“Start at the end. Can’t tell a story if you don’t know where it’s going.”

Not an especially exciting Saturday, but pleasant enough.

I thought maybe I would go give blood this morning, since it’s the first time since March that I’ve been able to, but either the drive at our local church was canceled or I’d been misinformed by the Red Cross and New York Blood Center. Their actual donor centers are not at all convenient, so I’ll have to wait for another drive. Even though none seem to be scheduled any time soon just yet.

Instead, after running a couple of quick errands, I went with my mother to look at eyeglasses this afternoon. I was there mostly to act as a second opinion, helping her pick out frames, but I did set up an appointment for myself with their optometrist in a couple of weeks. The last time I bought eyeglasses — the first time I’d done so in maybe ten years, as a matter of fact — both pairs snapped in a matter of months. And then one of the replacement pairs snapped, too. So I wasn’t exactly in the mood to pay a few more hundred dollars just to go through that again. But this is a discount outlet that came recommended by my mother’s boss. It seems like a reputable place, and the price is good enough that if the glasses do break I won’t be out of pocket too much.

I spent the rest of the day just doing Saturday type stuff — some reading, some writing, neither enough of either. I went for a short walk. And this evening, I watched The Lookout. It’s not a remarkable movie, and not even Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s best work*, but he is quite good in it, and it’s quite entertaining. Sometimes you can’t ask for much more than that.

Oh, and the photo above is a rabbit that’s been visiting our front lawn (and yesterday our back yard) recently. We don’t usually — in fact never — get them this close to the house. They’re usually either a block away, right around the train tracks, or in empty fields. Maybe their food source moved, or the profusion of weeds we’ve had this summer has drawn them out. This one maybe isn’t the cutest bunny I’ve ever seen, but it’s pretty darn cute.

* The best things I’ve seen him in are probably Brick and Mysterious Skin. He’s been turning in enough really good performances lately that I’m honestly tempted to rent GI Joe, of all things.

Ah, Friday

First there was work.

Then there was play.

Summer hours are only fun on Fridays, and even then I’m not entirely sure the trade-off is worth it. But there’s definitely something to be said for getting home at two o’clock in the afternoon instead of six or seven o’clock at night.

I’m not sure I used that time too productively. I went and bought milk, and a few other groceries, and I watched this week’s episode of Burn Notice. I very inexpertly trimmed and separated some lamb chops for dinner for me and my mother. (My father had a Boy Scout dinner, welcoming a visiting troop from Westbury (the original one) in England.) I spent an unexpected amount of time cleaning up broken glass when I accidentally knocked a jar of gravy off a shelf in the garage. (I can’t say I’m a fan of the stuff myself, so I wasn’t exactly broken up about it. I just didn’t want our dog to lick up shards of broken glass.)

And that’s about it. Today was a much nicer day than yesterday, still pretty hot but not as oppressively muggy. Word is, this is the hottest July on record in most parts, and I’ll be happy enough to put the humidity behind me.

Now I think a little capping might be in order.

Random 10 7-30

Another tricky one last week, it looks like. Let’s see how you fare with these new lyrics:

  1. “Don’t Touch Me There” by the Tubes
    Played less notes and left more space
  2. “The Wheel” by Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians
    Somewhere there’s a person in a far away place
  3. “The Valleys” by Electrelane
    I heard him singing in the mountains
  4. “Baba O’Riley” by the Who, guessed by Clayton
    I get my back into my living
  5. “I Wanna Be Sedated” by the Ramones, guessed by Kim
    Hurry hurry hurry before I go insane
  6. “Christmas in Washington” by Steve Earle
    To listen to the radio, you’d think that all was well
  7. “Raspberry Beret” by Prince, guessed by Kim
    And the horses wonder who you are
  8. “Keeping the Faith” by Billy Joel, guessed by Clayton
    And I’m not ashamed to say the wild boys were my friends
  9. “As I Rise” by the Decemberists
    I got blisters on my slippered feet

Good luck!