Day Four - 10:05 a.m.Well, I crashed early last night (all that killer sun)
and woke up at around four.
So I got up, had some pound cake, ANOTHER Ferrero Rocher, some nachos and finished PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. Heart pounding to the end,although admittedly, it could have been the chocolate. Very tense indeed, especially when Mr.D's old lady aunt showed up. Elizabeth stood her ground though, and her rejoinders held up marvellously well. I wish everyone could speak like Elizabeth Bennet. The world would be a more syntactical place. I didn't realize that this was all written while England was at war with Napoleon, it just reads as being rather timeless, or at least timeless for 19th century England. But really, you just never knew if it was all just going to blow up in their faces, as HE (Mr.D) wasn't saying anything, and SHE (E.B.) figured she'd screwed everything up by this point, so what else was there to be done? A good lesson though, in not presuming what another person is feeling. Who can really know for sure? A crime I'm guilty of, most of the time, I'm sure.
Well, now I've got Bulgakov's THE MASTER AND MARGARITA, and Malcolm Lowry's UNDER THE VOLCANO to get through. I think I'd like to read NICHOLAS NICKLEBY too, as I don't think I've ever managed to get through any Dickens, and if I'm going to write, (and in the English language too) to not at least to have read ONE Dickens novel is like trying to be a French chef with an aversion to garlic.
Today I'm off to downtown Sarasota, where I'm hoping it will be warmer than yesterday, for all that it was sunny out.
5:48 p.m.
Was in downtown Sarasota all afternoon. Mom and Wayne went wandering off, and I haunted the best damn antiquarian bookstore I've ever seen. First editions of Isak Dinesen, and brilliant hardcover editions of Dickens, Austen, and the like. I specifically went in looking to get NICHOLAS NICKLEBY, (or Charlie Hunnam if I absolutely HAD to) but they didn't have it, (or Charlie) however, I DID see a great Modern Library version of Austen's P&P and S&S, but I already have them both, and I DID just read P&P, so......I bought a wonderful hardcover biography of my favourite movie director, George Cukor, instead.
Did some Christmas shopping for the folks, found a fun chewable Santa toy for the dog, which should last all of ten minutes when she gets ahold of it, but, cesslavie. It was in a little pet gift shop which was part of a Seeing Guide Dog training centre located in the downtown core. I walked in, and was immediately greeted by a charming lady who gave me a full five minute pitch on guide dogs, without drawing breath once, my God, even JoJo would have been amazed. Maybe because I was wearing glasses, she must have thought I needed one. All of which was wonderfully enlightening, but I felt awful that all I wanted was a chew toy. But I couldn't get a word in edgewise to say anything! I know! Me! Not being able to get a word in! What were the odds? Anyway, it was lovely to see that it was such a big deal down here, as there are many elderly people who depend very hugely on these dogs and the training services that centres like these provide, so I didn't mind hearing the schpiel at all. I think the gift shop proceipts must go towards funding the training and cost of the dogs, but it was really neat to watch. I remember thinking my Mom would enjoy something like that. Not having a guide dog,(although she'd probably like one regardless) but working with them, and helping others learn to work with them. I should mention it...
Had lunch at an outdoor cafe with Mom and Wayne, and watched life go by. There are quite a few homeless people wandering the streets, and in the sidestreets there's not a lot going on. The recession hit down here very hard, and it's just now starting to come back. Two years ago it was even more of a ghost town. Compared to downtown Toronto, Tuesday morning in the financial and shopping district down here felt like a really early Sunday morning in Toronto before the shoppers hit. Extremely quiet with not a lot of people around. But, it's coming back, and it really IS quite pretty down here, with a lot of preserved old Art Deco buildings which are magnificent. I forgot the camera at home, but will bring it next time to take pickshaws.
I came home, picked some oranges, juiced about four of them, grabbed the vodka and made myself the freshest tasting Screwdriver I've ever had. Then I sat out with the dog for awhile in the yard, and read how George first came to hire a squinty-eyed Katharine Hepburn for "A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT".
And that, as they say, is THAT. The sun takes a lot out of you when you're not used to it, and I may take a (yawn...) nap before supper...
Well, now I've got Bulgakov's THE MASTER AND MARGARITA, and Malcolm Lowry's UNDER THE VOLCANO to get through. I think I'd like to read NICHOLAS NICKLEBY too, as I don't think I've ever managed to get through any Dickens, and if I'm going to write, (and in the English language too) to not at least to have read ONE Dickens novel is like trying to be a French chef with an aversion to garlic.
Today I'm off to downtown Sarasota, where I'm hoping it will be warmer than yesterday, for all that it was sunny out.
5:48 p.m.
Was in downtown Sarasota all afternoon. Mom and Wayne went wandering off, and I haunted the best damn antiquarian bookstore I've ever seen. First editions of Isak Dinesen, and brilliant hardcover editions of Dickens, Austen, and the like. I specifically went in looking to get NICHOLAS NICKLEBY, (or Charlie Hunnam if I absolutely HAD to) but they didn't have it, (or Charlie) however, I DID see a great Modern Library version of Austen's P&P and S&S, but I already have them both, and I DID just read P&P, so......I bought a wonderful hardcover biography of my favourite movie director, George Cukor, instead.
Did some Christmas shopping for the folks, found a fun chewable Santa toy for the dog, which should last all of ten minutes when she gets ahold of it, but, cesslavie. It was in a little pet gift shop which was part of a Seeing Guide Dog training centre located in the downtown core. I walked in, and was immediately greeted by a charming lady who gave me a full five minute pitch on guide dogs, without drawing breath once, my God, even JoJo would have been amazed. Maybe because I was wearing glasses, she must have thought I needed one. All of which was wonderfully enlightening, but I felt awful that all I wanted was a chew toy. But I couldn't get a word in edgewise to say anything! I know! Me! Not being able to get a word in! What were the odds? Anyway, it was lovely to see that it was such a big deal down here, as there are many elderly people who depend very hugely on these dogs and the training services that centres like these provide, so I didn't mind hearing the schpiel at all. I think the gift shop proceipts must go towards funding the training and cost of the dogs, but it was really neat to watch. I remember thinking my Mom would enjoy something like that. Not having a guide dog,(although she'd probably like one regardless) but working with them, and helping others learn to work with them. I should mention it...
Had lunch at an outdoor cafe with Mom and Wayne, and watched life go by. There are quite a few homeless people wandering the streets, and in the sidestreets there's not a lot going on. The recession hit down here very hard, and it's just now starting to come back. Two years ago it was even more of a ghost town. Compared to downtown Toronto, Tuesday morning in the financial and shopping district down here felt like a really early Sunday morning in Toronto before the shoppers hit. Extremely quiet with not a lot of people around. But, it's coming back, and it really IS quite pretty down here, with a lot of preserved old Art Deco buildings which are magnificent. I forgot the camera at home, but will bring it next time to take pickshaws.
I came home, picked some oranges, juiced about four of them, grabbed the vodka and made myself the freshest tasting Screwdriver I've ever had. Then I sat out with the dog for awhile in the yard, and read how George first came to hire a squinty-eyed Katharine Hepburn for "A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT".
And that, as they say, is THAT. The sun takes a lot out of you when you're not used to it, and I may take a (yawn...) nap before supper...
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