Thumbtacks

Too many days are passing without having little thumbtacks driven through them. Here's what I've been up to:

• I bought a belt. My previous belt was a marvel of engineering; it was made of angular gray metal, in almost an Art Deco style, and it was uncomfortable enough to press up against that it worked as a "Maybe you'd better take your belt off" belt during times of romantic entanglement. (Well, it only worked that way twice, and neither time did it lead to pants removal, but I feel the belt did its part for the war effort.) The leather began fraying at Nags Head, and it finally snapped last Thursday—due to wear and tear, not any increase in my girth. This new belt is also bulgy and metallic, but I'm not sure it has the nasty, pelvis-bruising corners necessary for a "Maybe you'd better take your belt off" belt. It does have a steel tip, like you might find on a dagger scabbard, which makes me feel 4% a pirate. It and a pack of three undershirts cost me fifty bucks.
  
  
• I played guitar for dance class again. An Irish musician and his girlfriend showed up at the pre-class Scottish music workshop (led by me, oddly enough) a few weeks ago, and K. has been practicing her piano skills, so we have formed a ragged combo for one or two dances each week. I mourn the loss of fiddler Scott, who knew the Scottish tunebooks and knew my musical quirks, but it's been a lot of fun playing again regardless. I'm glad I'm getting some practice in before Pinewoods.
  
  
• I woke up early on Saturday for a staff meeting. I contributed nothing and learned nothing, nor did I eat any of the foodstuffs, but I did show up at noon, then work a late show from six 'til two that night. The theater is apparently going to throw me a going-away party, and I am supposed to pick the venue. Hmm. (In related news, Russ Collins, CEO of the Michigan Theater Foundation and Pillar of the Community, wants to take me to lunch before I leave. I'm not sure why. But he would make a great job reference.)
  
  
• I watched movies. K. and I saw Control Room, Fahrenheit 9/11, and Spider-Man 2 in the past week. But you knew that.
  
  
• I found a baby mantis on my Venetian blinds. It was an inch long, and dusty white. I think one of its arms was missing or disfigured. I saw it clinging there when I woke, and nearly dismissed it as a dream-remnant.
  
  
• K. delivered her dissertation. This is a bit of an anticlimax, after the excitement of the defense, but on Monday she sent the final product to be bound and distributed. It will appear in UMich libraries and on professors' shelves. This is 'stremely cool, stornry cool.

Unfortunate headline

"Rockets Hit Iraq Hotels, Poland Hails Arms Success"