Articles in “Strange Conversations”

Today, I spotted a tiny possum in the mulberry tree, prompting a long Twitter discussion, mostly with myself, about whether he was sleeping or dead. Since our house is something of an elephant burial ground for possums (you know that phrase makes sense), I assumed dead.

Until he moved.

Then I assumed zombie possum.

After dark, we checked with Nick’s flood-inspired LED headlamp, and he was gone:

ME: So the jury returns a verdict of “not dead.”
NICK: Good.
ME: But remains out on a verdict of “undead.”
NICK: Ja. Listen to ze possums of ze night. Vhat beautiful music they make.
ME: Darling, possums are nocturnal anyway.
NICK: Ja. Bugger.

The futility of trying to convince Nick to let me buy another TV lamp, this one shaped like a chess piece:

NICK: Shipping antiques from overseas stresses me out too much
ME: But I might love it more than I love you!
NICK: OMG!
ME: I said “might.”
NICK: But I am alive and squishy!
ME: Okay, ew.

Nick and I were discussing this post on the Superuser question boards, in which someone asks what the A and B drives on a computer are used for.

ME: You’re right. That does make me feel incredibly old.
NICK: Told you.
ME: On the other hand, though, I’ve never even seen an eight-inch disk.
(Pause)
ME: That’s a sentence you’d want to enunciate very, very carefully.