![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nightdog_barksToday was supposed to be like yesterday -- warm and sunny. This morning some fairly big thunderstorms rolled through, with heavy rain and even some pea-sized hail. WTF, weather guys? 61 degrees (16.11 Celsius) and cloudy (it was pouring before).
Read the first 30 pages of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall last night. Historical novel on the life of Thomas Cromwell (not Oliver, Thomas), won the 2009 Man Booker Prize. Here's a short sample, with a young Thomas thinking how he can earn a little money on the road. Walter is Thomas' brutal, abusive father.
And then horses, he's always been around horses, frightened horses too, because when in the morning Walter wasn't sleeping off the effects of the strong brew he kept for himself and his friends, he would turn to his second trade, farrier and blacksmith; and whether it was his sour breath, or his loud voice, or his general way of going on, even horses that were good to shoe would start to shake their heads and back away from the heat. Their hooves gripped in Walter's hands, they'd tremble; it was his job to hold their heads and talk to them, rubbing the velvet space between their ears, telling them how their mothers love them and talk about them still, and how Walter will soon be over.
Read the first 30 pages of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall last night. Historical novel on the life of Thomas Cromwell (not Oliver, Thomas), won the 2009 Man Booker Prize. Here's a short sample, with a young Thomas thinking how he can earn a little money on the road. Walter is Thomas' brutal, abusive father.
And then horses, he's always been around horses, frightened horses too, because when in the morning Walter wasn't sleeping off the effects of the strong brew he kept for himself and his friends, he would turn to his second trade, farrier and blacksmith; and whether it was his sour breath, or his loud voice, or his general way of going on, even horses that were good to shoe would start to shake their heads and back away from the heat. Their hooves gripped in Walter's hands, they'd tremble; it was his job to hold their heads and talk to them, rubbing the velvet space between their ears, telling them how their mothers love them and talk about them still, and how Walter will soon be over.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-03-10 05:09 pm (UTC)Good morning. It's raining here so I feel as if the sun hasn't come up and neither have I. Going downstairs to make more tea, or possibly brew up some coffee, and clean my brushes so I can get going on the day's painting.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-10 05:33 pm (UTC)Walter is an awful person -- I'm not giving anything away when I say that the book opens with Thomas getting the crap kicked out of him by his father.
The sun is trying to come out here now -- Mr. N is supposed to come home tonight so I have to run to the store today and do some housely stuff.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-10 06:26 pm (UTC)Anyway, hi hello! I'm finished with the first class of the day, and I actually handed back the 60-point papers in that class (HOORAY, and I should probably update my status bar, there...), and now it's time for lunch, and a check of the list, and reviewing for the afternoon's class. We're talking about surrogate motherhood and families today--I am still unsure that surrogate motherhood is the best topic to get them talking about families (because it's kind of far from their radar at the moment), but it's a little bit safer (for me, at least) than gay marriage. We touch on gay marriage, though: I do ask them to consider why it's so important for societies to define what 'family' means...
OMYGOSH, LOOKIT ME RAMBLE ON.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-10 06:27 pm (UTC)It's the same kind of weather here--rainy and gray, and hard to get going today.
Tea and coffee are necessary things, on days like today. Heh.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-10 10:06 pm (UTC)Or in this case 'smell' one. heh
What are you painting onto that canvas?
no subject
Date: 2010-03-10 05:14 pm (UTC)We had a little thunder this morning, and it's drizzled rain all day. Things have been fairly quiet, save for about an hour and a half of the usual suspects and their litany of statistically improbable tales. (There's a new guy who's superseded Harvey in that area, and it's hard for me not to roll my eyes when he turns up every day.)
no subject
Date: 2010-03-10 05:35 pm (UTC)Maybe the new guy is Harvey's protege! ;-D
no subject
Date: 2010-03-10 05:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-10 05:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-10 06:06 pm (UTC)Well, usually. *g*
no subject
Date: 2010-03-10 06:30 pm (UTC)I'm now halfway done with the bulk of the work on one of my three outstanding assignments, so I'm going to go out and buy some crickets for my gecko in a little while.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-10 10:07 pm (UTC)Thanks for sharing.