There Outta Be a Law

Dear Moi,

On behalf of the State of New Mexico Dog Protective Services Department, we have determined that you looking after your neighbor's dogs while they go to work every day is a direct violation of Dumass Rule 371.4 in the State Regulatory Code governing the licensing of doggy day cares.

In other words, if you want to do your neighbor a good turn and help him out, we are going to have to get a cut of the action.

Sincerely,
The All Knowing, All Seeing, All Powerful State

• • •

Seriously, Party People, we're so silly, I'm beginning to wonder if we don't deserve what we get.

Mute Monday: The Eighties

Time, Time, Time

Where does it go? And when it gets there, will they be serving margaritas? What does it do with itself? Who keeps it? Is it bossed around, corraled in, horded up in some fortressed Federal Reserve Time Bank in the Sky and meted out to people over the course of an eternity's worth of reincarnations? Or does it simply disappear, like a handful of powdered sugar blown into a wind storm, its molecules self-dividing into increasingly smaller particles forever and ever and ever, on into infinity?

I have no idea. All I know is, I don't like the way it flies.

But, fly it has since the last time I posted something to the Undaunted Baker, so I just bridged the gap. Hop on over, why don't you, for a tasty cookie treat that will have you thinking: "Gee, where have these Key Lime Frosties been all my life?" Click here.

And I'll just sit right here and ponder the temporal/spatial implications of eating an entire plate of these in the face of an impending five mile run, which, it seems, is the only kind of time that doesn't fly as far as I'm concerned.

The Sky is a Hazy Shade of Winter

Two days ago a cold front slammed into us with the force of a semi truck to the back end of a Ford Focus, and today I smelled winter while out on my run. Not fall, winter. That peculiar, acrid blend of organic matter already rotted and wood burning in cast iron stoves and moisture in the air that's heavier than rain. Last week we were swimming outside beneath azure skies and full on sun. We were sweating in shorts and tees on long runs and throwing off the covers at night. This week, the pool water churns untouched beneath its protective cover and we're bundling up for runs in hat, gloves, and long tights. This morning, we woke with the comforter tucked up over our faces and a dog wedged between us.

Right now, outside my window, I'm watching the wind churn and the sky darken to that wispy, steel grey sheen that portends snow. In the garden, my tomatoes made it fine thanks to a fleecy covering of sheet, but a couple more nights like this and my sunny summer yellow marigolds will most definitely fade to black. The number of hummingbirds buzzing around the feeder has been reduced by at least half. I haven't seen a robin since last week and this morning two baby lizards were belly up on the porch, victim either to Maddie or last night's near freeze.

Yes, it's way too early to be this cold. But I've learned never to discount the vagaries of weather out here in the East Mountains. One morning, we can wake to this:

And the next, to this:

So, what's it doing out your way?

Mute Monday: Angst

Gonna Find Me Someone to Share a Common Disaster

Best use of music in a movie in the past twenty years:



Not even five minutes in and we got Leonard Cohen AND L-7. How could I not love this.

What's your favorite movie musical? Or even your favorite use of music in a movie?

They Don't Give a Damn, They're Done Dead Already

You know what else fall means?

NEW ZOMBIE MOVIE POR MOI!