Tag: coon cat logic

In which pets keep us young

Sunday. Cloudy and cold. “Rain and snow” in the forecast and in fact, it’s snowing now, just a tease, but — yeah, that’s snow.

Big Excitement on the overnight!

First, a little background. Years and years ago, someone told me about their cat who had gotten her head stuck in the handles of a shopping bag, freaked, and proceeded to wreck the house until she could be caught and disentangled.

Obviously, I remembered the story, but in all my years of cat-keeping, I had never seen one of our (superior of course) cats do this.

I want to pause here and state, unequivocally, that my cats are superior.

That said. . . At four-fifteen this morning I was waked by a mighty CRASH!, and the sound of claws skittering on hardwood floors. Looking back, I have to suppose that having been wakened from a sound sleep was a factor in my relative calmness, as I tossed back of the sheets, got into slippers (I hadn’t heard glass break, but best to be prepared) and robe (house was cold). I wandered out to the living room, where I first saw that the basket of keys, gloves, garage door openers, extra sunglasses, and assorted other junque that lives on the table by the front door, had been launched and the contents scattered everywhere.

It took a bit to pick all of this up, and I had to turn on the foyer light, which allowed me to see — in the kitchen — the contents of the bag I had started to fill with Stuff to take to Goodwill. Several of those things (not glass, but delicate) needed to be binned, which I did, then gathered up the other stuff to put on the snow bench . . .

. . . which is when it occurred to me to wonder where the Actual Bag was.

I sighted down the living room, and saw what appeared to be the bag between the rocking chair and the table next to it. Upon collection, however, it was revealed to be two-thirds of a bag: one handle and a swath of paper was still missing.

I got rid of the big chunk of bag and walked to the back, where I heard a rustling in the closet in Steve’s office.

Let me pause here to say that one of Rook’s many fine qualities is that he apparently trusts me to Fix Stuff. I stopped a couple steps into the room, where I could see the closet and it could see me, and said, “You’ve still got the bag around your neck, don’t you? C’mon, Rookie. Let me help you.”

And he came — belly low and tail drooping, yes, but he came — and put himself across my feet. I got the loop from around his neck, and dropped the remains of the bag into the recycling bin by the desk.

Rookie stood up on his back legs, put his front paws on my knee, and Gazed Adoringly™ up into my face, so I picked him up and sat down. We snuggled for a bit, then I brought him back to bed with me.

Which is why I was a tad late rising this morning. I’ve eaten breakfast — leftover sweet potato stifry from yesterday’s lunch — and my second mug of tea is at hand. I still need to locate a bag without handles to put the surviving Goodwill stuff into. And I guess while I’m in this part of the house, and on the Business Computer, I’ll pull the trigger on that order I’ve been building for a bit.

How’s everybody doing this morning?

Writing and the art of fountain pen maintenance

Discursions first:  There are some great titles out there in the word. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds are two of my favorites.  What are some of your favorite titles?

Onward.

I’ve got about 100 more pages of WIP to read, which I’ll do tomorrow, and then get with actually making the changes I’ve notated.

The last three days have been awesome; being able to concentrate on the story, and not have to interrupt my thought processes to cope with RL is priceless. It’s what Steve and I were able to give to each other — whoever was lead got as much relief from RL as it was possible for the other to give them. Living the Life of the Mind, Baby.

Next week is RL’s Revenge, but I still have tomorrow and Monday to work.

I can also report other accomplishments on the day. Three of my four TWSBI ECO demonstrator pens, that I love beyond all reason, have lately become very … drippy. I couldn’t write a page without blots, and it was getting worse. I really was at the point of thinking I was going to have to go back to roller pens, which are — OK, but they’re not fountain pens. So — long story short — I looked on the internet and found out that pens that are dropped a lot (those would be my pens), sometimes the nib gets loose, and the ink can’t flow properly, and blots happen. If my pens were blotting, maybe try pushing in the nibs.

Figuring that at this point, I had nothing to lose, I pushed the nib in on the first (leaking the most) pen.

SNAP! the nib reseated itself. My heart rose, and I did the same thing with the second and third pens — SNAPSNAP!

And the pen that hadn’t been giving me any trouble? No snap.

I’ve been writing with the former worst offender all afternoon, and nary a blot.

Y’know? When the internet works, it’s a good tool.

So, a satisfying and productive day here at the Confusion Factory. The cats have been Extremely Good and even now, with Happy Hour on the horizon, they’re only making the verymost quietest suggestions that Saturday Happy Hour could happen a little earlier?

Hope everybody had a good day, which is segueing into a good evening. Stay safe; I’ll see you tomorrow.

Supervisors on duty. Yes, I am a pawful.

 

 

Saturday business with coon cats and yam

Business First: Amazon allows me to know that the paper edition of Civilized Behavior “is scheduled for release on 11/13/2025. On this date, your book’s detail page will become visible to readers to purchase your book on Amazon everywhere you have territory rights at 12:00 a.m. UTC.” This release is concurrent with the ebook release.

So, that‘s a thing.

Saturday. Dim and damp. Up at 6:15, breakfast bar and tea at the desk.

I hit a rough patch in the WIP, where I wobbled a bit. I removed two scenes, which has gotten me back on-course. The irony is that one of those was a touchstone scene that I started the book knowing I had to include. Proving yet again that writing is a Science.

Ahem.

Taking a break now to get myself some lunch — I’m thinking the yam, an onion, garlic, maybe a can of white potatoes, too (so I can have leftovers tomorrow, for breakfast, maybe, with an egg), sauteed, and cottage cheese on the side.

After, I’ll do my duty to the cats and get back with the WIP.

I hereby give myself permission to not finish the read-through today. Yes, I know that was The Plan, but it’s no sense bringin’ killin’ into it.

The cats have been Very Much Approving of me spending more time in Steve’s office, so that’s another thing. I’m enjoying having a dedicated writing, and only writing, computer, and a space that’s not cluttered with Business I Have To Get To, so this was actually a Good Move.

Last night, I worked late to get the first 200 pages read, then collapsed into bed after my dinner, and put Black Cat Jazz on ‘way low. All of the cats joined me and we just sorta zoned out and purred..

So, that’s what’s happening around here. What’s happening with you?

Good day

So, that was a good writing day, where the word count will tell you that I goofed off all day. This is why word count is a blunt instrument. Hope to have another such day tomorrow.

I hear from my PCP that he will be scheduling an appointment with a neurosurgeon for me — not! he says quickly, for surgery, but because it looks like one of the nerves in my back is being pinched. OHkay… I guess I’ll wait to hear from the neurosurgeon.

Coon Cat Happy Hour has been served up. I thought I was going to watch Kpop Demon Hunters tonight, but maybe I’ll peruse a few catalogs and go to bed early, instead. I’m kinda bushed, what with having crowds of people traipsing through my head all day.

I see that Maine did the Right Thing and voted DOWN the make-it-as-hard-as-possible-for-people-to-vote item, and voted UP the take-the-guns-away-from-the-folks-who-are-obviously-having-a-break-before-they-hurt-somebody item.

All in all, not so bad a day, really. With luck and a tailwind, I may have a Completed DRAFT by the end of these few halcyon days of freedom.

Fingers crossed.

I hope everyone had a satisfying day, and will have a good evening.

Stay safe.

Oh, I found the mother load:

Saturday Night

The foil almost makes it look like I know what I’m doing.

SPOILER: I do not know what I’m doing.

That’s about an hour and a half and I’m all foiled out. Time for a cup of hot chocolate in a comfy chair.
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Put the laundry away; washed the pots ‘n pans; locked Rookie in a closet; let him out again.

I think I’m done on the day. My back is grumbling, so I’ll be taking the hint and retiring to the couch with a book and the heating pad until its time to serve Coon Cat Happy Hour, which is coming right up.

Tomorrow, I plan to write, foil, curse the time change — and that should be enough for the first Sunday in November. Monday, I have errands which I guess I should get done early.

I should also sometime tomorrow or Monday make an order at Harney’s as I’m almost out of the oil that greases the wheels around here — Irish Breakfast Tea. I got sidetracked today into wondering if I might not like Scottish Morn, instead, which is said to be darker, given that I drink tea as a replacement for coffee… Well. Decisions for later.

Oh. The Sekrit Project is a Sekrit because the contract hasn’t been signed.

And! I do believe the mail has just been delivered.

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe. I’ll check in tomorrow.

The Saturday cat census and editorial chastisement committee photos may be found here

Communique to the Internets

Saturday. Cool and cloudy.

Before we get to the recap, someone — Alma? — had asked how you remove the stabilizer without damaging the embroidery. I had previously used stabilizer, which was impossible to wash out, but! Improvements have been made. The instructions for the stablizier on which the pattern for my embroidered shirt were printed said, “Rinse under a stream of warm water.” So, I took it into the bathroom, turned on the shower and stuck the shirt under the warm water. Somewhat to my surprise, because, I, too had expected A Fight, the stuff just melted away. It took — what? A minute. Then I hung the shirt up and let it drip.

Mind you, it was stupidly difficult to embroider through the stabilizer, which is too bad because apparently the kit-making people have latched onto this as The Answer, and are now sending a bit of linen, a pattern printed on stabilizer, thread, etc. So, the two kits that remain on-hand (both black-cat-themed, what was I thinking?) are both “affix the pattern to the cloth.”

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Feel free to skip from here to the next # # # if you’d rather not hear an elderly lady complain about her old war wounds.

You have been warned.

Yesterday was No Fun At All. I owe Patty Briggs for the timely arrival on my tablet of the chronicle of Asil’s yuletide adventures, which made the day somewhat less bad, but even a beautiful, doomed, ironic man can only do So Much. One does wonder what looms — well, but that would be a spoiler, and we already know what looms.

My back hurt sufficiently that I took the drugs, even though I knew that was probably a Bad Idea, as indeed it was. The drugs make me sick. I know this, but they do also, sometimes, work against the pain. Sadly, yesterday was not one of those days. Tali gave it her All, but even so . . .

At 9:30, I just fell into bed, exhausted, and slept for three solid hours, then off and on in hour-sized chunks. Firefly was on night-watch, and she, too did her All, including smacking Rook off the bed, when he decided that I would feel better if I played. (She did allow him to remain later, when he snuck up and curled against my knee.)

I finally got up sometime after 10:30, took a shower, made myself a mug of peppermint tea and sat down at my desk to write this communique to the internets.

Since the drugs were such a disappointment, I have decided to quit the course. Yes, my back still hurts. A lot. But if this is going to be my life, I guess I’m going to have to learn how to ignore the pain and do what needs to be done though it. You wouldn’t think this would be hard, since I’m pretty good at ignoring various other sorts of pain, but the back pain is my nemesis. So! a project.

Just what I needed.

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My Plan for the day is to find something non-threatening to eat after I’ve finished my nice mug o’peppermint, then go back to Steve’s office and get some writing done.

I have in my in-box two letters from the law firm representing writers in the Antropic settlement, replying to mine of several weeks ago. It looks like I’ll need to get Madame the Agent involved on account of Steve being dead like he is. I’ll look at those again when I’m feeling a little more the Thing.

So, that’s caught us all up. The cats, I believe, are in Steve’s office, and I — am going to make another cup of peppermint tea and a piece of toast, and go join them.

And how’re y’all doing today?

Sunny Friday with embroidery and glasswork

What went before: Finished embroidering my shirt:

Friday. Sunny and coolish.

Slept late because went to bed ditto. Woke up with a backache, because of course I did.

So my glassworking teacher came out and said last night that I had chosen a very difficult design, but that was good, because I could be an Example for the rest of the class. Which I guess is a thing you never outgrow.

Those who have been following along will perhaps recall that I broke the starfish twice while I was cutting it, the second time much less catastrophically than the first. I took what remained of that sheet of glass to class to see if I could be taught better.

The teacher took the glass and the pattern and broke the starfish three times during scoring, all worse than my second attempt, so! keeping my second attempt in the design.

I also learned last night that something that I had subconsciously been depending on — that any errors in scoring could be adjusted in the grinding stage — was … optimism. Apparently, grinding is only for roughing up the edges so the foil will stick, and not a fix for shoddy cutting.

Homework is attaching the foil to all the pieces, which I’ve already forgotten how that’s supposed to go, but that is, after all, why Google gave us Youtube.

I finished reading The Women last night, and am cleansing my palate with Blind Date with a Werewolf before going on to Remarkably Bright Creatures.

I have taken naproxen and baclofen, which is somewhat nerve-wracking, since the last time I had back pain severe enough to hit the drugs I wound up in the ER (because the drugs didn’t work on the pain though they made me plenty sick, and the shot of steroids administered by the clinic kicked my blood pressure into the stratosphere, so not doing that again). So far, neither drugs, nor ice, nor heat seem to be helping, so my next act will be to clean the cat boxes while I can still bend over, and then try to figure out what I can do to keep the pain in the region of “uncomfortable,” the goal being to not wind up, weeping, in the Command Chair.

Standing up and sorta leaning into my desk isn’t actually uncomfortable, so I may work on the Sekrit Project, if I can’t think of anything to do that will actually mitigate the pain. Clearly, wrapping a zillion small pieces of glass in foil is not an option.

Tali has been sitting on me when I sit or lie down, and purring, while Rook takes up a station in the same room. Firefly is off-duty and sleeping in the sunshine in my office.

So! How’s Friday treating you?

Won’t you come out and play?

What went before ONE: Wrote 1170-ish new words, sketching in that scene. Needs work.

Spent an hour…maybe two hours with my glass project. Needs work.

Back in my office for right now. I may or may not go back to the The! Studio! today, though even if I don’t I need to remember to turn off the heaters and the humidifier.

The cats were before me when I got to Steve’s Office this morning, Rookie giving me a Look that pretty clearly stated that there would be A Note In My File for coming in late. So far as I know, they’re still in Steve’s Office. If I wanna go sit in the basement, it’s nothing to do with them.

Project to date:


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What went before TWO: Sat down in the comfy chair in my office to look out over the Long Back Yard and have a snack, and this happened:

What went before THREE: OK. As reported earlier, did some writing, did some glasswork. I also made the paper edition of Civilized Behavior, but it will not be released until November 6. I also sent the ebook files to Baen, with a request that they publish on November 13, which is the date that the ebook edition will publish at All The Other Vendors.

Everybody confused now?

Yeah, me, too.

The cats all came out to my office to sit with me and I was wranglin’ files. Pretty soon, they’ll start reminding me that it will Soon! Be! Happy! Hour, but I think I have time to get the clean dishes out of the dishwasher and put away before that Auspicious Hour strikes.

How’d everybody do today?
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Sunday. Chilly, cloudy — no, wait! Here’s the sun trying to break through.

Slept a little late this morning, but that’s OK, given the exciting week I’ve got lined up.

Rice and asparagus stir fry for breakfast. Because I Could. Leftovers for lunch.

The two bill-like pieces of mail that came in yesterday, were not in fact bills, so yay.

Yesterday also saw the delivery of another light tube/string. Once I get that up, I’ll have three rooms outfitted with LED strings — the living room, Steve’s Office, and my office. This is perhaps excessive. OTOH, the Dark is Rising.

Today’s plan is writing, glassworking, one’s duty to the cats, reading. Yeah, slacking off again. I’m thinking that I’m way overwriting this book, but — onward to (an) end, then rest, then Sumo Editing. The Writing Life.

And that? Is all I’ve got.

Who else is slacking off today?

Today’s blog post title brought to you by Siouxsie and the Banshees, “Dear Prudence.”  (Yes, yes, written by Paul McCartney, thank you.)

Story glass

Good morning:

 

What went before ONE: The lost has been found.

I looked in the closet in Steve’s office that the cats like to bat springs under, and there were four springs — one each of red, yellow, green, and blue — and one somewhat furry wrist brace.

So! I now have a dedicated glassworking brace. Go, me.
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What went before TWO: So that’s 1,140ish new words, bringing the WIP to 98,770ish. Now, I need to do some picking up for Sara, who arrives V. Early tomorrow, eat a lateish lunch, and do as many picky little tasks as I can before it’s time to leave for glassworking class.
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What went before THREE: Always a shock, when years later you reread a story you had written that you had thought was . . . not up to standard — and realize that it’s a good story, after all, despite it wasn’t the story you had, perhaps, intended to write.

“Our Lady of Benevolence,” by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.
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What went before FOUR: Wow, am I bad at cutting glass. Though, in my own defense, even the teacher thought there was a reason the glass I’d bought for sand was on sale. I am significantly better at cutting clear and pebbled glass, so — though it’s a poor workman and all like that — I’m blaming the glass.

Onward…
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Friday. Up earlier than I’d like, but the payoff is that Sara will be here in and in a couple hours I’ll have a clean house.

It is currently chilly down here in the shadowland, though sunny at treetop level.

Sigh.

The tea is really good this morning. Barkeep! Set me up another!

So, homework is to finish cutting out my glass, so the pieces are ready to be ground and — I dunno — next week. I’m having a lot of I Dunno moments, and while I recognize that this is in fact what learning a new thing is, it’s still … disconcerting. It probably doesn’t help that our teacher, who is very skilled and has been doing and teaching glass for A Long Time, occasionally forgets to articulate a step.

It was, for instance, only last night that I was finally able to understand why I needed “half a ceiling tile” and in fact, caught a glimmer of What Kind of ceiling tile. ANSWER: It’s to build the pattern on, after you’ve cut your glass. So! That would be a hard, as opposed to a fluffy asbestos, ceiling tile. Or perhaps a thin piece of board of the appropriate size. I’ll poke around downstairs and see what I have.

As I said last night, I have several kinds of glass to work with, and the … opaque glass is murder to cut. The several pieces of colored glass cut like a dream, and I suppose it’s a good thing that I started with the sky — which is clear orange glass — and cut my pieces with no problem.

Trouble started with the ocean — also opaque, swirls of blue and white that I had thought myself very fortunate to have found on sale — when I did a credible job of cutting several small pieces, but managed to break a bigger piece. Still, I have glass left over, so that can probably be salvaged.

Then I got to the swirly yellow, beige, tan part that was to be the sand. There are six? smallish pieces, and no matter how I leaned on my cutter, I couldn’t get a score deep enough to break properly. The instructor finally came by, looked at the carnage on my table and asked what my plan was. I said that I still did have several large pieces of the same glass leftover and that my plan was to start over. She took my cutter and a scrap, tried a score, shook her head and said, “Do you have the pattern pieces for all of this?” I handed them over. She fished the bigger pieces out of my scrap box and said, “I’ll do these. This glass isn’t easy.”

She didn’t have time to cut them before class let out, but she told me to bring them back next time and she’d cut them for me. So there’s that. And — lesson learned. I shall be working with clear glasses until I have something approaching a skill level there.

I suspect that my work was not made easier by having a cutter that leaks oil all over.

So! Not exactly a success, my first attempts. I thought I had prepared for screwing up, but, honestly? Largely due to ignorance regarding how many ways there were to screw up, I surprised myself.

Sara just texted to say that she’ll be a half-hour late, which gives me time to drink this cup and tea and make another before I retire to Steve’s office and open the WIP.

How’re y’all doing this morning?

Celebrating cats and poetry

Business first:  Today is Feral Cat Day and also Book Day for two charity anthologies to benefit Feral Cats.  Lots of good reading here, and!  You can donate to a worthy cause.  Read all about it
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I did sit with the WIP a bit this afternoon after lunch; wrote +/-560 new words, bringing total wordage to somewhere around 97,600.

Today’s deliveries included Calling: Selected Poems by Dorothea Neale.

Some of you may have heard Steve speak of his grandmother, the poet — and this would be her. She was the founder and director of the New York Poetry Forum for 30 years; taught drama and music, and wrote, directed, and produced the Children’s Play Shop, which aired on Saturday mornings on WBAL TV in Baltimore, for years. And she was also a prolific poet.

Steve was immensely proud of her, and often cited her example and support as the reason he became a writer.

After she died, Steve and his cousin Leith ter Meulen had talked about ways to make sure their grandmother’s work and legacy did not fade away, and Leith went on to see Calling published, featuring nearly 200 poems by Dorothea Neale.

Here’s a picture of Steve with his grandmother. The stamp on the back of the photo says MAR 78.

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Sigh. Files under Life With Cats.

So my right wrist has been painful and I’ve been wearing a wrist brace. I leave the braces, as a pair on the dining room table when I’m not wearing them, and did so last night. This morning, one is missing — the right one is missing. Of course. And if I have any hope of being able to cut glass tonight, it lies in having my right wrist braced.

I’ve looked in all the Cat Stash Places, and … nope. So I’ll be going to CVS after breakfast, which is only a couple blocks away, but not what I had planned to be doing this morning.
First cup of tea is brewed, and I’m thinking toast and cream cheese, with a side of grapes for breakfast.

How’s Thursday treating you?
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Back from CVS and heating milk for cocoa. What a terrible day outside. Grey and damp and cold. Ick.

The Good News is that I got two braces — a stretchy one to sleep in, which may help Current Conditions, and a working brace — and the “wellness wallet” paid for both, so — small victories. And somebody finally got a Clue and put a soft layer between skin and itchy velcro fasteners — upgrade!

In Cute Cat News, This is like the third time I’ve come home and seen Tali in the front window, Watching, and her eyes widen when she sees the car pull in. Apparently, she does miss me.

Speaking of Watching…a policeman?! Who could have been so careless? Or was it A Plan?

So! Off to drink my cocoa and then belatedly get to work.