spring cleaning 3

spent some more time today de-cluttering the bookshelves for no obvious gain. i tackle decades' worth of administrative binders files and envelopes and am repeatedly tempted to stuff them back into the shadows. perhaps i give in to the temptation too.

i need to have a goal to this death cleaning, i think. what exactly am i trying to achieve? clearer shelves? a better filing system? to discover lost worlds? in my mind i think i would like to clear out some (lots of) garbage filed over the years and hallowed by age. i would also like to discard half our collection of sticky cables but i am paralyzed by potential need. 

in other news, more photos crawl out of the woodwork for digitization.

June 30th

after today we will be in the second half of the year during which one can legitimately look forward to cooler weather vacations celebrations get-togethers and christmas. i've only been waiting all year for this!

mystifying encounter

E and i are down at the foot of our block for his evening ablutions. here is the background: i like my solitude. (that is to say, i don't like to talk when i am tired or if the weather is hot.) E likes his solitude. (certainly he likes big dogs more than he likes little dogs.)

enter, stage left, a woman and her little dog. E and i stand to attention and hope she moves off, although out of courtesy i attempt a half smile across the distance.

woman and dog approach. how is your dog? my dog doesn't really like other dogs. is yours a boy or a girl? is he neutered? my dog doesn't really like other dogs. she repeats as she gets closer and closer.

really, i think to myself. if your dog doesn't really other dogs would you mind leaving me and my dog to our evening activities? E, bless his doggy heart, does not show any interest in the little dog, as expected. and yet it takes us minutes to be disencountered.

american kingpin - nick bilton (2017)

it's epic all right. riveting and jolly exciting too, like watching it on screen. it helps the pace that the chapters are short and snappy and he gives you just enough foreshadowing to keep you hooked. i am glued to the book for the chapters leading to his arrest.

the writing is verbose but the story is thrilling and the prison terms are satisfyingly long. 

until i read that the perpetrator received a presidential pardon this year. come on, guys. are you serious? (not bolton's fault, obviously)

spring cleaning 2

... by which i survive the internal medicine housemanship rotation, back in the day.

in other news, half of the bookshelves have been (modestly) decluttered but i find myself continually sidetracked by the contents that i mean to prune.

will i need the stuff inside the books? (actually they are hopelessly outdated and you know it)

will i ever read this again? (no, you only read e-books now, remember?)

the conclusion of today's döstädning is that the shelves look somewhat unchanged. i need to ask the two questions and cull again.

diary of a day

a working day too, and mostly i have food pictures to show for it.

pet names

a commentary on acquaintance pets' monickers:

• Meko, Poppy, Benji, Kai: just cryptic enough not to make sense
• Coffee, Biscuit, Blueberry, Marshmallow, Oreo: these are food, people (not dogs or hamsters i mean)
• Ninja: aspirational, for a chihuahua
• Bear: mistaken and misguided, for a rat (the name and the choice of animal)
• Labbit, Wabbit: spot of brilliance here. the species the familial connection the unique IDs all addressed
• Socrates, Aristotle, Spider, Cricket: a family of black cats. spot the outlier!

if we get another dog i want to call him Reginald.