I’ve been under the weather since Dec 6, really bad coughing fits, congestion, nastiness, at times too weak to do more than lie abed. Sinus infection, they say. Well, funny thing, now Jane is coughing. I’m slowly recovering, but since the first doctor’s appointment I can get is a week away, I will either be dead of the plague or recovered on my own. It is getting better.
Sorry for the long silence…
by CJ | Jan 4, 2020 | Journal | 75 comments
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Surely there must be some way that the publisher could partner with / agree to a deal whereby the Foreigner and other current ebooks could be published in the UK, Continental Europe, Australia and New Zealand, heck, are they not aware there is this thing called a global market, that indeed, one does not fall off the map into the ocean and get eaten by sea-dragons or the like, that the world is in fact a globe, a single planet, with, oh, 7 to 8 billion potential customers to whom one could sell? Sure, it might mean publishing rights agreements, but unless I’m very badly mistaken, the current publisher has branches in the UK, Europe, Australia, at least, and perhaps elsewhere. It’s also the 21st century and they have ebook versions of most of these.
I am sure CJ, Jane, Lynn, and other authors would love to have the additional income from such sales and the added fan base of happy readers. It really seems like win-win-win from this fan reader’s perspective. And it seems a shame to me that English speaking people in, ah, England and those others cannot simply buy ebooks or printed books in formats and by authors they would very happily pay for.
My Kindle copy arrived right on time, as I’m a US reader.
Best Wishes to all of you. So much of our world seems mired in regressive nonsense. One hopes for better.
I’ve been out of the loop too.
I work in retail, and since early November have been getting up at 2AM four times a week to unload the truck and stock the shelves. Also there was the 12 hour shift on Black Friday. Next week, this will go back to twice a week.
Next, there are the fires in Australia. Earlier this week, my daughter, daughter-in-law and their three children were safely evacuated to Brisbane.
Lastly, my son and his wife do not think that the prospective conflict will take them in to harm’s way.
Tommie! :hug: I’ve been hoping you were doing OK. Missed seeing you around here.
Hoping all will be well with the prospective conflict; at least that people’s loved ones will be OK.
Hoping also that folks (and wildlife and plant life) will be OK in Australia. I know some things depend on brush fires, but wow….
I was so delighted to add Resurgence to my collection this morning! Ebook for now; hardback to follow. Thank you, and Congratulations on your new book birthday CJ and Jane!
First read through completed and second more leisurely read through in progress… Thanks for another great installment.
Sending get well wishes to you both.
@BCS Audible is available on Amazon.uk, and I believe all the Foreigner series are there. Which makes it even more puzzling that the Kindle books aren’t. Unfortunately I’m quite deaf, which means that Audlble isn’t really an option. Besides, I love the written word and have done since I was 4 years old. (I’m about 3 months older than CJ.)
I do have the Kindle app on my laptop (Windows) and it’s proved very useful.
@Naomi — Ah, I understand. I’m vision-impaired / legally blind, so while I can still see to read, oh, there are difficulties, and my screen magnification is way up. I/m sorry to have presented an option you can’t use, and I understand how that is.
mm, odd, so they offer the audiobooks but not the ebooks. That’s awfully frustrating and doesn’t make sense, I agree.I wonder what the legal / contractual / company blockage is, that they somehow don’t have CJ’s books available for sale as ebooks in the UK, Europe, and elsewhere. If they could overcome that, they’d have an influx of sales that would surely please people on both sides of the Pond and all around the globe.
There is a great irony that books written in English would not be available in countries that use English natively; particularly in the country in which English originated.
I can only assume that this was an accidental omission in the original contract which was never rectified.
Amazon.co.uk says that you can transfer your account to another country and buy kindle books there (and transfer it back again later).
About Transferring Your Amazon Account to Another Website
I’ve got my country set to the USA, and I’ve never had any problem buying kindle books from the US site, even though my billing address and IP are outside the USA.
Thanks, I didn’t know about this, so I’ll investigate.
I preordered the book a while ago now and got a message in my email that my ebook was ready to download. Always nice for past!me to be that considerate. Because this is the time of year I end up losing track of everything including what year it is.
There is some crud going around here that’s taking people forever to get over. I hope your recovery starts to pick up.
I am reading Resurgence now, and it’s fabulous. I don’t know why, but your stories with intrigue, conspiracies, and generally complicated politics always fascinate me and keep me wanting to stay up long past my normal bedtime regularly. I do hope you feel better soon.
It was really nice to have a reminder in the new book’s front matter, which books were included in the various newer collections.
—–
I’ve been busy getting my feet wet with Glyphs Mini, which is a handy, affordable font editor available from glyphsapp.com as well as from the Mac App Store. While it has some quirks I’m not used to yet, it seems pretty full-featured, so I am not yet tempted to buy the full Glyphs App. Their user forum has mentioned an upcoming Glyphs 3, but not what will be new / changed in it or when we should expect its release.
Meanwhile, I’m also slowly trying to get used to the (many!) differences between Fontographer, no longer supported, and FontLab Studio, and not yet sure if I want to buy the upgrade from 6 to 7. I’ve updated all my font files from Fontographer to the new programs’ formats. (Except my old 1990’s work in .fog from way back when, because if those are available anywhere on backup CD’s or other media, they are somewhere in the storage space. Cue the closing scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark. While it’s not as large as a warehouse, it might as well be. I will be amazed if I do find a backup of the old files. Things got very jumbled during the move-out process. Sigh.)
Glyphs App and Mini have a handy page on their website for “Getting Started” with PDF’s of the manuals and some tutorials, and then a further Tutorials page which looks like it might get updated every so often. Their user forum gets very prompt replies from the developers and other forum members. While I’m finding it oddly different, I am impressed, and it looks like there may be options upcoming that may make it possible for me still to do font design work, even with my limited vision, until (I hope) I can get that resolved as much as is possible, and I also hope, get a livable income stream going before I run out of savings and (very small) investment income.
I have been doing what amounts to writing practice, but I keep feeling discouraged, and what I’m writing hasn’t been great. (Ah, it’s been a little therapeutic, maybe, but I feel stuck in a rut.)
I’m hoping to get myself back toward productivity on that too.
I haven’t yet ordered the box spring, but I’m expecting to do that, rather than a new bed frame / foundation. I also haven’t ordered a futon as a sofa-bed to replace the much-disliked couch.
I am considering, though, going ahead and buying the electronic keyboard to relearn piano, self-taught at first, as that still could be a creative outlet to ease frustrations, make something new, and maybe an income outlet down the line.
No sounds or sight of Curry or the other stray cats around here, the past day or two.
I have to call those lackadaisical friends again, as the most recent call and the one before it did not produce the desired result of them getting items left at the apt. office. There are food items there, fortunately not too perishable, but still, the management rightly do not want my packages there, taking up space, and I’d much rather have them here at my apt. But of course, they don’t want to have one of their staff walk things over, because then everyone would want them to do that. :-/
I spent extra time yesterday and the day before trying to learn the new apps and do something actually productive. I did learn some, a tiny bit, and produced a little, so it wasn’t a loss, really.
But this means, oh, do I ever want to take time off tonight and curl up with a book. — An ebook, which still means reading from a screen, but that, these days, is easier for me (I can enlarge the type) than a real printed book. Audiobooks also work well for me, but I am, ironically, more of a visual learner than an audio learner, apparently. I catch my attention wandering without realizing it, after an hour or two of listening to audio, even if I’m very invested in the story.
So I’m hoping to get some reading done tonight, to relax some. Yay, for the new book!
@BCS – I had the same trouble with my cats getting up into my box springs, which I solved with two sheets of pegboard bought from Home Depot. I had a friend help me take the mattress and box springs off the bed, laid the pegboard across my bed frame , then put my box springs and mattress back on. The pegboard completely covered the bottom of the bed frame, head to foot and rail to rail, and made the box springs inaccessible. Problem solved. Most sheet goods like plywood, pegboard, masonite, etc., comes in 4 ft by 8 ft sheets and some of the stores will cut them down to size for you. Twin mattress sizes are usually 38 or 39 inches wide by 75 inches long, full sizes are 53 or 54 inches wide by 75 inches long. Queen sizes are 60 inches wide by 80 inches long, and king-sizes are 75 inches wide by 80 inches long. You’ll need to buy two sheets as all but twin beds are wider than 4 feet. I used two sheets cut down to 60 x 40 inches. You can get a 4 x 8 foot sheet of pegboard for $18 a sheet. Quick, cheap solution.
Pegboard was the best choice–the holes allow some ventilation.
Oh, and I’m doing a complete Foreigner re-read. Starting with book one. It will finish with the newest, as yet unread “Resurgence.” I’m halfway through “Destroyer.”
Me toođź‘ŤComment
@WOL, Oh, thank you! That is a super idea, and you included sizes! Thank you, thank you!
— This afternoon, I poked my head out the door and…. No Curry around, but the brown(?) tabby and white girl kitty, plunk, there she was, ready for a little attention and hoping for a handout. I’m not sure where she hangs out or to whom she belongs, but I’m still going on the assumption that she belongs to someone and isn’t another stray. Poor baby, I feel bad for her, with her tail marred by that growth. She is beautiful, though, and seems sweet. (I’m still presuming she’s a she, still haven’t checked.)
She got a little attention and some food, wet and dry, because, oh heck, I’m soft-hearted. When I came back out, she was just a little wary, while I was trying to determine for sure what color that was, brown or reddish-brown or dark grey tabby. (Brown like Curry, I think.) She was OK for me to pet her while she ate, just a little unsure, unlike before. So I let her be and went back in.
It’s supposed to turn cool to cold for a few days and then stay cool but not cold. Right now, it’s damp, misty/foggy out, but still 73.
I didn’t let the neighbor kitty in. She and Goober saw each other at the door, and Goober was again unsure if he wanted a guest, but also not unfriendly. I get the feeling they would get along if given the chance. If I see neighbors around, I’ll ask if they know who she belongs to or if she’s a stray.
I’m assuming Curry is still around. It’s been 8 days since I last saw him, but only 2 or 3 since I last heard what I think was him. Hoping he’s OK. As always, I don’t know when or if I’ll see him again, but then he may show up just as if he’d never left, little vagabond scamp that he is. Heh. — And I still wish that if he’d stay in, I could let him in the bedrooms, but nope, I can’t, which is a real bummer. Between that and not seeing him for a week at a time, I feel too ambivalent. — I want him to be friends. I want him to want to be here, to stay. But his idea of the relationship is just not the same as mine. At least we’ll be gong into better weather in a couple more months, but then the heat of summer.
——
This makes me wonder: man’chi? Is this a human form of man’chi? Do I want, or feel, man’chi towards Curry? Does he feel a different sort, or level, of man’chi toward me? There is a difference in his idea of the relationship and what he wants, versus my idea and what I want. His is feline, mine is human, both Earth mammals only a few million years apart on the evolutionary tree, so we have some basics very much in common. And yet the differences, though I usually find those fascinating. Curry confounds me.
Then there is the contrast with Goober, who is very happy to have me and to have a home here, and very much against going out here. When we had the house, he loved to go out in the garden or the front yard and would make it a game to get out and stay if he could, for hours, under the shrubbery or a hole under the patio decking. But when he got here, only two or three short looks outside, venturing onto the concrete, looking out at the pool, seeing and smelling the concrete and other things — Goober decided most definitely after the last time, that even though he might be slightly curious, he was going to be confirmedly a housecat here at the apartment, heheh. He’s stuck with me since, though he hangs out in the other bedroom or the living room at times. Mostly, he’d rather be with me, feels more secure and happy that way, I think. He’s been through so much with me, and now he’s an old kitty gentleman, still (thankfully) spry and mentally sharp. (He’s curled up on the bed, napping, right now.)
Curry, by contrast, is out there somewhere around the grounds, probably not too far away, but doing his own thing. Probably also napping, and I think he wisely hides when kids or adults are very active, noisy and busy around. I presume he has a regular patrol schedule, modified by humans being in the way. But he is his own cat, not any human’s, even if he’s shown he likes me well enough. So I don’t know, and it still is unusual to me. (I’m more used to a new cat deciding I’m his/her human, this is a good deal, and they stay, haha.) But that hasn’t happened in a long time, since Goober and Smokey. — I suppose that whenever the time comes for a new cat to decide I’m his/her person, that’ll happen as usual, or else I’ll seek one out from a shelter or vet or neighbor. But usually, they find me.
Back to fonts and the new editor apps.
Just came back from the endless round of business trips to find a nice new CJ hardback waiting for me 🙂 With a picture of a certain train. I wonder what I might be doing this weekend….
No Curry this morning, but the tabby and white girl showed up promptly. I suspect she belongs to an immediate neighbor, except that she always seems to be outside. I fed her. This is getting to be regular. I didn’t let her in; I think she would’ve come in, but Goober was there at the door. It’s blustery out, still looks like heavy rain and cloud cover, though only misty at present and dark. A good day to be inside. If the female kitty is a stray, then I feel bad for not letting her in, in this weather. It’s supposed to turn cold tonight and for the next few nights. If she’s back tonight, I may relent.
I wish Curry would show up. He has a place here, yet doesn’t want to be in much, and doesn’t seem to want his place. (It’s now 9 days since I last saw him.)
Today is a really good day to be inside and curl up with a good new book!
I also need to read the Glyphs Mini manual and watch tutorial videos. I’m not near the mastery I had with Fontographer, but this app is prettyy good, now that I’m getting the hang of more things, discovering how it does them. (Not always the way Fontographer or FontLab Studio do them.) I still may need to upgrade FontLab, but I’d rather not have to, as, ironically, I’m still not sure I like it compared to Fontographer.
So, I’m not yet back into full production, but still fooling around with the new programs, trying to get proficient enough for the things I need to work on. So far, I’d recommend Glyphs Mini as a good, inexpensive font editor. It’s bigger brother/sister, Glyphs App, is still less than the full price of FontLab Studio, about half, in fact.
So I have stufff to do, and a possible path to income still, if only my eyes would hold out.
@BCS, she may have a home but still be unable to go inside. Halfway down my street there’s a family who owns a cat “for the kids” which likes to be outside, but they haven’t got a catflap. They let him out in the morning, then if he doesn’t come back in when they go to work, he has to stay out until they come home. If he goes out in the evening, he has to come in by bedtime or he stays out all night.
They also don’t like spending money on the vet. Some cat owners deserve their pets finding their own better home, if they want to do so.
:nods: That might be the case here, I don’t know yet.
I heard something during the night, and went to check. I thought at first it was going to be the girl kitty. (She hasn’t named herself yet.) Definitely heard a cat. And after going back in, then checking again — Aha, Curry showed up. But I heard another cat meowing, questioning. Friend of yours, Curry? The girl kitty or someone else? I let Curry in, then tried to see the other cat, who didn’t approach. So I went back and…where’d Curry go? Uh-oh, and I hadn’t thought to close the bedroom doors, so….
After some time searching inside, no Curry to be found. Huh. So I went back outside, by this time thinking I’m really foolish. Hey, Curry showed back up, a bit confused but very glad to see me again. It’s cold out there.
So he is in for the night, at least, with food, water, petting, a good sleeping spot as usual. I feel better about this. Oh, he may go right out in the morning or he may stay in. I’m hoping while it’s cold, he’ll want in at night, at least.
And so I still have the mystery of, who was that other cat? I’m assuming that’s a friend of Curry’s; or acquaintance or associate might be the better term.
And yes, I was wondering what I thought I was going to do if I wound up with Curry plus another cat inside. :-O No sign of the other meowing cat. I hope he or she has a warm place to sleep the next few nights. Now I’;; be aware there’s either the girl or another.
Curry is very happily packed out, after a little more attention. Goober is busy making sure I know he’s still here and important. Heh. Kitty, you are not getting replaced. You should know by now, you’re family and permanent.
Oh fer cryin’ out loud…. Curry was fine during the night, very happy, in fact, and got good attention because I was wakeful. I then slept.
Got up, got ready for the day, and…Curry wanted out. He did ask nicely. (I had chanced opening the other bedroom, which has the door to the parking lot. Who the heck designs an apartment so a _bedroom_ has a door to the _parking_lot_ ?)
Whereupon, Curry saw a girlfriend or a rival, and caterwauling ensued. No, Curry did not want to come back in, whichever this was. Courting a girlfriend, I think. Maybe the tabby and white girl. I could not tell. And after a respite, more yowling. Er, which could mean…well, OK, I suppose if that means they, ah, are still courting or…uh, going for another round? Gee, kitty, you possibly have a much better love life than I do. Except I don’t go for fighting or arguing with, ah, wooing or…yeah, any of that. Ahem.
So…well, I don’t know if what I’m hearing means it’s going well or poorly, but…I’m not a cat, I don’t live by cat rules (except peripherally) and I cannot always fathom what makes cats’ minds tick. — My apologies to any neighbors whose cat may be involved. Sigh.
So I am up and need to read the Glyphs Mini manual. I am a little relieved that my path to font-making income is not entirely blocked, so there can be progress. But oh, I want it to be as fast and productive and satisfying as it was with Fontographer, and I am not there yet. Also not there with Affinity Designer, a vector drawing app, but that is likely my best bet currently for that. (Inkscape’s most current version wanted not only to run under a Unix shell called Quartz, for the Mac, but they wanted people to compile that version of Inkscape themselves, rather than to provide a ready-made app or one which runs natively on macOS. I was not thrilled with that and passed on it.)
Around 5pm, Curry showed back up long enough to get a can of cat food in him…and want right back out to harangue another cat, possibly a rival for the affections of a fair damsel kitty. Or simply for a game of gentlemanly fisticuffs? — I don’t know, but he and another cat fussed with each other, and the other cat had been pursuing or fighting a third, presumably female, though there were humans elsewhere around, not in sight. I didn’t see where Curry and the other one or two were, but heard them. So….
I’ve been up a good long while today, about to go to bed early (±) and no sign of the little so-and-so ruffian after calling for him. Just when I think, oh, maybe he’s changed and wants to stay…. No, I really, really need to learn — Curry isn’t going to change. He’d rather be outside and cold or hot, hungry and thirsty, and fight himself to ribbons over pursuing territory and ladies, more than he’d rather have a reliable, safe, comfortable home with good food and water, and most of all, more even than he likes having friends and family, human or feline.
And yet I’ll likely keep letting him in or even calling for him. — I don’t know what to make of my own insistence on loyalty or love to a cat who…isn’t that into me, exactly. Sure, he knows he has a place here if he needs it, but his view of me (and Goober) and a home here is not nearly the same as my idea of home and family, and notably, also not Goober’s idea of home and family and friendship, which does include wanting those more than other things.
I have not sen the girl kitty today either. I hope she’s in with family, but she may have been the lady love, the object of the day’s disputes. Which, be it noted, being a cat, she can quite handily insist no thanks, she’s not interested. Lady cats have minds of their own, with claws and teeth to back it up, along with brains and hearts.
Well, nuts, anyway, I’m going to get in a nice warm bed and curl up with Goober, who likes the domestic homebody life. Curry and the rest, I hope they’re holed up safe and warm somewhere. It’s cold out by human standards.
Just us, no other human companions to ease things. — Stay well, everyone, please.
So I finished Resurgence – got my new CJ fix for the year – I will have to start rereading some of the series. I am glad to see Cajeri growing and maturing. I can’t wait to see what his sister will become. We are slowly learning the severe restrictions on Tabini – he has all the power but can’t leave his apartment unless he is super guarded.
All in all – full marks for a very good addition to the Bren Saga – although like the previous books it is too short.
Jonathan up here in sweltering New Hampshire
I was visiting my family in NH this weekend—yes, wasn’t the “Spring” or perhaps “Indian Summer” weird for the middle of January in New England?! For those not in New England this past weekend, we had temps in the 60s & 70s F. My brother, cousin and I went in to Portsmouth on Saturday evening—seems like the entire state was pouring into downtown Portsmouth. One pub’s patio was jammed-packed with people listening to a blues band play— I could see that the lead singer was simply wearing a short-sleeved dress — all evening outside in the middle of winter! The music spilled out into the street. The street itself was full of revelers simply walking around and chatting, some in shorts. At home in Boston, my spouse reported having most all the windows of the house open (always seize the chance to air out your house in the winter) to the delight of our window seat-deprived cats! ….And then this morning, I walked to the subway in snow flurries.
This morning was wacky, drizzling rain and chilly. I heard cats meowing, alternating with squabbling, but that was a “Where are you?” or an “Oh, this is dreadful, help me,” meow, and I thought it might be the girl kitty. So…huh, guess what? Two cats for the price of one. (Free.) Curry and the girl kitty showed up, and after a little dithering, the girl came in.
They ate; no fussing with Goober. Curry and the girl were friendly to each other. The girl had been unbothered by Goober before and didn’t mind now. Hmm. And she was very, very friendly to me, wanting to greet as well as thank me for food and being let in from the rain, I think.
But once they’d eaten and looked things over a bit, with Goober in my room and the door closed, the two wanted back out. The girl stood at the door and asked with a look. OK, kitty. And wanted me to stay out there with them. (Curry moved off and then came back.) A few minutes later, meowing again, both showed up again, but they didn’t want back in.
So now there are more clues to what’s going on. The girl kitty is a similar brown tabby, but with white, and medium longhair. I’d guess she could be a sister or cousin to Curry. Or she may be a girlfriend; they might be mates or the feline version of going together.
Again, there she was outside in bad weather. So is she stray too? Or could Curry have had a home with her, did she have a home also, and now they don’t, haven’t for some time? I don’t know, except her coat, despite being long, is in better shape than his and she seems OK, weight-wise. — And they didn’t want to stay inside out of the rain, but were palling around together.
Well, OK. They went out and stayed outside, and the rain cleared up. It’s warming during the day and will be cool to cold again tonight.
With a need for something to call her and not knowing if she belongs to someone or what her name there might be, I am thinking of calling her Misty. (I looked up Spanish, French, Latin, German, and Dutch alternatives, and hmm, Misty seemed the best of those. Oddly, the Dutch and German versions of “mist, misty” and “fog, foggy” are either related to the Latin (nebula, nebulosa) or cognate to English misty (mist, mistig). Spanish divides it, la niebla and brumosa, and French goes for brouillard, brumeuse. So Misty it is. (Niebla sounds nice, but neighbors might wonder why I would be calling out, “the fog! the mist!” when it’s not at all foggy/misty, haha.
I would have thought it was unpleasant enough for cats that they’d want to be in where it’s dry and warm, but no, they wanted back out.
So I have two outside cat friends who show up very irregularly, and Goober, confirmedly inside and happy to have me as his person and to be my cat. However, I think I did impress the girl kitty as a friendly, welcoming human, and she wanted to greet me and make friends. So while I haven’t exactly gained either of them as resident or mine, on the other hand, I’m sure now they both think I’m a friendly resource in a pinch, good for a handout or a dry place to rest. — Now if I could just find out if she belongs to some neighbor, we’d have some good progress. But it was at least interesting, if also puzzling I was surprised they didn’t both decide it was a good chance to stay and nap.
Goober was bemused, but I think took it in stride. Hmm, he’s doing better at getting to know the neighbors than I am. LOL.
More time with the font editor today, and I want to read tonight in the new Foreigner book. I was hooked, starting last night, but too tired and had to sleep.
@NosenDove — There’s always trade-offs in any situation. Not just Tabini, but any royals/rulers — they live in the lap of luxury and are waited on hand and foot, but they are virtual prisoners. Being a ruler is a tough and thankless job, especially for ones like Tabini who take their jobs seriously and sincerely try to do what’s best for their subjects.
Was watching this new BBC archaeology show called “Digging for Britain” (which is good) — they did a segment on Roman cavalry, Roman cavalry re-enactors put on a show and talked with the crowd afterward. A guy with two young sons (under 7) came up to the table to talk to a re-enactor. The dad was wearing a black t-shirt with white letters that read: Fcuk. I started to wonder what he was thinking, but then realized that he wasn’t. Probably wasn’t realizing what a great example he was setting for his boys. Not. (Obviously the BBC didn’t bat an eye. . .)
First, I hope you and Jane are both getting better and hope the big snow storm isn’t hampering you being able to get around. We just got plowed out today about a foot deep!
“Whew!” My goal had been to read Emergence when I got back from California after I retired (yay!) in May. However, I decided to go back and reread the wonderful world of the Atevi. Three weeks in Alaska and several family visits later I managed to get all read including Emergence and had only 2 days to wait for my pre-ordered Resurgence to come in the mail, the timing really could not have been better. I just finished that read and I want to thank you so very much.
It helped to keep my mind (sorta) off my daughter spending a week in Puerto Rico while they are getting hammered with earthquakes. She had a presentation at a conference to give and was without power for 4 full days, she did good though, leaves tomorrow.
Your work has been a real god-send for me with so many troubles in our world it is nice to have a place to go and get a break. I love the setting in the cold mountains with the train – and I do like your continuing the political and cultural aspects of the mainland (can barely stand to wait for the next one.)
Again, “thank you” and take care.
Got a surprise today. Opened the door to check for cats. Didn’t see ’em. Closed the door. A couple of minutes later, “Mew?” In a small voice. Misty, the tabby girl, had come in without me seeing her. Head turned? I don’t know how I didn’t see her. My vision or her being canny or both. She ate a little, stayed about half an hour to an hour, bathed, wanted much attention, wanted to tell me how happy she was at this, and surprised me by getting in my lap for a minute. After her bath, and waiting out the lawnmower, she asked to go out. OK, kitty, nice seeing you. — I had not closed the bedroom doors. Goober came in and out of the living room twice to check on things, but didn’t come over to say hi, except he got near when she first came in. After she’d left, he came in as if he’d missed saying goodbye and was both disappointed and yet glad she was gone. A mix, hard to tell, but he seemed like he’d thought he’d get to say hi after all. Silly cat.
It’s been damp and drizzly this morning, but sunny and supposed to be in the 70’s the rest of the week, daytime.
I didn’t see Curry, and missed him. I’d guess the girl kitty belongs to someone, since she wanted in my last for a minute. Also guessing she and Goober may make friends after all.
LOL, odd but kinda nice. — I heard, but did not see, someone (adult? little kid?) listening to or watching a Japanese anime, in Japanese. Dunno at all what it was, but very chibi, cutesy girlish voices. So, huh, you never know what people are into. Could be entertainment for a little kid who’s cool with the Japanese voices. Or an adult anime fan.
Quiet otherwise. — There are now: cheese, peanut butter, chips, and a small number of other items at the apt. office, and it’s been a week since the friend claimed he’d be by. I am just plain irritated and don’t feel like calling him today, but need to call tomorrow. No telling when it will get picked up and arrive here. — I want my snacks and non-perishables, darn it. I may have to chance re-ordering the cheese. Shaking my head.
This is very mild but not unheard of for here for winter. Still, it hasn’t been cold nearly enough this winter, more like fall with only a few cold snaps near or below freezing. Either we are going to have a very mild summer too, or else it’s going to be a scorcher or a broiler or boiler if a wet summer. Weird weather. Too warm in New England in the coldest part of winter? Wacky, that. I’ve been in Virginia in July when it was down near 40 at night. (I’d forgotten and so hadn’t packed anything really warm. Had to buy a cheap hoodie. That was my last trip with my dad, now over 20 years ago.) So…odd weather.
I didn’t get to read last night, but what I’d read the night before was oh, very good. Only I got too sleepy, had to put it down and konk out. — Font stuff today, maybe some writing, then time to relax and read the new book.