Mark Walsh

@markwalsh.bsky.social

1078 Followers 1048 Following

Books, Music, Art and Film. Exists in real life too. https://themarkwalsh.substack.com/

Reality Awaits - The Strokes
A bird on a wire.
I love Ringo. He's not a bad singer, and he's a great musician. If I'd had him as a drummer, I would've been the Beatles, too. Maybe. Didn't know he was a cook, though. That's encouraging.
The grand canal.
Our new daughter-in-law asked us to mind her dog while they went on honeymoon. It's a small breed so we agreed. Neither of us would have been happy with a large dog in the house. We're not especially animal people. Half our kitchen was taken over by the amount of accessories she left with us for her dog. Ihave seen babies with less equipment. We were also given a daily schedule which she asked us to strictly adhere to. We were also told not to leave the dog alone for longer than four hours, as it suffers from separation anxiety. We were told that anything beyond a certain brand of treats at a certain time of the day would lead to tummy issues and diarrhoea. We were given a list of dog-friendly cafes. And she asked if we would walk her dog in the park near her home, so that it would get to see its regular friends. If I planned to wash its little clothes, I was told to use nonbiological washing powder. We were hostages to this animal, and were on tenterhooks with the worry that we might lose it or kill it, or give it an anxiety attack or whatever. I said never again, but the dog was only back with them when she asked us to take it while they go away during the summer. The girl has gone down in my estimation. What kind of girl prioritises the comfort of a dog over the comfort of her in-laws? What excuse can we give not to mind the dog again?