This is a man-made pond, but it's grown out so naturally that the grass blends right back into the mounds of river rock and from there back into the golden folds of hills.

A big fish eye stares at me calmly as I trace my fingers along trout belly. He's removed the hook while I'm doing this. Without coaxing, the trout flips gracefully upright and glides back into the depths of the pond, a pleasant how-do-you-do, a handshake.

Hands on my hips, skin tawny under a noonday baking sun, a squint over the ripples left behind.

"I swear to god, that fish wanted you to pet him," he tells me in the quiet awe that follows.

This sinks in for a moment, as gently as dew to earth, and then to the business of laying the line out again.

Spring is Here

And it is! I can tell when the cherry trees blossom, no matter how chilly it may feel the next day. The plants always know. It has rained a bit in the past two weeks, but this time the grass is actually soaking it up and keeping it; there are clumps of fresh greenery growing. In California, this says a lot, as much of the time it is dry, and the still-undeveloped park by my parents' house is more golden brown than anything the majority of the year. (This is a park full of trees, hills, deer, snakes, and mountain lions.)

Not to mention that we saw a great blue heron amidst the greenery on the path back to the car, just watching us out of the corner of its knowing eye. Unusual, being that we were a few miles inland, but not unlikely. I'm looking forward to thriving wildlife—ticks and mosquitoes excluded—and should probably head to Muir Woods in the near future before the rains really set in.

The Bear is settling in well with the other two, and has taken an interest to my presence. She's still a bit skittish, and though she hasn't tried to bite me again I also haven't given her a chance to, but she'll come right up to the door and sniff at me. And also stopped squeaking whenever I pick her up, so at least I don't have to worry about having to give her up to someone who isn't allergic to rat bites for taming her.

Also came across this music video the the artist Mika, which should be enjoyed by all:

Spots of Distraction

Finally restarted and finished reading Dune. This is a very complex, heavy book that I severely disliked the first time around; I picked it up on recommendation of just about every sci-fi geek who has an opinion. It is not a personal account story, and therefore requires a broader mindset to enjoy. It is epic, and you have to pay attention to what's going on in the story instead of glossing over the details to get the most out of it. The political, environmental, and personal depths this book explores is pretty amazing. You'd have to like reading about aspects of politics and environment to really enjoy it, from my experience.

Seaweed, by The Fruit Bats. This is a very gentle song that makes me feel comfortable and safe, if not a little melancholy. I would have missed hearing them if I didn't put on my friend Jordan's zombiecandy!radio, which I highly recommend. A great eclectic collection of music that is always welcome when I don't have specific songs I want to listen to.

Futurama, Futurama. I've always liked it better than The Simpsons. I think it's because it doesn't revolve around a family; I enjoy The Simpsons, but I'm not a big fan of cartoon family sitcoms. I find Family Guy more amusing than Simpsons, but only in a very flashy, American instant-gratification light. I think Futurama has better stories without making any always making pop culture references.

Batman, the animated series. The old one, the one that first came out before they made the stupid decision to water down the character designs and plots. When it was still extremely dark and creepy.

Teen Wolf. I can't believe this movie is actually as good as it is. I wanted to watch it for nostalgia purposes the other day, but I had forgotten that along with spots of hokeyness, it's actually a pretty well thought-out story with amusing characters. I miss the eighties.

The Jerk, and My Blue Heaven. I miss old comedies so much. Especially old comedies with Steve Martin in them. Aside from his own hilarious capers, the movies he finds himself in are both childhood favourites and a great blend of humor without dipping lecherously into Laurel-and-Hardy type slapstick. (No, I'm not much of a fan for slapstick, except when it's in cartoons for some reason.) The Three Amigos and Roxanne are two other Steve Martin movies I love.

I've also been reading and am nearly done with In the Land of the Grasshopper Song by Mary Ellicott Arnold and Mabel Reed. It's about the Klamath River Indian Country up in Northern California circa 1908-1909, as experienced by the authors who worked as field matrons. I forget if I acquired this book through a friend a few years back or while digging through the Blue House in Savannah after the co-op-esque house was sold to new owners and had all the tenants kicked out. Either way, it's a refreshing change of book that is a direct documentation of events that occurred through the eyes of the author. True to life, many situations have no closure, but are interesting to follow. Makes me really want to leave the city for a while, though, even though the culture of the land is long gone. I've been by Klamath Falls, and it's not exactly a great place to hang out. At the same time, when I was there I had to get off a train and hitchhike, along with a really horrible thunderstorm that rained down later on while we were stuck at a rest stop. Still...

Crocheting a little turtle for my neck. I have horrible asthma-related issues that crop up especially in cold weather, and sometimes a scarf just isn't effective enough or too fucking cumbersome to deal with.

Going to crochet a little bull cow for my grandma. She likes them oxen.

And another pair of armwarmers for someone...for pay! Again! Word. This will all keep me well distracted from other stress.

Oh yeah. And I should probably get back to my comics. I've been on hiatus way too long.

On The Golden Compass

I remember when I first saw the website for this movie. I was itching for it to come out; I figured it would be at least as promising as Narnia in film (Lord of the Rings would be quite a stretch). Even with the themes thrown out, there were enough plot twists and characters for it to be a challenge to make entertaining, if not make sense.

Not to mention that the books (The Golden Compass being one of three) revolve around global themes. The books were written to explore ideas regarding humanity and religion, human conditions, which the main characer Lyra exists as a window for us to see it through. Not the other way around; it is not a "character" story, though the characters are well-developed and mature along the way. I had trouble understanding this when I first read the trilogy; I still enjoyed the books the first time as I followed the characters around, but I didn't realize what Pullman was trying to get across until the second reading--he made an extremely complex discussion of atheism, religion, and the flaws of mankind easily accessible and entertaining without missing a detail.

So of course, a story with such a broad message doesn't translate well into a movie. No matter how entertaining it was striving to be--the plot itself is so long, cramming it into two hours (less?) made it unappealing to me as someone who simply wants to see something entertaining. I know a lot of people enjoyed watching it, but at the same time everyone who's seen it who hasn't read the book seemed pretty confused about the point of the story. Even if it strayed as far away as possible from the whole religious theme of the book, I feel it could have easily been more focused and understandable.

Even having seen the movie for free, I feel like I wasn't getting my money's worth. Oh well, it's quite the task to do a good book justice as it is.