June 21st, 2008
Hello everybody! This is Catboy. Adrian is caught up in an extended argument this week (and also working on new stories for you) so he did not have time to write a post. It has been a very long time since I have posted, so I have decided to share ten important ideas that I have found in my wanderings. Some of them I have learned myself and some of them I have learned by watching other people, but all of them are helpful in maintaining a cheerful, healthy, and generally-positive demeanor.
10 - Eat food. Not too much. Go out of your way to find some that is tasty and nutritious. Gooey cinnamon rolls are tasty but not very nutritious. Plain chicken breast is nutritious but not very tasty. Fresh fish, well-cooked vegetables, and fruit are both!
9 - People are surprisingly willing to trade all sorts of wonderful things for small green pictures of boring-looking men. Try not to promise to trade someone more pictures than you actually have. Very much sadness comes from thinking that you will get more in the future, and then not actually getting as many as you expected.
8 - All catgirls are pretty, though sometimes this is not obvious until you find the right perspective. This is a good idea to remember and very important, much the way that it is important to walk all the way around a banyan tree, or to take a few steps back and appreciate Kīlauea from a safe and respectful distance.
7 - There is a special kind of tough-pretty catgirl that is especially charming and makes you feel warmer and fuzzier than normal. Be very careful of these, because they are fast on their feet and can hug you with surprising force.
6 - Notice that I have said to be careful, not necessarily to be wary.
5 - Have an appropriate outfit for every occasion, and especially have a distinctive hat if you are a hat-wearing kind of person. Good attire inspires confidence.
4 - Always remember to take breaks for cocoa. Most problems do not feel so bad if you have enough cocoa. If you are allergic to chocolate, take breaks for lemonade instead. Lemonade is tasty both hot and cold, and works much the same way.
3 - Make a special effort to brighten at least one person’s day, every day. It will make your corner of the world a happier place.
2 - Have candy. Offer it freely.
1 - Remember this always: wherever you may wander, there you are.
June 13th, 2008
I’ve mentioned, before, a young friend and her indecision over college. She’s graduated high school, yesterday or today I think, so the question is substantially less abstract now. I still think that she should do it. For me and for almost everyone I know, university education was an unbelievable chance for us to learn about ourselves, discover who we wanted to become, and grow into those frames.
I think she deserves the same chance. Really, I think that everyone deserves the same chance (that teaching urge is hard to forget), but my friend seems particularly important right now. She’s endearingly quirky and I believe she doesn’t give herself enough credit for how bright she is. Sometimes I wonder how she might change in the experience; I can’t imagine that she wouldn’t make the most of it, but how is anyone’s guess.
I’d like to meet that hypothetical future-self, whoever she might be. I bet she’d have a lot of interesting, compelling things to say.
It’s time for me to put some money where my mouth is.
This is my open gift to her, my promise before all of you. I hope you get to hold me to it.
June 7th, 2008
Ann Barnett, the County Clerk down in Bakersfield, has decided that, rather than perform civil wedding ceremonies for homosexual couples, she will end civil wedding ceremonies in the county entirely. The Californian is a fine paper, and I admire the way it investigates her claims without editorial.
The whole situation reminds me more than a little bit of the Massive Resistance policy that Virginia implemented for Brown v. Board of Education, and of Prince Edward County’s extreme steps in particular.
I don’t think I need to say much more than that.
June 3rd, 2008
“God. I’m wet just thinking about it. What have you done to me?”
“Nothing you haven’t enjoyed, I hope.”
“Mmmh. But good girls aren’t supposed to like that. Good girls aren’t supposed to want that.”
“Well, good boys don’t do that to their girlfriends, so I guess we’re even.”
“You admit it’s your fault!”
“The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”
“I must have the only boyfriend in the world who uses Scripture as pillow-talk.”
“Hey, you’re the one who put Aqua on the stereo last night. Do you have any idea how hard it is to maintain an erection when Barbie Girl comes on shuffle three times in fifteen minutes?”
“Fine, we’re even. Hmmph.”
“You’re worth it.”
