Wednesday

[nightdog_barks]

The universe hates me. Not much sleep, then early-morning tree trimmers next door. Ah, the sound of chainsaws at dawn! And dogs barking. And guys yelling to each other.

Sunny, 75 degrees (23.9 Celsius). Still reading Empire of the Summer Moon, almost finished with it.

Very cool reportage from the BBC last night -- boy buried at Stonehenge with amber necklace was from the Mediterranean. The news is also in the Telegraph, which has a lovely shot of Stonehenge in snow.

Comments

[blackmare]

Oh, I find ancient things so intriguing. Excellent link; thank you.

And it is now ... afternoon?!! Good heavens. I guess I'd better get out of bed and actually eat something. That is, provided I have any food in the house, which I may not.

ETA: thank God for noodle-soup packets.

[nightdog_barks]

:-)

The bit about the amber necklace was what really made the story, and I was glad the BBC article included a photo of the beads.

[blackmare]

Stonehenge must have been even more of an attraction then, than it is now.

It's so strange to imagine that many years having passed, and that for those who lived then, it was just "now." As ordinary and mundane as our own world is to us.

I've had some soup, which helped, and my spring cherry green tea (thanks, Hannah) is brewing. Better go get it now before it oversteeps. I've still got a very sore throat and that maddening itching sensation inside my ears. GRR.

[nightdog_barks]

... and that for those who lived then, it was just "now." As ordinary and mundane as our own world is to us.

This, absolutely. It's always fascinating to look at the photos on a site like Shorpy.com and try to imagine the people in them a minute after the picture was taken. It's especially interesting with the Civil War photos, like the group shot of the battalion surgeons I posted here once -- that right after the shutter snapped, they were stretching their legs, starting to talk to one another, smiling, turning away and standing up to go attend to something else now that this fellow was finished with his camera. I think in a way that imagining of the Before and After of that frozen moment is helpful in writing -- it helps you get inside a character's head.

Ha, listen to me ramble. The damn chainsaws are STILL going, gah.

ETA that this is the photo.

[hannah]

I didn't sleep well either, and will probably have a second cup of coffee in a few minutes. My bed is comfy and warm, but there's a huge amount of light in this room pretty much all the time - the trade-off of city living. I feel like I should take a vacation out to Montauk or something where there's less light pollution.

[(Anonymous)]

I've brewed up some of the green tea you sent me, in an effort to become semi-functional. This effort may or may not succeed; it seems that getting some soup and tea has taken more energy than I would have expected.

At least I'm (mostly) dressed. Still barefoot, still haven't brushed hair or teeth or anything. Ugh. And there is SO MUCH RESPONSIBLE CRAP for me to do.

[blackmare]

Further evidence of mental dysfunction: didn't realize I wasn't logged in on this computer.

*sips more tea*

[hannah]

Mmm, tea. Maybe I'll just go for some Russian Caravan black tea - I should find some more and send you a box. It's smoky, dark, and delicious.

Try adding some honey, if you've got.

[nightdog_barks]

I had about a cup and 3/4 of another cup of coffee ... I feel a little better, but not much. The damn chainsaws are still running, and now the neighbor behind us is mowing his lawn. ARGH.

Perhaps black-out curtains might help with the continuous light?

[hannah]

This is essentially a dorm room, down to not having any open flames up to and including scented candles, so I don't think they'd approve of anything more invasive than sticky tack and tape for posters. Curses.

[nightdog_barks]

Oh, that's too bad. Bleh.

Just found this, thought you might like -- the NY Public Library, 1910. Patience and Fortitude have yet to arrive.

[hannah]

It could be worse - I might not have blinds at all. Maybe I'll see about keeping the air conditioning on for white noise to help me get into a lull.

I do like! Thank you.

[pwcorgigirl]

Bummer about the chainsaws and endless racket. *passes over the six-pack of hard cider* That is fascinating about the boy -- never knew there was such a thing as heavy oxygen before -- and the archer mentioned later in the story.

Work was frantic today and I got home late to find that Rocket Dog had peed on the carpet and my son had brilliantly decided to deodorize it by pouring a pile of laundry detergent powder on the wet spot. Jeeze.

[nightdog_barks]

The chainsaws went on until about 2:30 this afternoon, after which I went outside and discovered that not only had they trimmed our neighbor's trees, they'd trimmed one of OURS too. Idiots.

Laundry detergent powder ... oh, NO.

[pwcorgigirl]

Oh, no. I guess all you can do about the tree is point out that they goofed and threaten them with instant death if they do it again.

The mister asked if I'd made the boy clean up the soap powder and I said no because yelling at him while I did was much more cathartic. :D