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[Major Tom, a big grey tabby wearing a harness, is flopped down under the van, just behind one of the front tires. He’s relaxed, looking around, but showing no indications of emerging.]
Tom did great at Battlemoor, but more practice is always a good thing. So I took him to the park last July.
He didn’t like it so much. Or, well, he was fine with it, as long as he could stay under the van.
[He’s still under the van. His forepaws have been neatly placed in front of him, and his ears and whiskers are relaxed]
… so prying him out took some time, & he didn’t love being out in the open.
[Tom’s sitting in the grass, now, the van visible well past him. His whiskers are at rest but his ears are tilted out to the sides.]
I think there was some noise going on just then, but ask if I remember what it might’ve been (I don’t).
He relaxed enough to flop, eventually.
[Tom is, indeed, flopped, right at the base of a big cottonwood tree, but his ears are tilted in directions and his tail is caught mid-lash.]
That was just fine for a while, but when I proposed going back to the van he was very happy to do so. Progress, though!
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What a fantastic movie! We finally got to see it, and absolutely loved it. Funny, heartfelt, sad at times, and really, really good. I was glad I hadn't read the book beforehand, because that made the entire story a surprise and I enjoyed discovering it. I've became a late fan of Ryan Gosling, thanks to his work in Bladerunner 2049 and Barbie. Who would have thought?
We also watched a Netflix preview screening that I can't talk about. This is the third one, though, with the first one being about 8 months ago. Do they ever rework those movies based on beta-group feedback? Or just scrap the projects? :O
Saturday, we saw My Oxford Year, which we both liked quite a bit. Romances are really hit and miss, but this one was good. Our son was out of town this weekend, so this was a good opportunity. Romances and romantic comedies are not his thing.
In TV series, I've been watching an older detective procedural called Blue Murder on BritBox, which I quite like. But I've veered off temporarily to binge-watch Our Flag Means Death on Hulu. What a bizarre show. Kind of cracktastic, really. I'm mainly in it for Taika Waititi and the weird minor characters. :O
We had quite a bit of rain and wind last week, so I've been biking in the garage more than I'd like. More thunderstorms and lots of rain today, so I'll be in there again in a few hours! There will be a river or two running through the garage, and now that the floor is epoxy instead of the concrete it used to be, it's really risky to go in there on bare feet. The floor always looks wet, which means you can't see when it actually IS wet, and it's as slippery as glass. :(
Time to start a new hour-long series in there, now that I've finished another Harlan Coben thing. Will it be Season 2 of Beef? Season 3 of The Night Agent? Or will I go back to Hulu for Euphoria, despite having to deal with the long commercial breaks?
Someone recommended this to me after I'd said I'd liked Carnival of Souls, and I can see why. It's in colour and unlike Carnival it has some gore – but it's another liminal horror film, one of those movies where nothing ever feels quite right. A little bit of Lovecraft, a little bit of Lynch. The acting is usually decent but rarely more than that. There are, however, a couple of excellently creepy set-piece scenes, one in a supermarket and one in a cinema, and those are real high points for me. Not quite the slam-dunk for me that Carnival of Souls was, but I'm still glad to have seen this. ★★★½
Founded in 1242 by a grieving duchess after the Mongol devastation of Poland, the abbey began modestly, a Benedictine foothold in uncertain terrain. But time, and the ambitions of successive monastic orders, reshaped it into something far grander. By the 18th century, the complex had blossomed into one of Europe’s most extravagant Baroque ensembles—a kind of sacred theater where architecture, painting, sculpture, and music merge into a single overwhelming gesture.
At its heart stands the Basilica of the Assumption, a structure less built than orchestrated. Its vast interior—nearly 80 meters long—unfolds like a carefully composed illusion, where frescoes climb ceilings and saints seem to hover in midair.
Yet the abbey’s beauty masks a turbulent past. It has been burned by Hussites, scarred by the Thirty Years’ War, and secularized by Prussian decree. During World War II, its quiet halls were used to hide priceless manuscripts: scores by Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach. Empires have claimed it, abandoned it, and renamed it; monks have been expelled and replaced; entire populations around it have shifted like sand, and still it remains.
Yesterday ended up so unexpectedly nice, I wanted to record it.
D messaged me mid-afternoon to say that circuits was happening again that evening. I used to love transgym circuits, I did that as well as lift club almost every week and I've never been happier. But then our usual awesome trainer stopped doing circuits, which is fair enough but I was/am so used to their style and so comfy with it, and then the replacement started doing more of a boxing style fitness class, which was not to my taste (or accessibility needs: my lack of depth perception was posing too much of a problem) and then I kept being busy on those nights or whatever and I just stopped going some time last fall I think.
But I've really missed circuits; I love circuits. It feels like such a good workout for me: I can do even exercises I hate for a minute or two at a time, I never get bored, and I feel at the end like I've really Done Something. I used to have to bring bandanas to tie around my head to keep from getting too much sweat in my eyes, and I forgot to do that last night and really missed it! Because it's hard work.
And most of the people there weren't our usual old circuits people but people I knew from lift club who hadn't been to circuits before (or, did it like once a very long time ago or whatever). Including one of my favorites, who I said I'd meet outside and go in with together. I was really excited for him because I thought he'd love circuits and he did.
And, when I suddenly found myself with plans to be out for the evening I thought I'd start dinner prep right after work -- i did this last Friday when I went to yoga. But as I was still peeling sweet potatoes, D came downstairs, having finished work earlier than usual, and offering to help. So we just made all of my very easy plan for dinner (bangers and mash) and I had plenty of time to eat before going to the gym. It was lovely to spend the time together, it made an easy thing easier but also just so much more fun: being silly together in the nice sunny kitchen (I'm still not used to it being that bright at dinner time! it wasn't totally dark when I was getting showered after the gym, at about 9pm! bliss).
And I'm very glad I was able to eat beforehand: even with V warning me as I left the house "take it easy! you're out of practice!", even though I did take it easy, I was so sore by the time I got home. I knew not to sit down before I got upstairs and in the shower because I'd never stand up again. But I was so happy, too -- and it wasn't just the endorphins making me think that.
Tomorrow, I'm having an initial video consultation with a clinic that doesn't rule people out because of BMI.
I really didn't want to have to travel for surgery (it makes what's already an indescribably big deal so much bigger), but it's looking like this is my only option.
That is, I have finally knocked off a review that has been hanging over me for months, probably needs a little more fiddling with but it was very much I had got to the stage of 'just sit down and write the bloody thing' and did it. It's a book I'm fairly lukewarm about, doing fairly useful work with what it does but it feels a bit all over the place and hard to get a proper grip on.
Also, yay, am feeling rather less washed out than the past few days following vaxx.
We have appointment to see solicitor about our Testamentary Dispositions next week - finally found one in the fairly close vicinity through the Law Society Find a Solicitor facility.
Have just been getting Documentation from the local authority who are actually paying me to go and talk about johnnies in their collections in just under two months, so I guess that's sort of the next thing on my agenda.
Though am gradually making my way through ms by deceased colleague, though there is not major urgency on this as my collaborator is still in academic life and overwhelmed with the responsibilities of that at present.
В ночь на 21 апреля в районе Новочеркасска Ростовской области прогремела серия взрывов на фоне атаки беспилотников на железнодорожную инфраструктуру и вблизи воинских частей https://censor.net/ru/v3611603
Беспилотники ЦСО "Альфа" СБУ в ночь на 21 апреля атаковали российскую нефтеперерабатывающую станцию "Самара" https://censor.net/ru/n3611600
Жительница Туапсе жалуется на пожары и нефтяные осадки: "У меня машина, бл#дь, вся в нефти! Я не вижу, бл#дь, куда ехать!". ВИДЕО В российском Туапсе (Краснодарский край), помимо огня и задымления, начались необычные "осадки" - остатки недогоревших нефтепродуктов вместе с сажей оседают на жилых кварталах и транспорте. https://censor.net/ru/v3611626
Been going through my physical postcards lately, and plan to scan some of those, plus am looking at procuring more, if the site I'm going through gets its payment act together.