An Infinite Number of Monkeys

Today there is one less asshole in the world. And he will be sorely missed. Inky was our troublemaking black cat. He'd pick fights with other cats because he was bored. He'd claim a space or a lap just so neither of his brothers could have it. But he always made sure Mom was safe when she went to the bathroom. And he knew when to be adorable and cute in order to disarm you, no matter how irritated you were at him. He was Amanda's favorite, and she was his. But with her being in TN so much, he had decided that John was an acceptable substitute. He would follow John around, and visit him in his office or when he made a lap in the Daddy chair. When he lay in the sunbeam, one of his favorite hobbies, his black fur turned warm chocolate. He was a hard cat to photograph, as black cats often are. He'd usually just appear as a dark blob doing something super cute. I'm pretty sure I have at least a couple of shots of him, but the only one I can find at hand is this one of him and his brother negotiating placement on the bed. Or it's another incident of 'groomin time' turning into 'rassle time'. He's the blur on the left. He and I had a complicated relationship. When I first moved in, I was usually the one to grab him up when somebody violated catlock protocol by leaving the front door open. I was his moon faced assassin of joy, so he'd avoid me. After a few years, things got a little better; I'd manage to get one or two pets in as he walked past, accidentally getting too close. He didn't hiss or spit or run away, he'd just crouch lower and lower to the ground to try and avoid me while he passed. We came to an agreement where every once in a while I could pick him up for a short bit, and I would make sure to put him down before he started to squirm and thrash. And sometime last month, when John was out of the house and I was sitting in the Daddy chair, he examined the situation and decided that I would do as an alternative lap just this once.

This afternoon, we found him sprawled out on the family room floor, as if caught mid-sunbeam. He was not a young cat by any means, so this wasn't entirely surprising, but he was not the one we were expecting to lose first. It looks like whatever happened was swift and painless. I took my last chance to pet him and snuggle him and say "Ha ha I'm giving you pets and there's nothing you can do about it." And then we put him in a box to wait for the vet's to be open tomorrow. I love you, Dick Kitty, and Tennessee will be that much less joyful without you.

EDIT: Oh yeah, he looked like Toothless the dragon when he smiled.

MORE: He was frequently fearless, taking no shit from anyone/thing, although he also frequently forgot that he'd been declawed. So if he had beef with another cat, he'd smack them two or three times quickly and then look at his paw like "God damn it," and beat a tactical retreat. This was one of the many reasons we didn't want him to go outside. And that made outside the one place he desperately needed to go, because if the monkeys say 'no' then it must be someplace pretty awesome. But usually when he did get out he'd run as far as the corner of the house and start eating grass. And if I was super casual, I could just walk up behind him, pick him up, and bring him back in.

Want to see a #MattNathanson show but can't be arsed to leave the living room? A full concert.

Fifty Shades of Alice in Wonderland by Melinda DuChamp

Let's start with the elephant in the room. This is a dirty book. Dirty people use dirty words and do dirty things. There's even some light BD/sM. The book describes itself as 'Mommy Porn'. There's also some meta humor, which is funny, and then there's too much meta humor, which is less funny.

In general, consent is modelled, but like in the original there's a case of a safeword being ignored. It's a fantasy, though, so maybe reading about a safeword being ignored is hot for you. There's also a lot of lefty propaganda about how you're allowed to enjoy sex, and if both parties/all three parties/the whole softball team enjoy themselves then it's much better than if only one person does. Unless there's only one person involved--ask Cheshire if you need tips on that.
Four stars because it was over so quickly.... ):

Forevermore (A Pat O'Malley Steampunk Mysteries #1) by Jim Musgrave

This book bills itself as a detective novel. I made it about half way through, and then put it aside. There's not a lot of detecting here, really. Our main character has thrashed around this twenty year old case about the death of Poe, except in order to solve that, he has to solve the murder of a woman who worked in a cigar shop. And in order to solve that, he has to ask all of the suspects about a black cat he had a dream about. And in order to decipher his dreams, he has to overcome his crippling pathological fear of intimacy with women caused by his time in combat in the Civil War. And in order to do that, he has to have awkwardly lurid sex with a woman who's been trying to seduce him for years. And after that night he discovers that sex is pretty nifty. And that, your honor, is where I put down the book.

Also, regarding the 'steampunk' in the title, it doesn't apply to the technology level so much as, I suppose, the gritty film noir aesthetics of the writing.

The House Eaters -- Aaron Polson

I am very much of two minds about The House Eaters. There were good things, and there were... missing things. Subplots started that might have been interesting (My parents had to move and aren't getting along) that sort of get brushed aside, dealt with offscreen, or just left to languish (btw: turns out dad was having an affair and they got divorced). The characters have interesting hooks, like AJ the jock with a human soul, that don't pan out into much of anything. The femme fatale with whom our main character is destined to fall into destructive love just sort of rubs up against him when she wants to get her footballer boyfriend's attention, and he sighs in exasperation before getting beaten up again. There was some quality YA creepy horror stuff in here, which again sort of gets handwaved at the end as if the point weren't the story but the fact that during the process it felt creepy. Also, I advise budding young authors to avoid descriptive phrases like "Her face was white as vanilla yogurt."

The Velvet Room by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

I found this book in my Kindle library, not really sure when or even if I'd bought it, or why. The title was evocative, and I imagined some kind of Victorian sensualist story. It was not a Victorian sensualist story.

This is a story about a girl in Grapes of Wrath times central California, nothing stable in her life, her family travelling and trying to find work, which she can see is slowly killing her dad. He finds orchard work on a ranch, and she finds this small library in an abandoned house on the grounds. It's got books and nice things, and it becomes a little haven for her. Which I totally get. Anyway, apparently this is an award winning YA title, and it deserves it.

Peter Pan

Part of why I'm reading this is research for a LoEG game where I'm playing Jas. Hook. Part of it is, much like Oz, I'm fascinated by the dystopian nature of the world. I'm firmly in the camp that Peter is a sociopath and that as well as boys, he's kidnapped sailors and 'redskins' and very possibly fairies to populate his kingdom. Oh yes, and he also kills the Lost Boys when they get too old. Sort of like Bill Mumy in the Cornfield Twilight Zone episode. And I take a certain delight in seeing Barrie relate this in a very Edwardian fashion. I laugh out louded over the author's conflicting views of Mary Darling, and was uncomfortable over the racist bits.

Morning Star (Red Rising #3)

There's a significant shift in tone in this book, which brings us to the conclusion of the first trilogy. It reads like a Vorkosigan novel, with planet hopping and engaged military struggles, both on the ground and in the void. There's a lot of talk about morals, without it seeming like a lecture, as Darrow continues to examine Eo's plans and his actions. No good deed goes unpunished. Although lots of bad deeds are also punished. Also features one of the best long cons since Romeo and Juliet.

First note: this was an actual steampunk movie. There was enough steampulp to keep it from being a Blade Runner sort of down-mood production, lots of epic action and airships and sword fighting, but also the dark richness and classic conflicts of steampunk. I love the term 'Municipal Darwinism'. It sounds like a very British concept.

I was a little uncertain going in--the trailers said "first in a franchise of YA dystopian films!" in a way that made me fear it was going to be a mediocre cash in attempt. But I really enjoyed myself. The storytelling was good, and the world building was intriguing; there wasn't so much exposition about it as to tire the viewer, and it all felt like it took place in a larger world. But at the same time, it didn't seem to try to push us into an unavoidable sequel. The characters were interesting, even bit players like Tom's friend the probably-a-rebel who was onscreen so little I don't recall his name. Also, there was enough diversity-oriented casting that I noticed it.

All in all, four wags with far too much popcorn if you had to be strictly honest.

"When I wake up in the morning, I wake up hard. Crash cart hard. My face is full of lines and sharp creases, and it looks like gravity's been working overtime. It's the only time I actually look fifty, and it's physically painful to look in the mirror. There's something very Dorian Grey about it, and it's hard to look directly at it. Makes it tricky to shave."