in my vcr lately:
sex, lies and videotape (1989) *
hotel new hampshire (1984) *
continental divide (1981) *
marvin's room (1996) **
pi (1998) **

in writing:
a fool's progress by edward abbey ***
diary by chuck palahniuk ***
hotel new hampshire by john irving ***

in my bowl:
post maple pecan crunch ***

dog park
discovered memorial park's lease-free dog area recently. love it. fun to watch a variety of dogs and their people interact. stars so far: louie the dalmatian that caught daisy's eye, max the 13 yr old lab/basset mix who likes people better than dogs, rudy the bloodhound who didn't want to leave.

excused absences
so you don't have to go to school around here the friday before the big game in jacksonville. shades of missing school on the first day of hunting season back home.

halloween wedding
daisy and I crashed a haunted wedding ceremony at ben burton park. first I heard addams family music, then I saw about 30 people decked out in full costumes (bride, punk groom, prisoners, pirates, punks, clowns and more). neat idea - at least it would be memorable.

law & order cameos
neat to see the old episodes with famous folks guest starring, like james earl jones, samuel l. jackson and william h. macy.

no pets
I always check for signs that forbid pets, and I didn't see one at the trailhead for the clingman's dome overlook. plus the trail was paved so I didn't see any harm in bringing daisy along for the walk - on her leash of course. it was a half mile hike straight up from the parking lot at high elevation - not an easy climb. people love daisy - she makes them smile and kids adore her as a movie star (101). so, we were almost to the overlook and a ranger looking guy came down the hill and said, "Oh, I guess you didn't see the sign. No pets allowed on the trail. You'll have to turn around." what?! we're almost there. so I told james to go ahead with the camera and I'd meet him at the car. he said I should go ahead and he'd meet me up there after returning daisy to the jeep. so that's what we did. on the way down, the ranger-like guy told james that if the real ranger had seen us he would have charged us $75, no questions asked. this guy was just up there testing the air with a group of forest service people. that experience left a bad taste in my mouth about the smokies, but I got over it. I took a picture of the sign at the trailhead when we got back to the parking lot. it was small!!! oh well.

old dog, new trick #1
daisy has been doing some good tricks lately. first, we were asking her if she wanted to go out or something like that and she NODDED. not just a vague head movement, but a deliberate up and down. james and I just looked at each other and laughed.

old dog, new trick #2
for a couple days she sat behind me while I was on the computer. she was really staring. usually she just falls asleep on the floor at my feet, but she was really concentrating on something. all of the sudden she came up under my arm and started BANGING on the keyboard with her paws. I said no, and she looked at me defiantly and started banging again. if I was thinking, I would've opened word and let her express herself - maybe she was trying to tell me something. more likely she was looking for the off button so we could go outside and play.

halloween
james' costume drew rave reviews. mine was pretty lame/last minute. had a good time walking around downtown after work even it the crowds had all fled to jacksonville for the game.

smoky mountains
if you've never been there, plan your trip now. I hope to return in the spring to capture the wildflowers and salamander populations with my camera. highlights: the jeep road down from balsam mountain, camping creekside, clingmans dome, the leaves near peak.

stevi b's pizza
downed some strange pizza varieties after climbing around at project adventure: baked potato, BLT, chocolate mousse and more.

fun at 40 watt
first time there. out to see the fabulous neil diamond cover band - hot august knights - and the register for the spy car giveaway.

celexa kills fish
uh oh. not exactly what I had in mind when I started taking it. luckily I'm on the way out of danger.

nice lying
are lying competitions purely appalachian or do they do that elsewhere too?

homemade stamps
in japan you can take a digital file into the post office and make your very own personal postage stamps. that sounds like a great idea to me.

abbey's appalachia
edward abbey nailed the appalachian feel in his novel "a fool's progress." even called it monkey ward's. will look up some of the more descriptive bits when I get a chance.