In response to Aaron B's question, I miss my census job because it was the perfect mix of inactivity, human interaction, and money. When I was working for the census, I would get up in the morning (not too early, because no one else working for the census wanted to wake up too early), drive to Whole Foods to meet my work group, hang out and talk for a while, and get some questionnaires to do. I'd get them done in a short amount of time, clock in my hours, and be done. I miss my hours of daylight at home, lounging and enjoying my time with the creatures. And I had found a group of kindred spirits in my census group--people who do not view work as the most important part of their lives, and thus, were very interesting people.

Teaching is fairly rewarding and interesting, but it's eating my soul, because I do not have enough time to do the things that really matter to me (i.e. improving and culturing my mind through reading and movies, as well as doing my god-given vocation, which is hanging out with my boy, dog, and kitty.)

On the other hand, I am learning science so much better now than I ever did in medical school. And I'm getting paid to learn it, rather than paying some bloated institution to teach it to me.

I really miss my census job.

Possibly the cutest kitten video I've ever seen.

The mix that randomly played this morning on my way to work was too amazing not to document.

1. Girl Right Next to Me - Goo Goo Dolls
2. My Life to Live - Lars Frederickson and the Bastards
3. Daylight Outro Remix - Matt & Kim
4. Losing Touch - The Killers

That, plus my starbux coffee, breakfast of hostess powdered donuts, and the fact that it is FRIDAY! should make this an amazing day.

Last night, Aaron and I followed a random car off I-75, just to see where he ended up. I was having my routine Sunday night depression, and started wishing I had somewhere to be, as it seemed all the other cars on the highway did. So, we decided to follow a white Honda to see where it was going. Strangely, he got off on our exit. Then, he took us on a winding route. Aaron conjectured that he was going to end up just taking us to his house/apt/living abode, and I hoped for a much more mysterious and exciting destination. In the end, we ended up about 2 blocks away from our house, and he parked in the parking lot behind Black Eyed Pea, either because he worked the night shift somewhere near there, or he was gonna party down on Cedar Springs, or because he wanted a late dinner. So, I guess we didn't learn much, but what is the likelihood that the exact car we decided to follow would end up getting off I-75 at our exit, and basically take us home?

Dwight looks like a baby puppy without his collar. The coating on his collar hardware wore off, and he had an allergic reaction to the nickel...or the brass, we're not sure. So we're gonna have to order some stainless steel hardware and re-hardware his collar. But first we're waiting for his neck to heal and stop leaking. Yuck. Oh, the things I do for this dog.

I had a dream last night that a bright pink kitten showed up at our doorstep. But when I touched her fur, crowds of fleas and mites could be seen running from my hand. So Aaron and I gave her a bath in Dawn soap, and the pink washed off to reveal mostly white with orange tabby patches. I was disappointed because I was hoping the pink was a rare genetic mutation.

The end, for now.

How many movies does Repo Men rip off? At least 4 obvious ones...
1. Old Boy
2. Pulp Fiction
3. Vanilla Sky
4. granted this is not a movie...but, a Corona commercial.

In the past year or so, I've begun having a certain recurring dream. Not exactly the same dream every time, but a recurring theme that twists into different situations every time. It always has to do with suddenly remembering that I have forgotten about a certain animal in a certain cage or aquarium, and realizing I haven't fed them in a very long time, and then being afraid to look, lest I see something awful inside, like a rotting body or something.

Last night's version was that I suddenly realized that I had forgotten about two additional animals living in the hermit crab's cage. One, a dark mouse, and the other, I'm not sure, some other rodent. There was the typical dread at looking into the cage, and I seem to remember that once I did, I saw the dark mouse, in bad shape, clinging to his water bottle on the side of the cage. I felt so guilty.

I guess that's the result of having so many animals. Especially when we still had the gerbils, there was so much upkeep that I felt like I was always falling behind on something. It also doesn't help that the hermit crab cage is now exactly where the gerbils' cage was, so maybe that's part of why I thought there should be two more rodents in the cage. I'm sure Billy and Lars have gone on to their heavenly rest, but my mind is still haunted in a very ordinary way by the confusion of space and time.

Also, I found a dead wild mouse in our backyard yesterday, still soft. Poison? Or murdered by B.P.? My guess is poisoned, since he was still soft and B.P. had been inside overnight, and the mouse seemed untouched, but it's always possible B.P. thought I deserved a treat for being so nice to him... : )