And I’m back. Well, back to this blog if not yet back to Austin. So from Orange, Texas, a rather poppy Friday ten…
Meet special guest pup, Petey…
Petey came to visit yesterday. It was the first time Joey and Phoebe have had canine company, and they seemed to enjoy having a new friend. Even Daphne joined the fun until she grew bored after five minutes.
In the backyard, Petey tried to see if Joey could block his shot…
and then he came inside and ran in circles until he melted and turned into butter.
[saveagrey]
I took this at McKinney Roughs, an LCRA park near Bastrop, in June of 2003. My dad and I often go hiking during the early part of the summer when I’m off from teaching and the heat is still bearable. We explore the parks and trails that aren’t too far from Austin and usually get home by noon.
And, yes, I know it’s Saturday now, and yet it’s still Old Photo Friday.
This is Husky Rescue performing at the 2006 Austin City Limits Festival back in September, and today making an appearance at the bottom of the Friday Random Ten.
I realize that I have seen seven of these acts (marked with *’s) live, but the Talking Heads, which I saw in ’90, was without David Byrne. Jerry Harrison and Tina Weymouth split the vocals and put on a great show along with Debbie Harry and the Ramones.
This week, the Slate/Treehugger Green Challenge focuses on clothing, and I’ve pledged to do things I’m already doing such as donate instead of throwing away unwanted clothes, line dry half my clothes, wash only full loads, and use warm or cold water to wash.
I’ll also purchase an Energy Star front-loading machine when the one we have now wears out. I was going to do that anyway.
Allegedly, by doing these things that I’m already doing, I can remove the equivalent of .08 cars from the road, but since I’m already doing them, I think it’s more a matter of keeping .08 cars off the road.
According to my reduction quiz page:
So, for purposes of this carbon diet challenge, I’ve now reduced my initial carbon footprint by an additional 787 lbs, which brings my total reduction to 5792 lbs or 32% of my original total of 18274 lbs.
I’m just glad I don’t have to wear a hemp cloak to be green. Although, cloaks are cool.
Season three of Lost began with an episode called “A Tale of Two Cities,” the two “cities” being, I have assumed, the suburban neighborhood inhabited by the Others and the beach camp where the survivors live. It was a clever title for an episode that gave us our first look into the world of the others while continuing the Dickens references that cropped up throughout the season two finale.
I read A Tale of Two Cities (probably excerpted or abridged or both) back in eighth grade and only have dim memories of the story. It was the best of times and the worst of times, and some guy went to the guillotine doing a far better thing than he had ever done.
Memories come flooding back like a flashback to my life before the island (helped by a quick trip over to SparkNotes), and I recall that the doomed man a scoundrel throughout his life willingly chose to die in place of another man. He made his choice because they loved the same woman and he knew that the other guy was the better man. Or something. The whole ruse worked, of course, because the two men looked very nearly alike.
So, as usual, what does A Tale of Two Cities have to do with Lost?
A Tale of Two Cities focuses on the reinvention of the self, moving from the selfish to the selfless and from the scoundrel to the hero. Interestingly, this is the trajectory that nearly every character on Lost experiences.
The other observation relates to the idea of the two men looking alike. We’ve seen this throughout Lost characters looking very much like other characters even when they are unrelated. Ben told Jack that it was no coincidence that Juliet looked a lot like his ex-wife. Who also looks like Desmond’s love, Penny. There is also the book Bad Twin, which obsessively twins both people and ideas.
I suspect that if I reread A Tale of Two Cities, I’d probably find it there two too. I mean, two cities. Come on. If that ain’t twinning I don’t know what is!
Finally, the most compelling connection, and the one that didn’t play out fully on Lost until the end of this first mini-season, is the self-sacrifice angle. Sawyer, the resident scoundrel, has finally learned to think of someone else first. In fact, he seems completely willing to sacrifice himself to save Kate. Is this a far better thing that he does now than he has ever done before?
Here’s a link to a fascinating post at Quigley that explores the mythological references in Lost. Really interesting thoughts about the spiritual nature of the “polar” bears.
Mr. Squirrel checks for greyhounds before climbing into the birdbath.
It’s late, so it seems fitting to post a picture of Daphne doing what she does best.
To check up on the other two, visit my wife’s blog to see her post about Phoebe’s birthday or read a little bit about Joey in this month’s Greyhound Pets of America – Central Texas newsletter (.pdf).
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Want to make a fast friend by saving a greyhound in Central Texas? Check these pups out. Or go here to find a greyhound near you. You can also go here to find out why greyhounds are running for their lives.
If you have dogs who need proven leadership, go here to find a cat.
My wife has moved from Blogger to WordPress. Check out her new cyber home at http://www.losbrushes.com/blog. It looks pretty good. Okay, I admit, I did some of the code modifyin’ myself, and I also took the picture on the header. The fact that I now get to fart around with the code on two blogs makes me happy.
And, yes, we’re playing with our blogs at 9:30 on a Friday night. What can I say? We’re perfect for each other.
My wife hails from southeast Texas where alligators are fairly common. I took this about six years ago at the Louisiana Tourist Bureau which is two miles from her parents’ house.
I’ve only seen a few alligators down there, but when I play golf I always make sure I have my sand wedge handy. It is, after all, the best fighting iron.