Nine Brains

After I got home from work today dad made kalla mojakka for supper. It was delicious. Nobody makes fish stew like dad. I watched tv and did some reading. Almost finished with Sharpe's Company. Maybe it's my imagination but the book seems way more epic than the movie. Also, random fact for the day, an octopus has three hearts and nine brains (one for each tentacle). I remember there was this book I had as a kid about an octopus. He was a lab octopus who was released into the wild by a scientist and had to figure out how to live in the ocean. I believe it was called 'I was all thumbs', or something thumbs anyway.

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Progress

Turns out that the Moon's Shadow had some wonky deep philosophical meaning about the trials and tribulations of the main character's struggle to rule and his relationship to his empress. There was even a link to a discussion group in the back of the book. Geez, at least Sharpe's Company is a prety self explanatory title. I think I'd much rather read about trenches and mud and blood and bayonettes than some hidden meaning an author insists on telling you all about at the end anyway. Aside from that though it was an okay book. I went into town with dad today and we got lunch at rainy lake downtown. I wasn't sure about the theme of the place. Life size horse statues mounted upside down to the ceiling, Texas longhorns and antelope, elvis and the blues brothers, crystal chandeliers and lobster traps, wooden skiis, and a variety of signs and posters ranging from anrmy recruitment to the ham's bear. Plus a lot of other stuff I couldn't quite identify. The food was good though. When I got home I wound up bringing a stack of books back inside from the shed. It seemed like such a shame that all the books I loved as a kid should spend the winter out in a cold lonely shed, besides which if I ever finish my unread books I might decide to re-read some of them. I have less than forty books left to read. That's pretty good considering that I started out with over sixty. Sure, most of them are the same ones I've had sitting there since I got back from Scotland but I'm making progress and that's the important bit.

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The Sound of Distant Gunfire

As usual work today was pretty boring. The only excitment was that everyone was supposed to look busy for the surprise inspection everyone seemed to know about. I think the surprising bit was that it never happened. This gal from work followed me home and I let her take the old tv from the shed. They just moved up from Illinois and didn't even have a tv. Speaking of tvs, I wanted to watch Mary poppins but the DVD player didn't have a remote, so I decided to program it into the universal remote. I think I wound up resetting the whole thing because after I googled how to set the DVD player and got that working the tv and the satalite box quit working. I must have spent over and hour trying to get everything working again. I still don't know if I got it right. At least everything turns on and off, I can hit play, pause, and fast forward on the DVD player, and the guide and volume work on the dish and tv. I even found the time to get in a walk with the dog, we didn't go far though because all the gunshots in the distance were a bit unnerving (I suppose it is hunting season, but still).

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More Time For Reading

Night shift yesterday was pretty boring. The only bright side was K. R. stopped by and dropped off my new costume for the ren fest. It's positively terrific. All I need to do is get my ma to hem the cape and sew some buttons on the shirtsleeves. Another plus was that I got home by eleven thirty. That C. sure is good at paperwork. It helped that we didn't have any last minute customers and all the cleaning was done.

Today I've been reading The Moon's Shadow. It's a SiFi thing and I haven't quite figured out what the title is referring to yet, which is odd since I'm almost done with it. I did run into town to deposit my second paycheck but other than that I spent all day reading and watching tv, but mostly reading. I wish I had more time for reading.

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I Better Get Overtime For This

The boss made me stay a whole extra three hours at work today cuz someone couldn't come in till six. I was able to get Friday off so we won't have to leave for the ren fest at midnight but I will have to work nights shift tomorrow. Finished Reading Sharpe's Battle last night but was too tired today to read anything. I watched a few episodes of MacGyver instead. I know none of that stuff works in real life and he has this thing about no guns but I forgive him. MacGyver's great.

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Ely Shopping

Went to Ely yesterday with J. where I probably spent too much money. I think I might be turning into a shopaholic. At least I don't have any credit cards to run up. We watched The Sword in the Stone and Camalot when we got home. Slept in today then went to v-town. Showed J. around the mall and downtown. We got a bite to eat at the Mexican place before J. headed back to the cities and I came home. Dad cooked steak for supper and I finally got a load of laundry washed and in the dryer. Less than seventy pages left to read in Sharpe' Battle. I still don't know how he' going to get out of the mess he's in this time.

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Book vs Movie

Finished reading inkheart. I don't know if I like the book better than the movie or not. Worked night shift last night and again tonight. Actually managed to get home before midnight tonight. J. is coming up tomorrow. She said she wanted to go fishing but it might be raining and I don't know where those rain pants are that go with my rain jacket. I'm reading Sharpe's Battle now. We'll see if I have any time to finish it tomorrow. I still have laundry to do too.

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Two-Hundred and Thirty Pages

It was supposed to be my day off today but my boss called and asked me to come in anyway. How he managed to get through to my cell phone when it was downstairs and said 'no service' is beyond me. I went shopping after work. I know I was mad at target for that apology thing a while back but they're like the only store in town that has reasonably priced stuff I like. Still, I feel bad for breaking my boycott. I buy your stuff but I still hate you target CEO! Or, at least, I still think your apology was insulting and dumb. Anyway, I still have two-hundred and thirty pages of Inkheart left to read. I know I won't finish it tonight but I still feel like giving it a try. I really want to read the next Sharpe book but I'm forcing myself to read at least one different book in between each one, that way I get more read and the sharpe books are like my reward. I'm going to have to order another batch soon. There are twenty in the series and I have thirteen. I can't wait to get them all.

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I Hate Jobs

I've been reading Inkheart since I got home from work today. So far it's not going as fast as I hoped it would. I'm actually more interested in seeing if the story all the characters come out of is real because it seems like that would be much more fun to read. The pilot light in the fireplace stove upstairs is broken so we're going to have to call the stove guy to fix it. I hate having a job. All the irregular hours, stressfull conditions, and lack of sleep are giving me breakouts. Maybe I'm alergic to the face wash. It doesn't seem to be doing any good.

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Next

I finished reading Sharpe's Escape. Bit of an abrupt ending but still good. I didn't get my book caught up with the computer but I did at least get all my poems printed off so all I have to do is cut then out and paste them in the book. I might actually have enough to fill the thing. I suppose that means I'll finally be able to use that second blank book I bought a year and a half ago. Still, now all I need is more time to finish filling this one. And to decide which book I'm going to read next.

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Sheet Music

Work this morning was boring. I picked up a sandwich at subway on th way home. I was listening to a Celtic cd ad there was this neat tinwhistle song on it that I wanted to look up as soon as I got home. I wound up on this funky tinwhistle site I'd never been on before. I didn't find the song I was looking for but I did print off about ten other ones that are just as fun. Dad's printer is now out of ink. Mom's new printer is supposed to be working, the only trouble is that it's hooked up to the old computer which takes like an hour to turn on and like thirty minutes to get anything open and working. She sai it had some kind of wireless option but it wasn't set up yet. I guess I'll have to wait till tomorrow when I actually have time to finish printing all those poems for my book. I like to spread my sheet music out so I need poems for spacers. I haven't written anything new so hopefully by tomorrow night I'll finally have my book all caught up with my computer. I can't seem to find that false prophet poem I wrote though. I know it's in a notebook somewhere, I just don't know which one.

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Shampoo

Icky night shift again yesterday. I hate night shift. Today I went to town with dad and we had lunch at the mexican place downtown. Stopped to say hi to grandma and grandpa. They got a new vacuum, one of those things with the ball instead of proper wheels. Still reading Sharpe's Escape. So far I can't figure out what he's supposed to be escaping from. Went for a walk with the beagle. Did a load of laundry. Felt horrible because there was nothing decent to eat in the cupboards. Ordered a pile of copies of my book. Hopefully they'll be here in time for Thanksgiving. Bought some shampoo today too. I think I'll go test it out now.

Snowflake

Yesterday (technically the day before) they finally taught me paperwork at work. When I got home I did some reading. I'm reading Sharpe's escape now. I went with dad to town for lunch today (technically yesterday). For some reason my fried rice tasted funny. Anyway, worked the night shift today. Not as many people came in but the guy I was working with kept talking so it went by fast. I'm starving though. I just got home and wish I could cook a big breakfast but I'm too tired. There was this one kid who came into the store and he had this haircut with short pretty dark blond hair except in the middle where he had long really light blond hair. It looked like a horse main. We teased him and called him snowflake the little pony. Nice kid though. His hair actually looked pretty cool, but now I can't stop thinking about pony boy from the outsiders.

Something Decently Patriotic

Work was boring today. I was scheduled for tomorrow off but this other girl asked me to take her shift for her so I said I would. I've been busy reading the Somnabulist since I got home. Finding out who the narrator is was a huge shocker. I totally never saw it coming. I was searching for something suitably patriotic to post today since I forgot to do something for 9/11 and decided on an American Flag picture. Of all the things that showed up when I googled for pics I never in my wildest dreams expected to come across a picture of a guy dropping his drawers to take a you know what on the flag. I was insulted! No, I was INSULTED!! Horribly offended, deeply angered, and decidedly off put. Plus a lot of other things not quite as polite. How that even got in there next to Betsy Ross and decorative desert cakes is beyond me. Needless to say that is not the photo I picked. Enjoy this other, decent picture of the American Flag instead.

Whichever

Went to Duluth with L. G. today. We went to the mall and I got a new case for my mobile and a couple books. There was this really cool cat hat I wanted but I didn't get it. We got a bite to eat at applebea's and then headed home. I finally got paid today. Three hundred-eighty some bucks. That's more than I thought it would be. I hope the boss gives me my days off I asked for and that he doesn't make me work night shift the day before. He has me down for a couple night shifts next week. I just know I'm going to be miserable. I finished reading sharpe's gold and started on the Somnobulist. So far it's like Sherlock holmes only totally different. That doesn't really make sense, I know, but trust me when I say it's true. Or don't. Whichever.

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Need More Time

So I found out at work today that I got the eleventh off after I already went and cancelled that meeting. At least I can sleep in. I made popcorn as soon as I got home and ate it while watching tv. I've been reading Sharpe's Gold and so far it's pretty good. With this job I don't know if I'll be able to finish all my books before I leave for basic training. I still haven't finishes that hat I started knitting. I really should whine at mother about moving my stuff upstairs, even if it's only a little at a time, otherwise it'll never get done before I leave.

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Quite Addictive

Went to Hibbing to see that other recruiter guy today. Got there early so I went to walmart and joann's fabrics for a while. Got some archery practice in when I got home. That longbow shoots excellent groups. I just wish I was a better shot. I got this new game for my computer that was in the bargain bin at walmart. It was one of those hidden object eye spy things. Quite addictive. I think it might even be more fun than that space game I had. I never did finish that one. Back to work tomorrow. I guess I'd be a little more enthusiastic if I knew when I was finally getting paid.

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Do They Have Left Handed Hats In Baseball?

My longbow finally came in the mail yesterday. It shoots. I didn't really think through the whole no-arrow-rest-shoot-off-the-hand thing though. I wasn't wearing gloves so when the arrow went by my hand at speed a piece of the feather imbeded itself under my skin. I got it out all right but it stung like I don't know what. I decided not to try shooting it again till I had some decent gloves, to that end me and dad went to L&M and bought some gloves. It got really windy and a little rainy out when we got home though so I haven't gotten anymore shooting in yet. Twins won again last night. I noticed that the batting team wears those helmet hats and that they have those funny ear pieces on the one side. I had to wonder, do they have left handed hats in baseball? I guess the switch hitters get hats with two ear pieces.

Anyway, I went for a short run this morning. That stupid dog jumped on me and broke my headphones. I was going to go I to town and buy new ones but I wound up getting a book, a blue tinwhistle, a bagpipe reed, and some Mexican takeout instead. Turns out it was the wrong kind oh bagpipe reed anyway so I ordered the right one online. My bro dropped off his old practice chanter for me to use. My fingers already ache from stretching to reach all the holes. I was going to print off a bunch of poems for my leather book but that stupid printer wouldn't hook up to my computer and the Internet was down all morning. I suppose I could have used a jump drive and dad's computer but I was too lazy. I'm trying to get hard copies of all my poems down in my book. I guess I'll have to try again tomorrow.

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Five Hundred Channels and Nothing to Watch

Yesterday was a slow work day. Mom was making hard tack and home made beef barley soup when I got home. It was delicious. She also baked another apple pie for my brother but he never came by to get it. I wound up taking the littlest pie to grandma and grandpa. Grandma gave me some really old Beatrix potter books and they may or may not be worth some money. It's too bad the antiques roadshow is over for this year. I would have loved to go. Today was busy at work with all the tourists leaving to go home. I went fishing with dad after I got home. We tried trolling rappallas but didn't catch anything. It was pretty windy out but not too cold. Since there's nothing on tv tonight I think I'll go to bed early. Oh, and the twins won. Yay twins!

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Pie!

It was cool out today. I'd love to see those global warming people explain how we can go from a record ninety-some degrees over a hundred years ago to freezing this morning and still have the planet being fried. It just doesn't work. Anyway, when I got home from work me and mom made homemade apple pies with apples from the trees in the front yard.


I made crust cookies from the leftover dough and used grat grandma's old metal cookie cutters to make leaves and turkeys.


The pies turned out really well. We made a sugar free one for dad and a little baby pie as well as a big pie for me and mom.








While the pies cooled I went to town and got stuffed pork chops for supper. After supper we made homemade whipped cream and had fresh pie, still warm, while we watched the antiques roadshow. It was the perfect bedtime snack.


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Drink The Oil and Sniff The Pop

Had to go to the main office today for some goofy orientation for work today. We had to watch all these videos from twenty years ago on safety procedures and what to do if someone tries to rob the store and stuff. The best bit was the guy in the chemical safety video who tried to drink the oil and sniff the pop. He was a hoot. I also wrote, or finished writing, a poem called The Grudge. It's about the betrayal of a friend told from the perspective of "jealousy". The majority of it was written years ago and I only added the last eight lines the other day. It can be read over on White Fox: Silver Crow and on my page at fifteen minutes of fiction.

Old Favorites

Watched tv all day yesterday. I finally called that archery shop today after work. That longbow I ordered is in the mail and should be here in a couple days. I wonder if it'll beat that book I ordered from barnes and noble. I also put in for my days off at work, I hope I can get them all. I put in for sept. 11 because of that recruiter meeting but the schedule I checked today had me working that day. I'll have to call th Ssg and see if we can do a phone thing or if he doesn't mind my being four hours late. I started watching Hurcules: the legendary journeys today, I bought the first season DVD when I was at barnes and noble last week. So far it's just as campy and fun as I remember. Now if only I could find someplace that had Andromeda on DVD (and Beastmaster and Mutant X and Dr. Quinn medicine woman), then my life would be perfect.

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