Scarlett Letters

Bathroom renovation
Stage one of the renovation is officially finished. The door is hung. Extra tiles have been returned. The clean-up crew has come and gone. Last Friday was the first day in about two weeks, maybe a little more, that I didn't have drop clothes across every floor and strangers tromping in and out every day. I didn't have to get up at 5 AM to be washed and dressed when the project manager arrived at 7 AM on the dot. It felt like a luxury, like a special event. I basked in my privacy. And I basked in the new bathroom: tiled and grouted and pretty as could be. Stage 2 will be glass installation. Stage 3 will be painting, though, in truth, I'm going to try to do some of the painting before the glass installation because some of it will be easier to do before the glass is installed. My blue-and-white bathroom continues to morph into being. Yay!

HydraCap
I have exactly one friend who isn't upset or outraged about the most recent turn in the Captain America story from Marvel. He is a longtime comics author and fan, and he is impressed and curious. I don't know if there's anything to be read into this other than as someone who's sat on the other side of the desk, his experience informs his perspective in a way that it doesn't for a lot of other people. For myself, knowing Cap mainly from the movies, from what I've read about the who created the character and how he developed, and what comics-reading friends have told me, I loved the character and am unhappy with the latest developments in the print version. But since there's nothing I can do it about, I won't fret about it. I'm just deeply disappointed that this most principled, honorable character has been so completely subverted.

Heat and cats
Here in Seattle, it is ridiculously hot and dry for early June. The cats have been shedding for a while, but for the last three days it's been like a fluff storm around here. Brushing has been regular. I'm lucky they both love to be brushed so much. And they have been remarkably cuddly with the heat. It is a reminder that many domestic cats descend from desert creatures.

SIFF 2016
I am behind in posting my film reviews. I will post more after I complete this entry.

1) I'm glad to hear that my friends and family back east are safe as Big Mother-F*cking Storm Sandy moves on.

2) Weather in Seattle has been mild and damp, not as cold as one would expect at the end of October for which I'm truly grateful.

3) I'm way behind in processing my Europe trip pictures. Maybe I'll get more done tonight. ::fingers crossed:: Trouble is that I discovered spots on a lot of the pictures, which suggests that my lens was dirty and I didn't notice. I'm just glad that I have enough facility with Photoshop to attend to it, but it's slowing down my preferred posting speed.

4) This house desperately needs to be decluttered and vacuumed. I have no idea when this is going to happen.

5) Ezekiel Report, Day 4: Zeke has settled in nicely. He's playful, affectionate, and curious. He and Sophie seem to have achieved detente--no more hissing, but lots of sniffing each other nose-to-nose and a great deal of chasing each other about the house. Sophie has been unwilling to cuddle or sleep with me since Zeke's arrival which, while expected, has been genuinely upsetting to me. Last night for the first time, both Sophie and Zeke got up on the bed at the same time. This morning, when I woke up to Zeke kneeding my cheek, I discovered a big lump at my feet--Sophie, curled up between the top sheet and the quilt. It's not the kind of cuddling with her that I'm used to, but as far as I'm concerned it's progress.

BONUS! 6) This evening on KUOW-FM (94.9 FM, also streaming online and available as a podcast), Selected Shorts is offering Tales of Terror by Edgar Allan Poe, featuring "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Raven," hosted by Neil Gaiman. What a lovely, seasonally appropriate program!

This morning when I rang the breakfast bell for the kitties (more commonly known as opening a can of catfood), Spanky came running, but Merlin was nowhere in sight. I went upstairs to rouse him and he was sluggish to respond. When he did jump down off the bed, he was almost reluctant to follow me downstairs, and went into the bathroom instead of the kitchen.

He proceeded to throw up soap bubbles.

Yes. Soap bubbles.

Apparently, he'd taken a drink—or six—from the pot I left soaking in the sink last night. ::sigh::

Away we went to the vet's office. The vet pronounced him healthy as a horse except for a soapy mouth, prescribed fluids and Pepcid (!) and sent us on our way. The only other thing this visit produced was the requisite financial hit that always happens when one falls into a little extra cash. And, oh yes, Merl needs some dental work.

Never a dull moment at Chez Scarlettina.

...of Spanky, my junior cat, taken by holyoutlaw during his photo shoot here at Chez Scarlettina last weekend.

(To give him equal time, that's Merlin—the senior cat—up there in the icon, a portrait taken by me.)

Tonight, after I got home from a wonderful dinner with Mr. and Mrs. mbourne who are soon to be Seattlites (a development about which I'm very pleased), I got into my comfy jammies and settled on top of the bedclothes for some pre-bedtime reading and web surfing.

Merlin galloped up the stairs, bounded onto the bed and flopped over on to his side. He curled up in what I'm coming to think of as "assuming his shrimp mode" and reached out one paw. I reached out a couple of fingers and stroked his paw pads a couple of times. He pulled his paw back.

I stretched out my legs and surfed a bit. Soon, I felt my big toe being touched. Merlin had reached out and was batting gently at my big toe. I wiggled the toe. He batted gently, then pulled his paw back. I reached my foot out a bit; he reached his paw out and we batted each other's feet for a bit.

Finally, he curled a paw around my toe and sniffed it vigorously. Satisfied, he let go of my toe and rolled over to clean the underside of one leg.

Cats? Cats are odd.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In other news, it's 10:28 PM and I've yet to receive final word from the workshop on my status. If tonight was typical, then the session (which I did not attend because they were voting on my status) should have been over at least an hour ago. Oddly, I'm not really stressed about it. I'm curious but not overwrought. Hm. I wonder what's up.

Thank you!
Thanks to everyone for offering congratulations on the new job. I'm pleased at the prospect of new employment and appreciate the support.

Damned cat
Spanky did gravity experiments this morning. The subject: my glasses case. I woke up and it wasn't where it was supposed to be. I turned on the light and looked for it from the bed but, being very myopic, couldn't see it. I got up and started rooting around the piles of books at the side of my bed. While I searched, Spanky poked his nose into my arm, into my hand, his standard method of saying "Pet me! I love you! Aren't I adorable?" I admit to batting him away in annoyance. Finally found my glasses case, overturned into a bedside basket, the glasses having slipped out and beneath a copy of Polyphony 4. Good anthology. Damned cat.

Workshop stuff
Went to workshop last night and had a fine review of "Teacher's Daughter." People thought the revision was an improvement and made some good comments on how to do final tweaks. Tweaking commences this morning with the goal of getting it in the mail by or on Monday. What I didn't realize is that a vote on my status (am I or am I not a member?) still awaits. Apparently that happens next week. After all of this angst, it would suck, just suck if I didn't get in. But I also know it's a possibility. I'm going to try to forget about it for now and just do the writing.

Politico-literacy ponderings
Why does President Bush insist on saying "nukular" when discussing atomic weapons of one kind or another, while the members of his party describe their attempts to dismantle the rights of the Congressional minority as the "nuclear" option? Is the distinction that "nukular" is a literal term and "nuclear" is figurative? Or is it just that Bush revealed his own illiteracy early enough in his first term that to now change his pronunciation would be admitting to his own deficiencies in a spectacular way and he doesn't want the embarrassment? Does he not realize just how embarrassing he sounds every time he says "nukular?" Really, it is to laugh. Last night while I listened to his press conference on the radio as I drove to the workshop, I found myself longing for some reporter to stand up and say something like, "Mr. President, why, after four years, do you insist on continuing to mispronouce the word 'nuclear'? And what sort of example is this mispronunciation for our children?" Please God that someone should do it!

Yesterday I went to Gasworks Park, climbed to the top of Sundial Hill and watched people fly kites. It gave me a ridiculous amount of pleasure. I want a kite. I want to fly a kite. (See a fabulous 360-degree view of the park with a spectacular view of the downtown skyline here taken from the top of the hill. This park is 5 minutes' drive from my house.)

This morning, while sorting through mail, I discovered the most recent issue of The Nor'wester, the newsletter of the Pacific Northwest Numismatic Association. They're offering two full scholarships (including airfare and hotel) to the American Numismatic Association's summer seminars in Colorado Springs in June and July, the most authoritative numismatic courses available in the US. I'm applying. Free trip to Colorado; free classes in a hobby I really enjoy. Last spring the PNNA president told me that they get so few applications, there's a big chance I could actually get a scholarship. Costs me nothing to apply. What the heck.

Put a bunch more stuff up on eBay.

Finally applied for Unemployment Insurance (sigh).

Been writing.

Finally finished reading A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin. Taking a break from the series now: bleak bleak bleak. Fascinating, well-written, but bleak. Am three stories into Ted Chiang's Stories of Your Life and Others. Fine writing there. Recommended.

Must start work on the freelance job I got from the good folks at Battlecorps sometime today.

Carnivale is not living up to its potential. I am disappointed but will keep watching. I dislike the herky-jerky pace it's developed this season. Last season it was a paragon of good storytelling, full magic, mystery and excellent pacing. Now I can feel every clumsy attempt at fostering the "ooh-aah" effect and I long for the return of Ronald Moore to the show's staff. Ah well.

Must not eat any more of the Boboli pizza I made. I think my lactose intolerance has made an exponential leap; the thing put me out of commission late yesterday afternoon, putting the kibosh on plans I had for the evening.

Spanky's giving himself a bath on the easy chair. Merlin's in his cat bed, snoring and wheezing in a most impressive and rather asthmatic fashion.

Life at Chez Scarlettina. Oh, the excitement!