Move your bloomin' arse! For once, the weather was crappy leading up to the weekend, then turned beautiful: not the other way around. We just went city exploring, like we hadn't done in a long while. Me in shorts.

Late in the afternoon, we headed back to a bar just across from Flinders Street station, which is in the very heart of town, to watch people come back from the races. It's great stuff, and we can't wait to do it up ourselves next year when we have more disposable income. It's rather like Ascot opening day in My Fair Lady, except that everyone is like Eliza instead of the snobby rich people. Ladies in fancy dress and big hats with feathers; men in suits or tuxes; everyone drinking a lot. Monday (and maybe Tuesday, I haven't quite figured it out) is a work holiday here in Melbourne, just for the Melbourne Cup, which all the other races have been leading up to. Of course, being paid hourly, there's no real motivation for me to take a holiday.

Marjorie had an interview the other day that sounds like it went really well. We'll keep our fingers crossed. That'll be a good one to check off the list.

Happy birthday, Mom!

The dog continues to provide comic relief. Now she's taken to attacking her tail. Not chasing it, but actually catching it.

I'm fascinated by the race of hobbit people that have been unearthed. I'm sure the scientists are cringing about them being called "hobbits" everywhere. The significance of this find can't be overstated. I mean, the reason you've heard about neanderthals is because they used to be considered our nearest neighbor in the evolutionary tree. Now we have a new closest relative. Wild stuff.

Everyone seems to know a list of celebrities that they share a birthday with. More interesting to me is the list of people who were born the same year as me. I came across just a list. A few of the notables:

Troy Aikman - Rick Astley - Stephen Baldwin - Halle Berry - Edie Brickell - Jeff Buckley - Cindy Crawford - John Daly - Stefan Edberg - Jon Favreau - Ben Folds - Samantha Fox - C. Thomas Howell - Janet Jackson - Paula Jones - Sinead O'Connor - Luke Perry - Andy Richter - Chris Robinson - David Schwimmer - Matthew Sweet - Mike Tyson.

What a graduating class that would be.

When I was a kid I remember occasional visits to relatives where, after dinner, I would be made to sit at the dinner table while the adults talked, when what I really, really wanted to do was to go play. How could these adults want to just sit here and talk? There's all these great toys, right over there!

That, I think, is what the life of a dog is like. In my efforts to empathise with the new dog, that's the example that keeps coming back into my head. There is nothing she wants more than to be out on walkies. Her tail starts wagging every time one of us walks in the direction of the front door.

But, too often, she's stuck at the dinner table while the grownups talk. She's definitely settling in, and has already learned to manipulate us with sad looks, especially when she thinks she's about to be left alone. She's also testing her limits a bit at the dog park and the beach, not coming when she's called. She's a very silly girl, though, and is continually providing us comic relief.