Progress and setbacks...

greenygal came over yesterday and we went to see Pom Poko, the Studio Ghibili movie about tenuki, at the AFI. It was fun, but an odd combination between fairy tale and nature documentary, and there was some severe cultural value disssonance -- I can't think of a Disney movie that included what amounts to a mass suicide, for instance. Also, the art style was rather reminiscent of The Real Ghostbusters which combined with Maurice LaMarch as the narrator, was a little distracting.

Afterward, we went to the new local bistro. For some reason -- possibly city ordinances -- they don't do table service outside, even though they have several tables on the sidewalk. You have to order your food to-go, and then you can eat it on the outside table. This means that there is an unholy heap at the trash cans, and I might not eat there again, since while their food was quite tasty, their business model seems to be foisting unduly extra costs on the city for trash pick-up.

We then went back to my place, where greenygal helped me work on cleaning my apartment and going through my books and comic books. She took several fanzines, and couple of books, and some trades with her when she left, and has a stack that she'll come back for later.

She also got a Tasmanian violet because the one I have was outgrowing its pot. It was no trouble to divide it and re-pot it. I hope it brightens up her windowsill.

holli came by in the middle of that and picked up three bags of clothes that either don't fit anymore, or that I decided I don't wear often enough to justify keeping. I expect I'll get rid of a few more bags, including shoes that are impractical at my job and not nice enough to keep for special occasions.

After greenygal left, I let Zone Alarm download its newest version because the program was whining about it. This may have been a mistake, since I can now boot my computer, but it will freeze within fifteen minutes. I tried having it run a disk check, but there is no improvement.

Admittedly, it's an older machine, but I was hoping to go another few months before I had to replace it. At the moment, that doesn't look like it will be possible. :( This is a bit annoying because I had my checkbook spreadsheet on that computer, and will have to reconstruct it if I can't get a copy off it.

Otoh, I haven't turned on the A/C yet, so it might just be too warm and the machine will behave once I do cool the apartment down.

Fortunately, my laptop still works, so I'm not going to be completely cut off.

I haven't heard anything about the prospective place yet, but I'm trying to be patient -- it's not easy.

Also, I've had itching around my eyes and off-and-on sniffles since Friday night. I've either finally developed hayfever of some sort, or I'm coming down with something. :P