Image Serving No Purpose Other Than to Let Us Stare at That Sweet Face All Day

So, the guy who sent me the link to this interview with an adorable Aussie farmer chick who writes romances about farmers, FOR farmers (I am seriously considering buying them for all the farmers I know, which is a surprising number) has the last name “Swearingen,” so I obviously asked him if he was related to Al, of Deadwood and real life fame, and he said:

We’re like related by some infinitesimal degree — we all come from this
distant dude, Garrett Van Sweringen, some Dutch merchant from way
back. I’m from the boring farmer side though, instead of the nihlistic
whoremonger side. We all have our burdens to bear.

Which kind of made my day? As did that horse. Look at those ears, and the big soft brown eyes. There are horses who have little piggy eyes and who radiate “take that shit elsewhere,” and there are horses that say “you just put your arms around me and tell me about all your problems,” and this is the latter. Okay, guys, tell that horse your problems today. The rest of us are here for you too.

I’ll go first! Horse, I miss Edith when she’s out of town, and I had to put a bunch of stuff my baby has grown out of in the closet, and I cried, even though there is a great Tig Notaro bit about how dumb that emotion is (I’m not telling you what minute that part starts at, because you should just watch the whole thing. Also, if you are that weird person who shows up on Tig Notaro posts and pretends she is stalking YOU, you need professional help.)

And Iain Banks is dying. Okay, you can talk to the horse now. Let it all out.