Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Recent stuff: Kauto, at the circus, appendix, Six Feet Under

Haven't posted lately - we are going to start working and getting adjusted to the new rhythm seems to take time. I'll be doing the morning shift and Elina the evening shift, while the other one is with Kauto. Exercise is good: today we walked (well, I walked and Kauto sat in his cart) to Martti to check out one of the remaining paperback stores, came out with some dozen books (nothing memorable, mainly British books).

Meanwhile Kauto is getting more and more, well, annoying: he climbs up on the kitchen table, all the free stools, including one in front of the computer (and he bangs the keyboard; maybe I should start him his own blog), tries to climb out of the window if there's one open (luckily it's Fall soon and we won't be keeping our windows open), tears the books out of the shelves (I put some more valuable ones away, but every book is just as precious, so it's pretty hard on me to see the books fall on the floor again and again), won't eat unless he has a spoon to himself and if he does, he throws the food on the floor and on the walls and at the same time climbs out of his chair and on the table... Eegah!

And yet, he's just as sweet and funny as ever. Cute, too, and bright. And luckily he has finally started sleeping through the night - at least he did that one time. His naps during the daytime seem to have become standard length of 1½-2 hours.

Kauto likes to sit in his cart and watch the cranes at construction sites. He points at them and yells: "Huh! Huh! Huh!" He also likes to read books, not just tear them off the shelves - as I write, I had to read Baa Baa Black Sheep three times in a row!

***

We went to see the Finlandia Circus with Ottilia last Sunday. I thought at first that it's just same old circus stuff, but I was surprised - well, by my own reaction at least, because I was entertained, thrilled and amused. I hadn't been to circus for some fifteen years and had developed the intellectual's defense against such a vulgar form of entertainment. Just to remind you that there's no use being a crumpy intellectual.

The best part was an old Spanish guy doing balance tricks. He stood on a plank that was on top of the small log; the log was on a platform two meters high. Then he put three benches on top of the plank. He didn't succeed at first and almost fell down. His wife accompanying him looked terrified. He tried again. You could see sweat dripping from the man's forehead. Everytime he placed another bench on top of the other, you could feel how the audience stiffened. No sound anywhere, except for the drummer waiting for the climax.

Man, it was thrilling! What a relief when the man finally succeeded - and he had still to take benches off! All the time he was swinging from edge to edge.

And he was old! I'd say he was 55 to 60. Small guy, very macho - every time he failed he seemed to curse to the audience, maybe in Spanish. Puta de madre! What excitement and entertainment! It was full of drama, while all the other shows at the circus were quite neat and easy. (With full of gorgeous babes! Yet another reason to go to circus...)

Ottilia liked the trained ducks best, but it seemed she was as genuinely thrilled by the balance guy as I was. She hid behind my back and said she can't watch.

***

I'm getting better, but still oozing a bit. (Does anyone want to hear this?) I was said that I shouldn't lift anything up, since I could get hernia, but hey, how could I help not lifting Kauto when he's on the kitchen table? Should I let him fall?

I'm getting back to work, as I already said, and working on a new name book. I'd like to get if off my hands and start with another projects. Maybe on Friday.

***

Six Feet Under started with new chapters. Elina especially has been waiting for it eagerly. We have the second chapter on tape, but there's a document on the US war policy and military complex soon. I'd like to see that, but we'll see how it goes. Kauto is going to sleep as I write, but there's not enough time. There's never enough time.

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