Yesterday in fact even quieter than Tuesday. Saw Kate off to work, then Nola off to her dad's, then settled down to read awhile. A Beautiful Mind, most engrossing. Aside from his illness, John Nash was certainly a peculiar fellow. John Milnor's (friend & colleague) commentary is available here as a PDF. Though why Milnor insists the bio was unauthorized is a mystery to me—it's quite clear that Nash consented and co-operated with Sylvia Nasar throughout.
"A while" turned into "most of the day", but did get in a little sketch of the gnarly bush by the back gate, and a start on painting the purple-orangey flowers in front. (I know they have names. Kate did, in fact, name them for me. I have not only two ears inline, but a large empty space between.)
Two women and a job lot of small children showed up in the middle of that to swim in the lake. Their house shares access with Kate & Lisa's. One of them insisted on seeing what I was doing, and making much of it, which annoyed me so that I went inside till I was sure they'd gone. Qwinn barked his fool head off at them, for which I was rather gratified.
First Kate, then Nola, returned as I was setting up the flowers, so I laid off that. Kate put together leftovers from yesterday, along with tabouli, and then we listened to music, mostly folk and blues.
Later Kate showed us her trick of fitting a condom over her head and then blowing it up. It ballooned out and up, her hair standing on end inside as she huffed and puffed. Nola became hysterical. I desperately wanted a camera. Qwinn retreated to the far side of the room. It became gigantic, roomy enough for two Kates, then suddenly all the air escaped and Kate's head was encased in a rubber touque, with her hair sucked into a topknot.*
It's clear that working for an AIDS resource centre does things to one.
* Kids, do not try this at home. Remember, Kate is a trained professional, who has been certified in the art of not covering both mouth and nose at the same time.
