NANO ZEN

I’m in a low mood as stated before, but I still appreciate beauty passing before my eyes. I live in Cannes, France, sometimes a really boring conference town, with a famous festival, then I take a moment and look out my kitchen window into the courtyard, see the trees, bushes, the green, and clouds as they pass before me, wonder if my problems are real or just fiction. I think we lose sight of life when we fail to take moments of pause and reflection, when we ignore our homes and lives and consider what might have been. I live alone yet have a wonderful little dog, and like to look out into the courtyard at the trees.

I’ve been somewhat on a downer lately. Set all my IM clients to DND, tweet little, turn my cell phone ringer to silent mode, email yet to be answered, hibernating from summer heat, and generally feeling like I’ve lost the plot. Just to put things in context.

I woke early yesterday around 6h00, took Baka for his walk before the sun crested the hill, while the air was still cool and fresh, with nobody around to disturb the silence, sort of like Charlton Heston in Omega Man. After Baka had finished marking our territory, made a cup of tea, grabbed the last of the dark chocolate chip & pecan cookies, and sat down to watch Alien v Predator Requiem on DVD I just received, having not yet seen it. This cheered me up.

I like sci-fi, fantasy, adventure, thriller, drama, almost any story really, good or bad. I can suspend disbelief pretty well and get immersed in a story. In my current frame of mind, it wasn’t hard either. So to be watching a sci-fi horror flick based on the Alien and Predator creatures at 6h30 in the morning and claim that it cheered me up just goes to show how much of a downer I’m going through just now. I suppose the cookies helped too.

In any recent flick with the Alien, they have a tendency to breed faster than black flies hanging around Uranus and have a nasty bite too. To say that these critters leave a little welt is an understatement. So after the film, when I spotted Baka lying on his back in that all so cute “rub my belly please” posture, you might have thought I had a vision of exploding chest cavities.

Not so. But I did oblige him and rub his belly only to find grit or worse flea dust. Not a little either, but a lot. Dog owner’s worst nightmare is not drooling Aliens and face huggers, but ticks and fleas, especially if there is more than one and they can breed almost as fast. Right, my mood might be no better than Marvin the android, but action had to be taken. Immediate bath time for Baka.

Just as well too. Found four of the blighters despite the bath he had last week and the Frontline I applied. Now instead of Aliens, I might have to deal with more fleas and me only armed with a can of Raid.

How do you say good bye to a friend that has to leave at at 4h00 to catch a plane?