wotd: fatidic, brought to you by His Dark Materials

fatidic \fuh-TID-ik\, adjective:: Of, relating to, or characterized by prophecy; prophetic.

Since the beginning of 2010 I've been immersed in this excellent performance of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy. I've been able to relate nearly every wotd post to the stories. They are not pablum. They are, in fact, dynamic and didactic tales that entertain as well as educate. My favorite character, the hirsute armored bear Iorek Byrnison, pledges fealty first to the bears, then to the child Lyra Belacqua, whom he's given the name Silvertongue, then to the aeronaut Lee Scoresby, to whom Iorek pays the highest tribute after Lee's death by systematically masticating his body. Just like Iorek, I have come to love Lyra, the story's fatidic protagonist. She's a fine and fierce character.

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doesn't take much

This afternoon I went to Starbucks. I don't go often because they're spendy and they've monopolized the coffee business and most of the time I just want black coffee. Part of our Thanksgiving tradition, though, is going to Mom's Target and Starbucks on Black Friday. This year we made it to Target but not to Starbucks, nor did we make it to Starbucks on Saturday, as we said we would on the way to the Deer Valley Goodwill. I have a gift card smoldering in my pocket so today, after buying spray paint and water marbles at JoAnn, I pulled up to the drive-thru at Starbucks. Usually I get some kind of blended iced vanilla chai thing. At the orderboard I was distracted by all the holiday drinks and opted for a white chocolate peppermint mocha, grande. One thing I will say for Starbucks: the employees are always uber-friendly. After ordering from the chirpy counterperson I pulled forward slightly, plugged in my ipod, and started a game of solitaire while listening to the White S...

memory

monday melee

Photo credit goes to xeriscapeaz.org On Monday morning Jack woke early and had plenty of time to play with Cassie in the backyard before school. I was inside making Jack's lunch when I heard Cassie's Alert Bark, so I went outside to investigate. She was barking ferociously at the resident herd of javelina, passing through the wash behind the house, trotting on their ridiculously tiny hooves. "Jack! Come see the javelina!" I said. He ran over and leaned against the wall by the lemon tree, where the wall runs shortest. "Here pig pig!" he called. And what the hell? The big ones started coming over, and the little ones followed. "Oh-ho!" Jack was delighted when the entire herd of seven javelina---five adults and two babies---walked over to stand just on the other side of the wall, lifting their round wet snouts and sniffing our air. "Someone's been feeding them," I said, over Cassie's barking, and turned to go inside to get the camera...

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