Thursday, July 20, 2000

11:43 p.m. Here is a photo of one of my son's neighbors. Really. He was driving home, he had his camera ... and there you go. A friendly face to start your day off right. Nice nose, too. Of course, it's the little front teeth that make him so darn cute.

These photos of the countryside on the other side of the country are a nice change from the palm trees and the rollerbladers around here. They also cover up the fact that I don't get out much -- a quick glance at my site today and you'd think I was worldly.

Actually, this picture could drive me crazy, so I'll just babble a bit and let the text scroll away. I've always had a problem with faces staring out at me from magazines and books -- if I'm in a headachy or PMS moment, I'll even cover the page if I have to read around the staring eyes ... and I always turn magazines upside down when they're scattered about so I won't have a big smiling face staring up at me every time I walk past the counter or the magazine basket on the way to the bathroom.

I also read newspapers from the back to the front, but that's because I'm left handed. The staring-eyeball thing is less easily explained. Maybe I'm still guilty about something I did sometime in the last 48 years or so. Maybe I've been abducted by aliens.

Anyway, let's move this scroll bar along a lot faster, shall we?

See the beautiful countryside? The pretty horns? This is a second bull, come trotting over to the road to show off his physique.

Other than the cattle, things have been slow in these here parts. I've quickly gone back to taking the cable modem for granted, my big filing project is stalled, and I've been working on editing the content for a site that's due to launch in a few more weeks.

I've also been dieting, in my own way, for 15 days now. I write everything down and I try to be careful. I've been eating a lot of fish, and I haven't been overwhelmed with cravings for steak. Yet.

Yes, I know. He can't read these words ... but still, it gives you pause. That magnificent work of nature, golden and regal and commanding ... destined to become ground chuck? Rib-eye? T-bone? To be born simply because I deserve a break today?

Maybe he deserves a break from us.

Maybe that's what I'm feeling so guilty about.