up, after putting food down for the cats

i got up to pee about an hour ago. usually lately i can fall asleep again quickly after a small-hours urination but this morning i was thinking not only about plan c for story #2 (plan b hasn't been panning out), which i will attempt to put into effect momentarily, but also when a convenient time to bring my hyundai to the shop will be. this weekend? next? how long do we want to be a one-car family? (kara's truck hasn't moved in quite a while; it probably just needs a jump, and its tags are way out of date.) i hope there's nothing seriously wrong with my car. so in thinking about these things i was unable to fall asleep again, so here i be.

so far my favorite story in the best american short stories 2007 (which i'm reading during breaks on days i work in the office; i've left my copy there) is called "findings & impressions" and it's by a woman called stellar kim. it's about a radiologist, and parts were reminiscent of the reports i type every day (even though i don't type radiology reports). i was hoping to find a link to the story for y'all, but i haven't found one. it was originally published in the iowa review. so nip out to the closest bookstore or library and find that journal or the (probably more easily findable) best american collection and open it up to this story.

tomorrow we're having eliot bathed and shaved, and we're all happy about that. eliot probably won't enjoy the process, but when he's home again he'll be happy. at the moment he's not real pleasant to the touch, otherwise sweet though he may be.

and tangentially to an email conversation about boobs and panties with a friend yesterday, i was thinking about how i used to love to go dancing. when i was in college i went dancing almost every weekend. i loved moving to the music, and being full of beer didn't hurt, usually. i might have looked the total dork, skinny white boy dancing to "you spin me round" and "just like heaven" and "personal jesus" and "tainted love," but i enjoyed myself and that's the point. i haven't been dancing in a long long time, and i'm considerably more self-conscious now, which is too bad.

it's almost december. it's raining. i'm going to try a bit of writing; i have about 2 hours before i need to start working.