Comments Off on GottaGo GottaStay GottaCon… come along?
GottaCon is happening in Victoria on the weekend of February 1-3, and it pleases me no end to tell you all that I’ll be the Writer Guest of Honor there. The schedule’s here: I’m appearing with so many awesome people, like Matt Hughes and Dave Duncan, and podcaster Jules Sherred.
GottaCon is a broad-spectrum gaming convention. It’s my first ever GoH gig, and as someone who started playing D&D in the Eighties before moving onto the Hero System (and staying there forever because that’s how versatile it is!) and has been gaming, in one form or another, ever since, this is just a delight.
If you’re Victoria-adjacent and interested in attending, the pre-registration price is still only $40 until next Tuesday.
I began this blog entry in Cafe Calabria at about 7:30 this morning, having had an amazing brainstorming session. I’ve decided I will have a draft of the new novel, the third set in Stormwrack (where “Among the Silvering Herd” takes place), by June 28th. The idea is to have it Frankensteined by the time Kelly and I go to San Francisco for, among other things, Les Contes d’Hoffmann featuring deitylike tenor Matthew Polenzani.
There was an incredible sunrise pouring over the roofs of the buildings across Commercial Drive, but I wasn’t positioned to take advantage of it, photographically. So, since I can’t share today’s dawn with you, here’s Matthew:
Kelly, Barb and I spent the holiday season in Reno, Nevada, visiting my relations and touring Kelly around some of the significant-to-me places from childhood. This, for example, is the view from my grandparents’ front window:
We went out to the ranch in Yerington on December 24th – my aunt had basically kicked us out of the house so she could make bird and ham and other holiday feast items without meddling from the rest of us.
One site on my must-see list is the now-flooded Anaconda Copper Mine. So peaceful-looking, no? So very contaminated, I’m afraid.
I also wanted to revisit a piece of playground equipment that looms large in my memory.
Though Barb doesn’t remember the rocketslide, she was nevertheless able to find it (Yerington is that small) and she took these two of me regressing to the age of six.
Comments Off on Catworld Revision Project #2 – Building Code Changes
This is another set of decrees from our feline overlords. I’ve explained why, in the essay about The Wizard of Oz. But first, a picture of Xerxes.
Ahhh. You want to obey, don’t you?
After some consideration, catkind has determined that houses are, basically, okay structures. It’s apparent that lowering the ceilings and obliging humanity to crawl around, for example, would just make it harder for us to serve the needs of our cats in a prompt and cheerful manner. Besides, cats dislike construction noise. And change. So we’re off the hook there.
However, certain standard features of your basic house or apartment will henceforth be regarded as unacceptable barriers to unrestricted feline access to the everything.
So: all doors–front, back, and interior–to be equipped with cat doors or removed entirely. Closet and cupboard doors can remain as is if they’re fun to open and make hilarious thumpy noises in the wee hours.
Every home is to contain at least two of: goldfish tank with goldfish, rodent cage with gerbils, mice, rats or other vermin, bunny hutch with very small bunny, birdcage with birds, reptile tank with small bouncy lizards.
Wild bird feeders are to be installed in every yard, within sight of every window, and to be placed at a height that does not exceed the average feline pounce from the ground or an approved perch.
There should be kibble stations in every room.
Toilets are to be kept, at all times, in a state fit for use as drinking fountains.
All claw-resistant furniture to be replaced. Furnishings that do not contrast with dominant color of cat hair, and thereby accumulate the glory of the household’s primary occupants, are to be replaced. Wall art depicting lesser beings, unless such beings are in a position of respectful supplication to a cat, are to be replaced.
Humans may possess or use a vacuum unless it is either silent or entertaining. Up with Roomba!
Anyone found to possess an object whose obvious purpose is to affect or control feline behavior (squirtgun or spray bottle-type squirty objects, for example) may be subjected to serious clawing or worse. Remember: Ask not whether you can control your cat, for this is entirely preposterous.
. But first, a picture of Xerxes.