i said a hip hop the hippie the hippie
to the hip hip hop, a you dont stop
the rock it to the bang bang boogie say up jumped the boogie
to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat
9 days since Connie Willis' All Clear came out. It's finally arrived and awaits me at the post office. In the meantime, though, I'm super enjoying Jane Langton's Emily Dickinson is Dead--it's floating to the top of my "fave Langtons" list. As usual she does a great job of interesting you in the location and subject. In this case University of Mass, but more so Emily Dickinson, whose poetry keeps getting quoted.
I still haven't finished Julius Caesar. And I haven't yet gotten back to the Musketeers.
Nano in 4 days! It's all very exciting.
In other news...
Minion is so wild, every day I find new things spilled about the apartment. A garbage can, a piece of furniture overturned. Usually I don't witness what precipitated it, but today she was bugging Haley up on some empty boxes - Haley ran off - Minion tried to follow - when she jumped the box she was on slipped and flew in one direction - and Minion flew in the other direction - she did some sort of triple lutz through the treadmill - and it took her 10 seconds to clear her head before continuing the pursuit.
In other other news...
I love it when a story is posted in the news that elicits funny comments. Today it's a CBC article on a French book that talks about the mafia corruption in Montreal. Here are some comments:
* Ok, so the Mafia controls all the major construction in Montreal. I could live with that if at least they did a good job. [Quebec is notorious for bad roads.]
* Let's get down to what is truly important to the Quebec politicians:
- Is this Mafia business being conducted in French?
* In other news: fire discovered to be hot, water determined to be wet. [Many people wrote "big surprise" since Montreal's mafia and bikerness is well known. But one always appreciates a more amusing phrasing. Same with the next comment.]
1. Haley has a new hidey-hole somewhere, and so far Minion hasn't found it. But Fernando and I haven't either! I couldn't find her before I went to bed this morning (though when I woke up she was sleeping on my pillow, next to my head.)
2. Yesterday Minion was chasing a wasp--she put her hand down on it to capture it, and it stung her. Funny thing is, it just set her on a course of revenge. The wasp flew up to the overhead light, and she was jumping all over the place, trying to get at it. "Wasp! WASP! WAAAASP!!!!" All the while occasionally licking her little stung paw.
3. These days I have to lock Minion up when she eats, so she won't take Haley's food. Minion gets a larger portion (growing toddler) so in the beginning Haley was finished her food before Minion, and it was safe. But now Minion eats a bite or two of her food, then RUNS over to Haley's dish and tries to suck it all up in record time. If you want to know what Haley sounds like when she's growling and eating at the same time, watch this video and listen to the tauntaun noises.
4. Kitty Song: Fernando and I tend to take whatever song is in our heads' and adapt it to the cats. Yesterday I was singing:
My cat bad!
My cat hood!
My cat does things that your cat never could!
Also, my old roommate and I used to adapt the Old Yeller theme to every animal we owned. (My dad taught it to us.) I need to compose Minion's.
Nombly's
Old Nombly was a mongrel
A little straight-eared mongrel
Fancy free, without a family tree
But he could up and do it
Just like there's nothing to it
And that's how a good cat should be.
Here Nombly! Come back Nombly
--meh! meh! meh!--
Beeeest doggone caaat in the Eaaast!
(He was saying "meh" before it was fashionable.)
Bantha's (the roommate's rottweiler)
Old Bantha was a purebred
A big old lop-eared purebread
Fancy free, but with a family tree
And he could up and do it
Just like there's nothing to it
And that's how a good dog should be.
Here Batha! Come back Bantha
--rowr! rowr! rowr! [deep gravelly voice]
Beeeest doggone dooog in the Eaaast!
Haley:
Young Haley was a calico
A little straight-eared calico
Fancy-free without a family tree
But she could up and do it
Just like there's nothing to it
And that's how a good kitty should be
Here Haley! Come back Haley
--hiss! hiss! hiss!--
Best doggone cat in the East.
Mum's dog Sassy:
Old Sassy was a mongrel
A little lop-eared mongrel
Fancy-free without a family tree
But she could up and do it
Just like there's nothing to it
And that's how a good dog should be
Here Sassy! Come back Sassy!
--Sassy! Come back! SASSY!! COME HERE!!--
Best doggone dog in the East
How's this?
Wee Minion was a calico
A little orphaned calico
Fancy-free without a family tree
But she could up and do it
Just like there's nothing to it
And that's how a good kitten should be
Here Minion! Come back Minion
-- meneer! meneer! meneer!-- [she has a teeny tiny whiny squeek]
Best doggone cat in the East
I'm back. Usually when I get sick--straight to the throat, so now I've got that Bill-Cosby-tonsils-skit type of throat*, so I think it woke me up. I'm sucking on lozenges until I can try to sleep again.
In Other News...
So I've decided my neighborhood is very safe. I mean, it's in no danger of being overrun by bikers or criminals, because it's already *owned.* There is a skunk ruling this entire block--I've heard him (or her?) giving out the beats, I've seen him nibbling under the garbage skip, and I've twice almost walked into him at night (need to stop walking across the lawn in the dark.) It's comforting to know there's a tough customer like him, marching like a sentinel around my building.
* The skit has child-Bill-Cosby getting his tonsils out, and when the doctor examines him after and asks him to swallow KABOOM!! It hurts like hell, and he refuses to do anymore swallowing.
So I've decided my neighborhood is very safe. I mean, it's in no danger of being overrun by bikers or criminals, because it's already *owned.* There is a skunk ruling this entire block--I've heard him (or her?) giving out the beats, I've seen him nibbling under the garbage skip, and I've twice almost walked into him at night (need to stop walking across the lawn in the dark.) It's comforting to know there's a tough customer like him, marching like a sentinel around my building.
* The skit has child-Bill-Cosby getting his tonsils out, and when the doctor examines him after and asks him to swallow KABOOM!! It hurts like hell, and he refuses to do anymore swallowing.
