• Horseshoe crabs, Limulus polyphemus, have evolved little in the last 250 million years.

• Two-thirds the size of females, the males ride their mates up to the high-tide line, fertilizing eggs as they go.
• Like most people, horseshoe crabs have 2 eyes on the top of their shells that can see about 3 feet. They use them to find mates.
• Migratory birds like to feed on horseshoe crabs when they molt. However, molting is the only way they can grow, so they’re in something of a bind.
• Horseshoe crabs look like they were designed by Swiss artist HR Giger, which in fact they were.
• Every horseshoe crab drags a heavy stone uphill. Despite the fact that the stones are of uniform weight, each horseshoe crab remains convinced his is the heaviest.
• Kate Bush sings “Running up that hill” while the horseshoe crabs do this, proving that life is more ironic and cynical than anything you or I can think up.
• Despite their nasty-looking tails, horseshoe crabs have never harmed Australians.
• The horseshoe crab’s central mouth is surrounded by legs and while scary-looking, is harmless unless someone compares the horseshoe crab to a Roomba, which they are sick of hearing.
• Horseshoe crabs sometimes talk loudly during movies. Sometimes. It depends on the horseshoe crab.

For some reason none of the prunes on the trees have worms now. Earlier in the summer, when they were first getting ripe, it was gross. You had to examine every single one, and throw away more than half. Now you still examine every one, but none are infested.
Weekend: Saturday we did some stuff. Sunday we did some more stuff. Don’t ask me what, so long ago.
Saturday morning, I think Beta and I moved furniture at her grandparents’ house. It went well, I only squished her into the corner once and we damaged the freshly-painted walls minimally. Nothing got crushed etc and there was no blood and no tears and minimal sweat. Then we ate pizza and I went and lifted weights at the gym a little.
I say lifted weights. Worked out. I worked out at the gym.
A little.
Sunday morning I worked in the yard. I clipped some bushes. Gamma and I played catch with a tennis ball after Alpha and Beta went somewhere. Then Gamma took a shower, and then I did. Then I started to practice cello, but Alpha called and said put some food together let’s go on a picnic, so we did and it was nice.
In the afternoon, Sunday was all about the circus. Gamma had been promised a visit to the circus. It was my turn, and presented to me as if I would treat it like punishment, but I didn’t mind this year. Most years I try to get out of it. This year I didn’t mind.
It is the cheapest circus that comes to town. The others really fucking rip you off. This one is reasonable by comparison. Gamma and I – that is, a 9 year old kid and a grown man – got decent seats for

Just messing around with flickr. Beta took some pictures on our way into Vienna a few days ago.

A lightning storm over our house woke me up at four this morning. It was still raining pretty good when Beta and I drove into town. I made her take pictures all the way in, until the batteries went dead.

Took some stuff to the dump yesterday because it’s open late Thursdays, until seven in the evening. Got home late from work because traffic was heavy, loaded up the old Dobl

Driving to work Tuesday, I saw the first fog of the season. Apparently there’s a fog season, who knew. I looked for deer, but it was too bright for them.

Fog has a calming effect. Fog is quiet. Deer in fog are even nicer, but fog is okay by itself, sort of coming out of the woods like that.

Around the bend in the freeway, there were a lot of dumptrucks and road construction machinery, and I realized it was actually dust. Dust is almost as nice, as long as you think it’s fog.

This morning I screamed at Gamma. I told her to wear her glasses to school, which she must, and to wear them all day. She said she’d go to school without glasses and wear them in class, which means she did not intend to wear them. I got madder and madder, she started crying big tears. I got so mad I yelled and threw a ring of keys down onto the floor so hard that the cheap plastic piece of shit in the keyring broke.

Gamma is of the opinion she looks like a pig in her glasses. She wouldn’t answer me when I asked who said that. She was not impressed by my statement that I think she looks cute in glasses.

I tried to calm down. She wiped the tears off her face and I walked her to school. I told her I would tell her teacher she had to wear glasses all day, but the lazy teacher wasn’t at school yet when we got there, nor did she arrive before I left for work.

Gamma had her glasses on when I left. She still had them on when I snuck back a minute later to check. No idea whether she’ll wear them all day. If I weren’t her dad, I’d advise her to flush them down the toilet. Then we’d have no choice but to buy her new ones she likes.

When we left the house this morning, there was some real fog in the trees and around the chimneys. The first fog, Gamma said. Fall is coming, I said.

Life lately has been a lot like when they lock you in the rubber room at the insane asylum except the walls are made of beautiful naked ladies not rubber, and when you go to climb the walls they are all covered with oil so you keep slipping back down to the floor, and the floor is made of ugly naked ladies.

A lot, I say “a lot,” in fact that’s exactly what it’s been like.

Three dreams have come true for me this summer: I rode my bike from D