Rebecca had two major adolescent crises in one day (in between trips to the mall). She dumped her boyfriend "because he goes to a different school and I'm afraid I won't see him enough but I still really like him" (said in a tiny voice with tears dripping down her neck). Even I can't find the logic in dumping a perfectly good boyfriend because she *may* not be able to see him enough, but she's distraught through-and-through. The second issue was more serious - she has a friend who claims that his father beat him badly enough to cause a severe bruise on his head and possibly a cracked rib. Rebecca doesn't want to break the trust that he's placed in her not to tell anyone about this, but is very worried about him. She's decided to talk to one of the guidance counselors at school tomorrow, and may ask for the crisis intervention specialist to be brought in.

Next weekend will be my last visit to my sister's house before she moves. It will be a good time to take some final pictures - the trees will have that shaggy, end-of-summer appearance, the grass should be a brilliant green, and the house will be cloaked in the shady shrubbery that surrounds it. If I had known she was moving I would taken photos of the house from the same vantage points over the past year, so that I will remember the way the light strikes each room and every window. In the movie Smoke, Harvey Keitel's character takes a picture every morning of his shop from the same perspective, but, as he points out, every one is different. I wish I could have captured those differences.

Books: Have decided to plow ahead with Harry Potter. Teenage angst and snottiness seems to be shaping up nicely.

Music: O by Damien Rice. Somewhat Nick Drake-like. Lush orchestration on a couple of the songs, very spare accompaniment on others. I wish I had unwrapped this CD a couple of months when I got it from my radio station (I contribute enough to qualify for their "CD of the Month Club".).

Movies: Tried to watch Kiss Me Guido on both my regular DVD player and on my laptop and it wouldn't start up on either, so Netflix will get it back with a note to please send a replacement.

Cats: Hercules is a large cat - he weighs in around 20 pounds, although I console him by whispering to him that he just has big bones. He thinks he's still a kitten and can squeeze his, uh, bulk into the smaller of the two sinks in the kitchen (what is quaintly referred to as the vegetable sink, which translates into "it's where the garbage disposal is"). He twists and contorts and finally fits, only to be scared into levitating out of the sink at the sound of water being run right behind his head. It's so mean of me to do that.