26. Mysteries, running, weather

HOT DAYS, COOL READING

For many months all I've been reading is books from the 1930s. It started with a Perry Mason book, and then a very bad murder mystery from England, and then some P.G. Wodehouses, and then Agatha Christie. Someday I will venture forth to another decade but not yet. Last week I went to the library and checked out more 1930s books - Agatha Christies and another Perry Mason. It wasn't all that easy to stay within my preferred decade - there are many from the '50s and that won't do at all. I don't know why I'm reading 1930s books but I am and I like it. I went to a thrift store the other day and got Brave New World so that's on the list for when I get sick of murder and jewel theft. (I also got a math textbook from 1907 and it's fascinating and promises hours packed with fun. There's a page of subtraction problems and it says to try to finish them all under 13 minutes - that's actually why I bought the book. I ran home and did them in 14.5 minutes but I'll get down to 13, I will. I learned about greatest common denominators last night. Hours of fun!)

However! Now that I'm finally enjoying my secular life, reading fun books and having not a care in the world, the following horrible things have thrust themselves upon me: 1. I will be presenting at an academic conference in August. 2. I will be teaching a class Fall Semester. This means I will be stressed out from now until December and I will only be able to read boring horrible academic crap. 1930s, goodbye. It is flummoxing and heart-wrenching for me, as I'd thought I retired from academia two years ago. There is a very real chance that 1. I get rejected for the conference, and 2. the contract for the teaching job doesn't go through - we can only hope. If either happens, or both, I will feel sad/embarrassed for a second but will then happily go back to my book to find out who kidnapped the prime minister and why they're taking such pains to keep him alive. And so, also, I'm "looking" for a part-time job, which means I'm not really looking.

DETECTIVE

Last week my Griz Card and my coffee card and my extra house key all mysteriously vanished one night under highly suspicious circumstances. I, as you now know, have been reading copious detective novels, and I have learned quite a few tricks, quite a few tricks indeed. Obviously the three items had been thieved from my room that night, and they were either still together or had been sold individually. I was gathering clues when, a few days later, I found my extra key hidden under an envelope in the place where I keep my extra key. So I deduced that the key had not been part of the purloining. Then, one morning, I put on my pants and found in the right-hand pocket, along with some hair clips, my Griz Card. And so the thief had been after my coffee card all along, had stolen the Griz Card to deflect suspicion, and had then returned it to throw me off. I am not so easily duped, of course, and was getting very close to solving the mystery when I found my coffee card in a pile of very important papers. The thief had been frightened by my sleuthing, obviously, and had been unsuccessful at selling my coffee card on the black market.

MISSOULA HOODS

South Central, where I live (actually North Ave West), is full of concrete, urbanity, yard-tending neighbors, and mosquitoes. I don't know where the mosquitoes have come from because there's no water anywhere, but they've come and they've come in swarms. I went out to look at my tomatoes last night and the mosquitoes swarmed me so badly (I could hear them yelling to each other, "She's over here, very juicy!") I had to run back inside after two minutes. This is very sad, because these are the longest days of the year and I'm forced to spend them indoors.

LONGEST DAYS OF THE YEAR

Tomorrow will be 9 seconds longer than today - remember when each day was like 3 minutes longer than the previous? That was great. It's light until very late at night now. How late? I have no idea, because I'm always in bed by then. I don't know why, but I've been going to bed at 9:30 lately. I wake up at 5, which is annoying, blah blah.

ALL ABOUT THE RUN ON SUNDAY

We went up the Rattlesnake and it was beautiful (no mosquitoes of course - the Rattlesnake is heaven). I just deleted some sentences detailing our training plan because it was too boring. Anyway, things are going well and I'm on track to totally win the race, or, barring that, do better than last year.

ALL ABOUT THE RUN YESTERDAY

7:40 pace, avg. It had stopped raining, mostly, and everything smelled good.

COMPUTING

Do you have the Sims 3 yet? I don't either! I'm going to have to buy more memory first. Memory is cheap.

WHAT TO DO FOR THE FOURTH OF JULY

I haven't decided yet, but the Missoula Outdoor Cinema season starts the night before, and the Big Sky Film Series has a film that night too, and it's totally possible to do both, and you know how I'm a sucker for a film series. But there's no place better than Sandpoint for the Fourth of July. One year I stayed in Seattle instead of going home and I did laundry that day and it was so unpatriotic and depressing I'm sure I cried all day. Who does laundry on the Fourth of July? Only libs and commies, that's who. And concrete-dwellers! ('concrete-dweller' is the hot new insult in Missoula.) In my hometown there's a parade and fireworks and horses clipclopping past my window in the morning, not to mention a lake and mountains and food and watermelon - so much better than Missoula. But no outdoor movie. While I was typing this I decided what to do. Thanks for listening.