Posts Tagged ‘cats’

what you really need

// March 7th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Intarweb

zen and paper Okay, enough of that political crap. Here is what you really need today:

  1. A Bumpy Ride Bag from Zola Jones: because all other messenger bags want to be the one that closes with an actual repurposed seatbelt! If you don’t have the awesome Chicago hookup like I do, visit the Zola Jones Etsy shop.
  2. A cat who loves tissue paper like nothing else in the world.
  3. The fourth episode of “Dollhouse”.  I think it’s getting better. And really, did anyone like “Buffy” or “Angel” right away?
  4. Vitamin D. (Insert prerequisite seventh-grade joke here, and a “that’s what she said” for good measure.) I meant sunshine!
  5. Brilliant spam like this one: Become perpetuum mobile of love.
  6. A nap. The end.

to bed and to rise

// December 5th, 2008 // 2 Comments » // Life

Every night, Torgi the cat puts me to bed by chirping and nudging me until I stop doing whatever I am doing. Every morning, he head-butts me into consciousness because it is time for his breakfast.

Zen, in contrast, cannot be bothered. Her whims are her own, not to be shared with silly humans.

Right now Torgi is purring loudly while attempting to wedge himself in between me and my iPhone. He is winning.

photos I did not take

// September 15th, 2008 // Comments Off // Libraria, Life

Last night the moon slipped slate-blue behind silver clouds, and although I could see it from the overstuffed leather recliner I did not fumble for a camera. I watched it, and it looked full, though my astigmatism makes me a poor judge of such things.

Past midnight, sometime over the weekend, we were sitting with snacks, twin bowls of cereal, savoring the wee hours with no early alarm the next morning. Just outside our bedroom, my cat walked past his cat very, very slowly, and then carefully put her paw out to touch the very tip of his cat’s tail. We lost it; my mouth happened to be full of cereal.  I wanted to take a photo of the moment I started thinking of my cat and his cat as our cats, but instead I cleaned the cereal off my face.

Someone in the library today learned how to scan a photograph and email it to himself so he could upload it to the Web.  As he thanked me for the third time, I wished for a meta-photo moment, something I could carry with me to remind me that although the objects of learning may be different, intellectual curiosity still exists. Where it exists, hope creeps in around the edges.

bits of tid

// May 10th, 2008 // 3 Comments » // Life

People who dispense with niceties used to catch me off-guard. Before my current job, I expected a minimal exchange of greetings before a request for help. I wonder if, as a result, I have done away with my own greeting patter when I am out in the world. It does seem a bit superfluous at times, especially when we are all so furiously busy, scuttling between inputs like crazed crabs.

Because of this intensified pace, I become more conscious of how to phrase answers to questions without being condescending or curt. A dyslexic patron today obviously felt quite embarrassed for mixing up the microfilm for 1906 and 1960, and I wonder if my bland “no problem” response was sufficient, or made her feel lessened. I can’t imagine being dyslexic; so much of my daily life revolves around the written word.

Students who come up to the reference desk look as if they expect violence. Their eyes are wary, one hand neatly wrapped around the ubiquitous mobile, library card in the other gripped like a makeshift shiv. During reference interviews, sometimes they shift away from me to text someone: five minutes is too long to be in contact with only one person.

My new home is a palace, an oasis, a haven. I have an office all to myself with a door that opens onto a small patio. Soon I will break that in properly with a cup of tea and my writing notebook. The cats have not yet met formally, but there was an awkward moment with an accidental bathroom door opening and growls in two-part harmony. Neither one had flattened ears or fluffed tails, so I remain hopeful for their future status as Tugboat and Hambone, urban adventurers and best of friends.

Despite my bizarre affection for public transit, the N-Judah has already lost its shine for me, what with its random hiatuses and lame malfunctions and general chicanery. At least I always get a seat, and can doze off to podcasts for 30 (to 60) minutes. Whatever the case, each N trip is bookended by a library job and a home with my best friend, so I have no real complaints.

Namiki Vanishing Point RadenEven at 20% off, I could not afford the expense, but I tested this beauty for free during Flax’s pen fair today. The Namiki Vanishing Point fountain pen excels in form as well as function, especially in the Raden finish, and I cheerfully anticipate the momentous occasion that its purchase will punctuate.

These are the only tidbits I can sift out from my addled brain this evening. Happy Mother’s [sic] Day, mothers, especially to my own, who will meet FunkyPlaid for the very first time when she hits town in five days!