Monk

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That was my last trip of the fall library season. I couldn't have asked for better weather. I had to take off my sweat jacket on the walk home from the bus stop, and that was the worst of it. I didn't even bring my book bag, just having the one book to drop off.

However, since I had some time to kill at the library before going off for my chicken fried rice, I browsed a bit, and I discovered another of those presidential books, one that sort of walks you through all the years and events of the Clinton presidency, "Bill Clinton: Mastering the Presidency". I was sure this would be great following "What It Takes" on the 1988 presidential race.

Though, I see on Amazon that the book gets fairly trashed. One reviewer says the author serves Clinton as well as Lewinski ever did, complete with presidential knee pads. And it is only about the first term! Still, I have a thing for these intimate diary-like narratives on presidential politics, even though I can only think of one that I have actually read, on the 1984 presidential election, but I loved it. Wait, there was also "The Hadleman Diaries".

Maybe there is a communal factor in this fascination, since the presidency is something that we all share, even across generations and time.

xXx

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I'm back! This was a much better trip. And I'm not just talking about the chicken fried rice, though that was definitely food for my soul; if anything, they put too much chicken in it! Not that I'd complain.

Maybe I was just more in the mood for books, because many more of them were looking so good to me that I was regretting again having only one lifetime to read.

For my fiction, I went with the intention of getting Thomas Harris's "Red Dragon", which is the predecessor to "Silence of the Lambs". I thought it would be a good bet to get deeper into that story, but I came across John le Carre and I was feeling guilty for not reading more of him, since I enjoyed his "Perfect Spy" and "A Little Town in Germany" and knew he was a quality novelist. So, I browsed his books, and I decided to pick up "The Little Drummer Girl" and enjoy a fictional dip back into the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. And this will probably be my last novel for this library season, just as Fox's "Classical World" will be my last non-fiction book. We'll call it a good season.

xXx

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"I really need to learn to shave someday," Monk mutters in the first few minutes of his shave, hacking away at the brush on his chin. But after about ten minutes, he was relieved to start making headway.

And I am pretty pleased with a bald face. All that straggly hair really is hideous. Though, this face bald is no prize, either.

Anyway, we're ready for the library season. This week I think. I finished Caesar a few days ago, and am ready to go when I finish the Hard Case Crime pocketbook "Say It With Bullets". Maybe we'll leave on Wednesday. Thursday would be better, but once I finish, I don't think I'll be able to wait, but will rush off the next day, unless Pop has some business to take care of.

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After shaving and showering, Monk had an ugly episode with Bo. The eskie started hacking up as if to throw up, and he sends the dog out. Then Monk joins him. When they come back inside Bo resumes hacking up, even though he had entirely stopped the whole time they were outside, and this ignites Monk's anger, and he kicks Bo back outside. After bringing him back inside, Bo becomes hesitant about heeding Monk's call to go into the theater, and Monk grabs him roughly by the neck and kicks him into the room. And Bo feels it. The eskie slinks deep into the laundry room and he keeps his head turned away from Monk throughout the afternoon reading session.

Monk is left wondering how he could do this to the old boy. Usually he feels so good after a shave and shower, feeling refreshed and reinvigorated. Then I realize that it is precisely because he was feeling so refreshed that he got angry. Monk didn't want to go out in the hot sun and get sweaty and feel dirty. Not a good reason. There can be no good reason. But that is what happened.

I gave Bo bigger scraps from my dinner, and all seems fine. But stop pushing your luck, tough guy. Bo is the greatest love of your life.

xXx

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That was a hard nap to come out of. Monk had returned from his last library trip of the season. It proved to be a disappointing season for saving money, with only twenty-five dollars in the envelope - the New York Times subscription is in some jeopardy.

Hell, Monk was even prepared to dip into that envelope to buy
Fagles's "Aenied" now. Still finishing up "Odyssey," Monk was able to find his cool, feeling that he could use a little break from those epics, and he will hit the history books in the meantime. Monk will be finishing "Odyssey" using his old Fagles edition, and if his reading life should have more years to thrive, he will buy the Mandelbaum translation then.

Monk relished his last serving of the year of that chicken fried rice. To think, he was tempted to skip it and make a fast trip out of his last library rounds. Of course, he could not deny himself. His diet is poor enough as it is. He has even fancied getting a job at such a joint for a short term, only to steal the secret of how to cook his favorite dish. It would fast become a staple, and he would love to see the day when he gets tired of it! Back to reality, it is a treat awaiting him in the spring.

xXx