Quiet Nights

A single cricket is chirping in my yard. I go out the door, and he falls silent for a moment. The night sky is paler in summer than in winter, even in moonless hours such as this. The shapes of the trees are clear, and through the tracery of their branches I can see stars. Directly above, the milky way is dusted across the deep blue. I stand still, feeling the cool air as it barely stirs, and the cricket returns to song. We share the night, that small singer and I, from the damp and dusky corners of the lawn to that streaming vastness of stars, my measured breath briefly in harmony with the wheeling galactic ages and the ephemeral insect clock.

KABLAM!

Well, it happened again. I wrote a long post in the client, and when I reconnected to the internet, Explorer caused a general protection fault and shut down. And, of course, the client went away. Is it possible to save content from the client, and then re-enter it after a crash? I can't figure it out. Even stranger, the connection I got was at 115000bps! I've never gotten a connection that fast. I think maybe the machine just couldn't handle it. I must have some setting that needs to be changed. Apparently, there are disadvantages to having a really good modem. Especially when your computer is a Frankenclone. Poor Sluggo. He's demented, and now he's outclassed by one of his parts.

Try this again

Another Friday. This is not a good place for the weekend, at least not for me. I'd like to go to a nice Japanese restaurant, maybe see a movie revival at the Rialto in South Pasadena, go to a bar with live jazz; none of which is possible in this backwater 500 miles from Los Angeles. Here, the best food in town is a halfway decent pizza, the multiplex shows only the most popular (and dumbest) movies, and the bars all have jukeboxes loaded with Merle Haggard. So I'll stay home for dinner, maybe listen to a CD of Joshua Redman or McCoy Tyner, and hope that the Independent Film Channel is showing something other than Clerks. I mean, I like Kevin Smith, but how many times can I watch that same movie before I start to sound like Jay?

No use bemoaning my exurban life, though. Nothing can be done about it. Just don't try telling me to learn to love Merle Haggard. That ain't gonna happen. I think that I may be morose because this has been one of our rare sultry days. Grey clouds piled up holding in the intense heat. I don't remember being bothered by this type of weather when I lived in L.A., although we could count on several days like this each summer. Maybe I've just become unaccustomed to them in the mountains. But I will be glad when the sun sets, even though those clouds portend a night warmer than usual. At least the air will begin to stir a bit.

By the way, what is up with the new animated version of Frank the goat on the login page? Is it just me, or is that eyebrow wiggle a little bit ...well,...suggestive? And that grin he sports as he capers across the page? Downright wicked! Okay, I've been living in the back woods too long. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I hear a sheep calling....