosas ahora y luego otra vez en un año cuando vayamos  a la inauguración de la ceremoniero. Oh, ¿le he dicho que tenemos las entradas para la inauguración de la ceremoniero? ¡Qué suerte!.

--------------------------

Una de las señoras de la limpieza aquí en la escuela, que me encanta – practico hablar español con ella un poco cada día, ella debe enseñar – acaba de llegar a mi clase y vio que yo estaba escribiendo en español.

Ella corregido por completo mi trabajo (muy útil) y ahora ella quiere hacerme unas cócteles de Perú para mi cumpleaños.

¡Fantástico!

Day 16

And now my computer doesn't want to read my cell phone memory card.  I'm too annoyed to mess around with it anymore.

Photo snapped for the day, mission accomplished, but it won't be posted here.  We'll try again tomorrow.

--kathi