Tribute

2006.


A piano tribute to Moby. A very good friend, who tended Moby when we were out of town a few times, and knew Moby in good years. I listened and wept, but then I often do.


Today Dylan and I have been together for 29 years. Half my life. The good half. We still really like each other, a lot.


Watching Ascent of Woman via a link to this amazing article. Which came via Nimble Pundit. A community of knowledge and enlightenment.


And it rains, oh glorious rain.


Warm packing my godsbedamned stye-eye. Rice in a sock.

Magnificat

We took Moby home
Promising our best
Love's responsibilities.

He is at ease now, and we grieve his loss.

We moved here, and found out we could have a cat. One on the Rescue League's website was a black male short-hair named Midnight. We went to see him, and despite not being happy to be picked up, he did not put out his claws. He was not overjoyed to see us, but didn't seem to mind either. We both thought him wonderful. D brought him home a few days later, a very unhappy cat in a box on the Train. He hid a lot. But gradually he came out, and gradually came to find us interesting and kind. We would name him Moby because it just seemed like the right name. Neither of us has a scratch yet. He listens for the ding of the elevator when we are expected.

D is ridiculously sweet about him. Gentle with him. Plays with him. Moby makes him laugh when even I cannot. Moby sleeps on D when he is ill, though he is not a sitting-on-you kind of cat. More like leans-on-you-if-you-are-still. He is a much bigger cat than we realized after we measured him (to his deep annoyance). He is about 12 pounds, about 20" long nose to base of tail. He loves to drag stuff, like a rope he plays with, to the rug, that is now his. He enlivens our home, and warms us. Distracts us when we are moody. Sits most often equidistant from us. Circles us when we come home. He has claimed us, and we have a larger family because of him. One we can take good care of.

Pong

Moby is feeling better, moving around more, inside and out.

Eleanor happy to have his back to her, but gets affronted with his front. He doesn't see her properly, and never understood why she bopped him for being too close nose to nose.





"Back off, dude."

"Who are you?"



"Imma hitcha, doood."

"Who ARE YOU?"





Shifted more in the basement, cleared to paint another wall, old boxes up to be recycled, trash bagged. This is going to work, but damn it's going to be a job. Thinking we should have a 'free yard sale' once we know what all is going out. Maybe have a donation box, but otherwise just list stuff and let people remove it for us. Hell, there is still crap leftover from the POs*.

Friends coming over this evening. I think N is a little disappointed that I have no interest in comic books. Or gaming or anime. I respect all of them as subjects of interest, but none ever grabbed me. The more recent video games tend to make me nauseated, or trigger a migraine.

I loved the funnies in the newspapers as a kid, but being a literalist, I expected them to be funny. More likely, some were aimed at adults and older kids, no one ever explained this to me, so I never tried to penetrate them. When I was older, Bloom County, Far Side, and Calvin&Hobbes were plenty and glorious. One teacher in 7th grade assigned us a scrapbook to put Current Events stories from the newspapers, and any stray comics we liked as well. Taught me how to read Doonsbury, then still very cutting edge and relevant, with hidden jokes.

I never knew anyone as a kid, who got into comic books. My brothers didn't. My hoarder Uncle Elmer gave me access to his piles of old Peanuts and Archie comic collections while I visited. I read them more out of boredom than anything else. I'd've read cereal boxes if nothing better was on offer. Never a fan, just a reader.

There was no money for more than the occasional local newspaper, although I think we got a subscription the year of the Current Events Scrapbook. Educational expense. Never bought comic books, and the library didn't have them at that time.

As for computer games, well, Pong at Sears I got to try a couple of times. Mostly, other people hogged the demo, and I didn't get a chance. There was no question of my parents spending that kind of money on that kind of game, they didn't even get a color tv until the early 80s. Arcades were a thing, but that was quarters we didn't have. By the time I was in college, quarters were for laundry, and none left for pinball. When I wasn't very good at it, and lost quickly, those were expensive games. I mostly didn't bother.

When I could afford to play, - Tetris and Welltris, it all seemed too late to get into any other kind. The sort of thing, like language and skiing, that if you don't get good as a kid, you never get good enough to really enjoy it. I have tried, like with Myst, never got very far, stuck with no clear idea how to proceed. First-person-shooter games were never going to be my thing.

I see the appeal, but like appreciating a very sexy woman, I see it without feeling it personally. Or, hell, young men these days. Very nice, but nothing to do with me. There is no envy, nor wistfulness in this, a shrug and an apology for those who would like to discuss such topics with me.











*Previous Owners.

Pressure 11/100

Blood pressure. Not cataracts or glaucoma. Need to know why.

Visiting vet examined, diagnosed, treated. Gave him meds with meal.

He seemed to feel better immediately. Now stretched out comfortably.

Tech will come back and check his pressure every week,

His vision may return, at least in one eye, soon.




Insulation in progress. Very quiet out there, not too hot.

Will be warm this winter. A pleasant if utilitarian room.

Planning on a chair, so I can read while waiting.

Tomatoes still coming, lots more green on this unassuming plant.

Still very warm, rained enough to make it uncomfortably humid.

PJs

Yesterday morning.



This morning. "You know, I could be on your lap... just sayin'."

Muddy

The tao flows downward and away.
The tao is soft and muddy.

Order is created from raw elements.
Life is born out of death.





"If that Maru you talk so much about can do it, I sure can."



Gridded out for 36 plants. Lots of root room. One of the errors of learning gardeners, apparently, is to not give each plant enough space. Starting my first garden at 50, I'm trying to avoid some mistakes. Time's a'wastin'.




We got a limb lopper, but this is going to take a bit more work. That just ain't right.

The peeling black paint scrubbed off, red spray paint on top. It's a bit odd, but I rather like it. Seals the wood, and brightens up the black. Why black? On a house? Ok, maybe in small amounts, but not this much, on this house. It deserves a bit of gaiety.



Laptop is going a bit mental, age so D tells me. We went to look at the shiny new, and I balked at the price. Keep this one going as long as possible, I can deal with the eccentricities. As my personal IT guy, he gets a lot of say in this, but I can't stomach using money needed for gutters, blinds, plumbing, garden mulch, on an item I can nurse along a while yet. He will watch for a replacement at a reasonable cost. But for now, we'll see how long we can run. I don't really want to replace it. Really, really not.

Mantel

" Just gonna sit here."

"Oh, lookie there!"


"I'll go back over there."


"No, no, no, no, no, no..."


"Back behind the light... "


"Sofa, yup, this is good."




We have a mantel!? We have a mantel, this is an odd realization. Moby just enjoys it.

Ground

Lovely cake to share. Chocolate, but so moist people thought it Red Velvet - which is much too sweet for me, but this was not over sugary. Good cake, and I'm not a big cake fan, from a very old, local bakery.

Yesterday morning we heard a strange sound, but we had to go to work, and pretty much forgot. Later, well we were busy, there were other sounds, we put on a video. Once everything was off, at nearly 1100 PM, we noticed it again, explored, down the basement... water dripping on plastic drape.* Closed the shut-off valve, which seemed to about do it, and emailed the plumber. He called back almost immediately, asked if we needed him right then. We said no, it seemed to be fine for the moment, and we were just going to bed, so he promised† us to be there in the morning at 0930. The washer and dryer were delivered at 0830 - at one point we were concerned that one of the young men, the one down the stairs first, was in a bit of trouble - wanting to rest a minute - but he was fine, and they got it all sorted. Plumber called about the same time to tell us he'd be a bit late, by about 15 minutes (!), which was actually about 17 (!). He got it all sorted, no charge. The valve apparently just failed. Well, shit happens.

Thing is, I had planned‡ our little open house for all the folks at work that had to listen to me natter on about it so long. Seven showed up, with two daughters, thankfully only three with gifts. I tried to make it very clear that this was not a Housewarming (implying presents) but a slightly belated Groundhog Day celebration. And one does not bring anything to a Groundhog Day party but ones shadow. They appeared mostly one or two at a time, which is a kind of ideal for introvert hosts. Lovely to be able to focus on each, chat, make tea, serve cake, tell stories. I sipped good beer, perfect drug for social anxiety. Nice folks all. House the Home glad of all the praise and acceptance.

Moby mostly crashed in the Fortress of Solitude, but accepted petting up there. J in particular happy to have some cat-time. Cat also glad of praise and admiration. Earlier, he objected to being put in the bedroom during the delivery and plumbing excitement. Spent some time on the printer, just because he could.


*I'd snagged one from work, clean, but no longer sterile, so it would be thrown away, or go to the lab for reuse. Planned to put it under the mats in the basement. As it was, it contained the water somewhat, and amplified the sound. Very useful.

†He was supervising his daughter's sleepover, so it would have been a huge problem for him to leave. If we'd told him it was an emergency, I'm sure he'd've made that happen. He did not mention this complication until after we'd assured him that morning would do just fine. I'd much rather be out of water overnight than have to supervise a bunch of girls, so we got the better end of the deal.

‡Well, more than three weeks, and it's just not that impressive to have everything unboxed and in good enough order to let people see. My little, silent, rebuttal to the many who say they still have boxes in their house from when they moved in years before, implying I would be the same. I knew myself better, even if I did not know all the implications of home ownership.

Velvet

A red velvet rose from some (post-Valentine) chocolates, that I'd kept because I thought it pretty. Nearly tossed it in the clean up, it was tied to a door pull in the old kitchen, but threw it in at the last minute. It's been on the floor, dropped in the unboxing, until Moby found it last evening, we could hear the tapitytap of the twist tie in it on the wood. This afternoon, he played with it all afternoon and into the evening. Carries it in his mouth to the next place he decides to bat it about. We keep thinking he'll get tired, and we hear him thmping about and chasing it again.

He's eaten an entire can of his food, that for the past year he's only eaten about half of each day, with a bit of kibble. And some kibble, and two chunks of the roast chicken - that he would normally have eaten one of. Has sat on both our laps today at different times, and had to be picked up by each of us. Normally one good hug a day is his limit.

Yeah, we figure he's happier. And, in his cat way, he loves us.



Had quite a game going around the curtains as well. Round and round, under and around. The bright curtain is new, much needed to counteract all the brown (dark brown) curtains in the front. Hideous brown, brown shades as well in the rest of the place. Dreary. Needed some bright color, warm and welcoming.

Exploration

Scarlet

Red tissue paper, strong sun, and a human with a hand mirror. Cat bliss.

Reflective

Napping in the sun.



Chasing a reflection.



Waiting for the sun to come back out to he can chase again.