2001-03-14 - 10:35 p.m.

Le beau-pere: "So, did you know that you can't be a Civil War buff these days without being called a racist?"

The BYM: "Er, how so?"

Le beau-pere: "Well, you've got these idiots insisting that the war was fought over slavery and telling you you can't display the flag..."

At which point the BYM dove into debate with le beau-pere over the interrelation between land rights, states' rights, and the economics of exploitation, each insisting to the other they've read up on the subject and that the other one needs to do more homework. What's even stupider is that beau-pere isn't even southern - he's just automatically on the side of the economically advantaged. That goddamn flag. I have had it with human beings - I'm going to go find me an attic, throw the bolt behind me, read Piers Plowman and speak to no one except the cat and the cactus for the rest of the year.

Except that I would start missing the BYM after a couple of hours, and most attics don't have running water or room service, so I'd have to unlock the door sooner or later to satisfy the various demands of the flesh. Drat. Another fantasy foiled.

Seriously: I didn't plant the seeds this morning because the first two swipes with the handrake unearthed bits of Christmas lights and a soggy, half-decomposed wrapper. I may be half-assed in my approach to gardening, but even my daft romantic impulses have their limits, which means I'm needing to spend some more time doing more cleaning-up (of previous tenants' messes - maybe I'll trim the leaves they whitewashed along with the fence while I'm at it) before I fling those seeds around. The yard looked so much tidier at twilight yesterday eve than it did in the bright glare of eight ack emma this morning...

That pretty much sums up the entire day: stuff I thought I would do vs. dumb stuff in my way = stuff not yet accomplished. Grump, grump, grump. Time to fold laundry and fold myself into bed. The BYM just headed up there, the cat will follow upon my heels, and I'll be glad for good company tomorrow once I sleep off today's frustrations.