babble babble (a platitudinous account)

wow, it's already been nearly a month since my last pithy post. the sardonic Rita came and went, the "cool" front teased us and left.. but i'm still stationed here in houston. my mother forges on with her longanimity.
being on the internet has been difficult. since my dad is in taiwan, anne borrowed his service for us to use at my mom's place yesterday. besides, there is something wrong with his modem at home so the chances of getting on-line there is 1 out of 1,000,000. i can't say i have reacclimated to houston. i feel numb. i'm just doing what any dutiful child would do for her parent. despite being here for quite a while already, i've only finished 2 books. the first one-the evolution of everyday things, though very interesting topic-wise and informative, was a bit too pedantic especially given the current austere atmosphere at home. i was so happy to reach the last page! the book i finished today is dispatches from the muckdog gazette (a mostly affectionate account of a small town's fight to survive). the writer bill kauffman is witty, sarcastic, and has a way with words. he's so good with words i had to compose a vocabulary sheet! after 20+ unknown words or words i used to know but forgot, it starts to get annoying having to stop to notate the questionable word and page number. (adamantine, hokum, eldritch, prandial. . .) i even pride myself on having a decent vocabulary. i am quite the word freak and i've learned some great new words. one of my favorite is OLEAGINOUS. the latter describes many persons in upper managment and in politics. i think i was on dictionary.com for an hour yesterday. (don't forget i'm using a modem, too!)