Make 2012 a Better Year
Posted by Mike | Filed under Mike's Rambling
In the humanitarian spirit of trying to help people not look like
morons, I offer this friendly observation. There is simply no way to
look cool while:
-
Riding a Segway. Yes, I know it’s a marvelous invention, but
face it: you look like a dork. -
Pushing your dog in a baby carriage. This is even worse if
you dress the dog up. -
Riding in the back of a pickup truck. Even if the truck has
built-in seats like the Subaru Baja (actually this might be worse.
Who would buy such a thing?) -
Playing air guitar. Especially if you are with a group
listening to music and you’re the only one doing it. And if your
eyes are closed and your mouth is open, you’re pathetic.
And while we’re on the subject of things people should stop doing,
how about if we abandon the clinking of glasses after a toast, at
least when you’re with more than three people? That interminable
reaching across the table to make sure you’ve “clinked” with
every loser in the group is beyond annoying. Raise your glass, smile
at everyone and say “Cheers,” and then drink the damn thing.
Just trying to help.
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
Posted by Mike | Filed under Book Reviews
I do not read many Western novels, but this one caught my attention and grabbed me with the first paragraph. The language, the characters, the humor and the tall tale itself kept me fascinated from beginning to end. This is Patrick deWitt’s second novel; I will now have to find his first, Ablutions: Notes for a Novel. DeWitt is a seriously talented writer.
Bubba
Posted by Mike | Filed under Mike's Rambling
I’ve never considered myself a cat person, but shortly after we moved to our home in the woods of Maine we thought that a cat might be a good idea for mouse control if nothing else. We found a couple with a large litter of kittens that were ready for new homes, and decided on two so they could keep each other company. I favored a good-sized gray cat, who readily let me pick him up. He laid comfortably in my arms while Peggy and the owner chased her choice, a calico, around the room for ten minutes before they could catch her. Their personalities remained the same after we took them home. We didn’t have the big gray cat long before we knew his name was Bubba.
Peggy took care of both cats, but Bubba always seemed like “my cat.” He was good-natured and relaxed. He was a bit timid; he’d disappear when we had company, and a thunderstorm would send him under the bed or in a closet. He loved food, and soon grew fat and lazy—who says pets resemble their owners? (I, on the other hand, am big-boned.) He developed the habit of laying on my chest while I laid on the couch reading in the afternoon. We both loved our couch time.
Even though he loved to eat, he had a sensitive stomach. Recently, he began to have more trouble and couldn’t keep his food down. The vet ran a number of tests and put him on medication that didn’t seem to help. Today he got worse, so we took him in again. X-rays revealed a growth and a poor prognosis, and the choice was inevitable. This afternoon I scratched Bubba’s head one last time while Sarah, the vet, ended his suffering. He just fell asleep, and then was gone.
I am still not a cat person. But Bubba wasn’t just a cat.