Tales of the quotidian.

In no order of any kind:

1. I saw fireworks this 4th for the first time in eons--eons, I tell you! That is, we actually drove to where fireworks were happening and got out of the car to watch them. They were right lovely, and they lasted a good 25-30 minutes. Fireworks scared the shite out of me as a kid, all kinds and all volume levels, and even now they still pack a mighty punch. The kinds I still don't like are those that just ascend and go boom--no fireworks, just loudness. Boring.

2. One of the dogs--indeed, the very doggie you see in the top right picture--is lying next to me, anticipating some dinner action soon. She will be rewarded.

3. We bought a new slick patio set last weekend at Sam's and ordered a nice red umbrella for it, which came today. I even assembled it and placed it in the umbrella hole. So easy, a trained monkey could do it. It looks festive and helps out the patio molto. Hmm, I'll have to take a picture.

4. In my Comp II we started watching Nine Lives today. Great film especially if you enjoy alternative, compressed storytelling methods. It's not one long story arc but nine short, charged scenes, some of which have overlapping characters. Moments in time, flashpoints, little slices of pie. The filmmakers had 16 days to shoot, and the film is nothing if not an interesting way of working around that dilemma. Since our class is now at the end of the fiction unit, I thought this would be a way to see how short story techniques can actually work in a film format. (BTW, when you see it, the final shot of the final scene is guaranteed to blow you away.)

5. A "yee ha" and "hell yes" to Rathbun's, in Inman Park, where we and a couple of friends supped last Saturday (and over-imbibed: for me, a glass and a half of sparkling wine, a whiskey sour, and at least two glasses of wine, closer to three). Mere adjectives cannot do it justice. I enjoyed the pork belly soft tacos and the crispy duck with Thai risotto (the green curry reduction almost made me come). And we four enjoyed four little desserts on one common plate. If y'all watch Iron Chef America on Food Network, the Rathbun brothers had the distinct pleasure of beating Bobby Flay, one of the "resident" chefs--not easy to do. But if what they slapped together on TV was half as delicious as what we had Saturday, it's no surprise.

6. I'm in the final stages of The Book of Evidence, mentioned in a previous post. It's the best kind of page-turner, one where the plot doesn't matter but where character (read: guilt, confusion, frustration) does. Banville is breezy, in his angst-ridden way, and I will read more of his stuff.

7. Heard about this on NPR today, and sure enough, it's true. Those of you who are teaching a compressed summer class right now and are using every minute to squeeze everything in, thank your lucky stars that you don't teach in one of these setups. Dear god. They're new at Vol State this fall. One of their rationales for offering this is high gas prices; by squeezing in 12 hours of coursework on Fridays, students can take a full load without having to come to campus as often. What I can't tell is how often the face-to-face setup meets each week. I think it's every Friday but am not sure. What do y'all think--is Vol State giving students, even "highly motivated" ones, a recipe for disaster?

That's all for the list. Headed to self-checkout now.