Fright

Heartsister has phoned to say that her mother is flying over from India.

"Oh?" asked Rian. "Why now?" Although I could guess.

"To say goodbye. But don't say anything. We don't want to look like a deathwatch."

Rian hung up wondering if indeed life had become simply waiting.

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Big Guns

Rian has lost the battle in the Giant Fecal Matter war.

Nothing I have tried to scatter, plant, or spike has 'gently' urged our busy caller away. I have tried, indeed Rian has. But there is only so much shit one can shovel. And:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol9no12/03-0039.htm

So, Rian has phoned the Skunk Man back to trap. I despise the ideas of traps. And raccoons, although occasionally ferocious, have charming faces.

Nevertheless, I do not wan the little people to develope a fatal case of roundworm Ebola.

So, we shall see what the Skunk Man has to say. If he ever phones Rian back. Perhaps he has heard the rumors. Perhaps he is Terrified.

Boo!

Rian just stepped, in the half dark of flickering flames, on a sharp plastic glow-in-the-Dark spider ring abandoned carelessly in the rug.

Sharp. Glow-in-the-Dark. Multiple legs.

If Rian squealed - which, of course, Rian never does - the ceiling would have echoed with stuck pig sounds.

"Hallowe'en is coming...Hallowe'en is coming...."

Possible Truths

"What we learn to do, we learn by doing."

- Aristotle

Winter Is (Still) Coming

Possible Truths

"Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair..."

- Thom

Because Every Front Porch Needs A Ghoul

Fright

The official doctor's report this evening says the 'liver is on the edge' of quitting and we maybe have a few months.

Rian is, oddly, very upset.

Possible Truths

"As we grow older and realize more clearly the limitations of human happiness, we come to see that the only real and abiding pleasure in life is to give pleasure to other people."

- Wodehouse

Fright

A recurring Title so poor Keppet knows which to avoid. Emotional Spoiler Warnings, one supposes, and the very idea amuses Rian.

So.

Heartsister phoned an hour or so ago in hysterics of the unhappy kind because tonight at Diwali celebrations she noticed that Rian's parent's eyes had gone yellow. Not the 'Hallowe'en Is Coooming' sort of yellow, but the liver failure species.

"Did you say something?" Rian asked.

"No," Heartsister wailed. "I didn't know what to say."

Liver failure seems a large pair of words.

After the telephone call Rian took Marie Antoinette to read in the bath but found Self staring at the same paragraph ( a rather interesting bit about Saint Cloud) thinking over and over again:

Ican'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan't...

Rian is not exactly sure what is it I canna do, however. Whatever it is, I suppose I must do it anyway, as that is the way of Life.


....last night Rian dreampt I was dancing through a fancy hotel lobby full of people and tiny satelitte bars...dancing with Kevin Spacey, who wore an entirely black tuxedo. The music was loud and fast but we danced very close. How odd, Rian thinks.

And finally, Rian's dryer has Done Something and now every item of clothing that comes out smells HORRIBLE and Rian is suffering gagging stomach trouble simply being dressed. I suppose I shall have to telephone the Maytag Fellow in the near future.

Dr. Lorimer Now Owes Rian Monies

Two

(Reasons Why) Rian's Tattoo Should Grow

The Yearly Pumpkin Pick And Shooting Spree

'Sky' The Devil Pony

Mountain Climbing

Pumpkin Cart, Unloved

"Check Under The Hood, Pa!"

Fright

Rian received some rather bad news today. It seems Rian's parent's liver is failing quickly and none of the chemo they have been trying the last few months is working.

The word 'pray' was used.

Rian promptly hung up the phone and stifled tears only to throw up.

Now I just feel prickly.

Reasons Why

And More Reasons Why

Christening

The first three boards nailed in before the Radiator Man finally (it has been more than a year, yes?) comes to bring the heat back into the room. It still yet needs a half round between the bottom trim and the floor, but that Rian can work past the radiator.

Cindarelly

Rian had to purchase a Ball Gown this morning. Twas an odd experience, if highly amusing. Apparently when one purchases a Ball Gown the sales creatures assume they get a showing of each piece of apparel. And then a consultation on jewelry, shoes, etcetera.

Rian had hauled in six dresses to attempt.

Luckily, the third Gown was Perfect and Rian did not have to prance - literally - down the hallway in front of prying eyes more than those three times.

And...yes, take notes...when one is trying on Ball Gowns, one does not wear a stitch on underneath. One also feverently hopes the zipper does not get stuck halfway down.

Gone But Not Forgotten

Today is Rian's last day with The Dumpster. This is a very sad thing. There is nothing sexier than a giant trash recpticle set twenty paces outside the front door, ready for Anything.
We have filled it four times. Rian has only gotten in Trouble once for tossing out a dusty, never used VCR. Pffft.

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From Chimps To Nuns

It was an upset
In two minutes flat
We're back on the freeway
Foot to the mat
I can't understand it
We had it down pat
It's very upsetting
Could we leave it at that

We all had positions
We each had a role
We'd overrehearsed it
We had full control
They can't teach you acting
It's there in your soul
It's the same with a bank job
And each thing we stole

So I don't need attitude
Cause you knew just what to do
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
And wait by the phone
I was the driver
You ran the show
You had the last word
The go or no go
I knew every laneway
In Ontario

But it's not what you're sure of
It's what you don't know
It should have been filled with
The usual ones
Throwing their cash in
To mutual funds
We all had our ski masks
And sawed off shotguns
But how do you plan for
A bank full of nuns
But I guess we panicked
We all have taboos
And they were like zebras
They had us confused
We should be in condos
With oceanfront views
Instead we're most wanted
On the 6 o'clock news

So, I don't need attitude
'Cause you knew just what to do
We all did our best nowwe all need to rest now
Leave me alone
And wait by the phone

Inside the police car
You tried to explain
Your crisis of conscience
The voice in your brain
And now that the whole thing
Has gone down the drain
I think we all know who
Should shoulder the blame'
Cause you made a choice there
Almost sublime
I'm all for compassion
Just not on my dime
You look like an amateur
And that's the real crime
So I'll take a walk now
And you do the time

And I don't need attitude
'Cause you knew just what to do
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
There's no need to phone
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone

- Bare Naked Ladies

More Monking

Last night Rian dreampt again about being a monk. I think perhaps it is because Rian is rereading The Sparrow series.

RianMonk sat on a low stone bench in the dry, square courtyard of a adobe-esque monastery. Rian was hot. I wore brown robes and they were rucked up about my knees in the hopes of catching a breeze, one supposes. The dirt around my bare feet was dry, dusty, and pebbly. I remember knowing that I was in the monestary garden, and that plotted in more squares behind me were herbs and cactus and succulants. I also remember knowing that if I wandered back inside it would be cool and damp smelling.

There were mountains in the distance, over the roof of the building. Oddly, they were snow capped.

RianMonk was carving something. Something from smooth wood, I think. The block rested in my palm and I held a rough knife between my fingers. I do not remember actually carving.

I do remember that I was lazy and content.