Tonight I am wearing my bright red Wisconsin cow sleep shirt as I write. I look horrible in red, it brings out the "Irish sot" in my face, playing up the puffy cheeks and reddish cast to my freckled skin. I never wear red in public for this reason, so I always feel slightly defiant when I don my Wisconsin sleep shirt. Though how a person wearing a black and white cow over her ample bosom can appear defiant in any way is beyond me.
Keiko has settled in behind me on the chair, forcing me to sit at the edge of it with a straight back which is why I allow such a thing. She'd be just as happy ensconced in my arms, but I find it very difficult to type that way. This bothers her not at all, but she gets removed so often that she can't settle in for a really good snooze, so about the third time she usually wedges herself behind me and conks out. This enables her to wake up about the time I'm going to bed so she can have a jolly good go at the sleeping and defenseless Natasha. She has very precise timing.
I had bad timing, myself, this evening. I went to my therapy appointment only to discover there was a miscommunication about times. I didn't get a session, and I have to sort out when I'm supposed to be seeing the good doctor -- apparently he thought we'd switched to a different hour. Argh. I very much wanted to continue the discussion of last week. I was so upset I cried about it on the phone to John. He was comforting, and asked if there was anything I needed from the store since he was in the parking lot of Walgreen's about to go.
"Halloween candy," I said, cheering up immediately. And that's what I had for dinner.
I finished the Le Guin last night, and was unable to resist buying Tales of Earthsea today. I ought to have read it first, I've spoiled some of the suspense of the short stories, but oh well. I had a look around Kepler's while waiting for my ill-fated therapy session, and discovered a new biography of Fanny Burney which I put on my wish list as soon as I got home. I've only read her first novel, Evelina, which was funny and good, and the biographical information in the introduction of that edition. I tried to get through her second novel, Cecilia, but never managed it. One word: turgid. Still, she lived in the middle of the historical period I'm most interested in, so I want to read all about her in detail.
By the way, travel bargains are popping up everywhere this week. National's sale set off a frenzy of imitators. Cruise ships are half empty so they're whipping up some amazing promotions (not that I plan to take advantage of that, thank you very much), and many of the airlines are offering cheap deals to some fairly unlikely places. Naturally, there's nothing cheap to Seattle where I absolutely have to go in January as I've got tickets with Janice Murray to see the Seattle Symphony perform Mozart's Requiem (my second favorite requiem). Hotels everywhere are dirt cheap during the week and not as bad as they used to be on the weekends. Had I had the vacation time I could have gone to Tahiti this week for $200 airfare and something equally ridiculous for the hotel, though admittedly that was a travel industry rate. But even regular travelers can find a bargain. If you're thinking of traveling, this is the time to buy.
And hey, call me if you do, will you? I can use the business.
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