Alien Spouse

Hearts, Skulls and Punk Rock.

Look!  Jason sent Doc & I these cool Paperchase skull badges!  Aren't they fantastic?

Squee!

He also sent me a special wedding edition of Heat magazine.

Most enjoyable.

Nancy's Business.

This morning I had reason to be concerned about Nancy, so I scooped some of her poo into a bag to be tested by the vet (the results haven't come back yet, so it's currently Shroedinger's cat poo and we don't know if we need to worry yet).  The vet's office doesn't open until after 8, so Doc said he would drop off the sample on his way back from the gym. Which would work very well, except that he wanted the bag of crap left in the back of the car, because he really didn't want to interact with the substance anymore than was totally necessary.  I can completely understand that, but I was worried he would forget it was there.  Doc C has been known to drive around all day with a bag of rubbish in the boot, because he forgot to throw it in the dumpster on his way out.

I left the gym before The Doc, so I got back to the car first.  I grabbed a hot pink post-it note and stuck it on the windscreen right in Doc's line of vision.

When he sat in the driving seat, Doc C was greeted by the simple message "Poop!" in nice big felt-tip letters.

He remembered to stop at the vets.

"This, I take it, was not purchased at Tiffany's?"

The shopping mall that the nice police lady at the USCIS office gave us directions too was really quite a surprise.  It was by far the swishest shopping environment I've seen in North Carolina.  The just about adequate food hall, and Barbie pink fountain not withstanding.

We walked around window shopping for a while to just let it all the stylish consumer goods wash over us. As you can see from the photo, there was even a Tiffany's.  I was particularly taken with the posters for Tiffany Keys, not least because one of the designs I had considered for my wrist tattoo was very similar to the large silver key on the left (the one that looks sort of like a clover leaf). I am clearly an uncannily accurate barometer of style and taste.

We also visited a few shops to have a nice browse. I discovered Anthropologie, which seems to be a very nice shop indeed if a bit pricey, and Doc was ecstatic to find a branch of Crate and Barrel.  The man loves his kitchen.

Despite all the fabulousness available, the only thing we actually bought was cookie cutters.  I have been looking for skull shaped cookie cutters for ages, and Sur La Table impressed me by having two different designs.  Do you want just skulls, or skulls-and-crossbones?  Because I have both, plus a very nice cat-head and a good basic tombstone.  I'm really looking forward to a really major Halloween baking frenzy now!

Biometrically Sound.

My Biometric Capturing Appointment was at 11am this morning, and we got to the USCIS office at about 10:15.  I took my camera. phone and iPod out of my hand bag to leave locked in the car, because it quite clearly said on the letter that all such recording devices were not allowed.  I don't know why I still believe that when I read, no-one checked my bag or anything.

There really weren't many other people there, so it was all very quick, I filled out a form with all of my information for the nine millionth time and handed it in.  I was then given a number, just like the delicatessen counter at the supermarket, and there were only three people ahead of me.  Yay!

When my number was called I walked up to the front desk where I was met by a very sweet Spanish lady.  She took me over to this, um, photocopier thingy to take my finger prints electronically.  There was a little monitor that you could see the finger prints appearing on as my finger were rolled over the scanner.  On the side of the screen the scores for my fingerprints came up, and I know that this wasn't a test or anything, but it was still pleasing when a print got a good mark.

Then I had to sign my name on an electronic pad, again, just like at the supermarket.  Finally I had my picture taken.  And that was it.  The nice Spanish lady gave me a customer survey to fill out and I was free to go.  We asked the police lady at the door for directions to the nearest mall, and we were on the road by 11:08.

It seems almost too easy somehow.

Biometrics Day.

Today is Biometrics Day!

We are in the car and on our way to the USCIS office in Charlotte for my appointment this morning.

Details later.

Amigurumi Wedding.

Yesterday I had a twitter from Rowan to say that she had received the amigurumi cake toppers before the wedding party left the chateau.

I had hidden some pictures for Row and Nairn to see in advance, but waited to post the pictures on Alien Spouse until after the wedding.  Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise of the dress!

Over all I think I was most pleased with the kilt and tie on the Mini-Nairn.  With Mini-Row I think that the hair and flowers worked out best, but she also has an impressive cleavage for a crochet lady!

I have to say I was really disappointed with FedEx.  I paid extra for guaranteed two day delivery and the cake toppers should have been delivered on the Thursday before the wedding.  As it was they hung out in a French FedEx depot for three days, and missed the wedding entirely.  It was really frustrating to look at the on-line tracking and see that they were just sitting there!  Ugh! 

Still, although the amigurumi didn't arrive in time for the wedding, but they did go on the honeymoon to Asia.  My crochet is much better traveled then I am!

Picnic Post Mortem

The picnic went well, but it's surprising how exhausting it is standing around watching 400 people eating fried chicken and wondering why no-one seems to like the hot-dogs.  I did eat a fairly nice black bean burger, some crisps and a brownie, with the sweetest lemonade I have ever drunk.  Ever.

When organising a meal for 400 odd people the thing is that you have to order the food a few weeks in advance and confirm final numbers at least three days in advance.  This is why I sent out a reminder e-mail the Monday before, because getting a prompt response to my invitation was key. So you can imagine that when,  in the words of Cher Horowitz,  "...people came that, like, did not R.S.V.P. So I was, like, totally buggin'."

I shouldn't have worried, because for every student that turned up unannounced with their family, there was another that hadn't put in an appearance.  So it was all fine really, we had enough food, and the only things we ran out of were rice crispie treats and iced tea.  It could have been worse.

Umbrellas and Indoor Picnics.

I didn't have unsettling dreams about the North Pole or re-animated corpses, but I did spend an inordinate amount of dream time looking for an umbrella with a green handle and a cream canopy with a photo of something glamorous printed on it.  It was quite a specific dream, in that the umbrella was mine and I knew I'd left somewhere at a sort of nightclub-slash-health-spa, which was haunted, naturally.  I found lots of other umbrellas, but I specifically wanted mine so I just kept searching all night.  This may well have something to do with the event I'll be working today.

It's a picnic for 450 people that I organised, and originally intended to host on the lawn outside our dorm building, but then had to move it to an indoor location because of the high probability of rain.  Except the indoor location got the date for the booking wrong, and called me last weekend asking we were.  So I'm a bit nervous.  What with the Chancellor of the University coming to this event, and last week having been just so fabulous.  Oh, and I have to wear the department's logo on a T-shirt too, so there will be no chance of flying under the radar at all.

It's Alive! Alive!

Today was a very good day!  Doc made crumpets! And I read "Frankenstein" from beginning to end! 

Actually my personal best is still having read "Wuthering Heights" cover-to-cover in a single day, but that's not the point here.  Whilst reading Mary Shelley's best known work I was also underlining lots of passages in the novel and made a couple of pages of notes, which is guaranteed to make a girl feel like she's been doing some serious thinking.

One of the best things about buying second-hand text books is when the previous owners have already underlined bits, or made notes in the margins.  Whoever it was that owned this book before me started off annotating the text quite emphatically, for example there is a star in the margin that was drawn in ballpoint pen with such force that it's impression goes through the next three pages; but that kind of intensity is hard to maintain, and the notes stop a third of the way into the book.

Still, the last note is particularly pleasing:

"The Monster Lives!" Yeah, it does!  Wooh!

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Snacks.

Today started off very well indeed.  Doc cooked me buttermilk pancakes and episode-one-season-two of "Dollhouse" was available to watch on Hulu.  Yay!

For the rest of today I shall be mostly reading "Frankenstein" and critical analysis of "Frankenstein", which may well lead to my having unsettling dreams about expeditions to the North Pole for at least the next week.

To help keep up my energy levels through out the academic activity, I have snacks in the form of low-fat chocolate milk and a bag of multi-grain pretzels.

It's going to be a pretty good Saturday!

The Return of Echo. And I Missed It.

Oh Bloody HELL!

How did I completely miss that the second season of "Dollhouse" started on Fox this evening?

OK, this week has officially been no fun at all.  Let's say that the new week starts on Saturday, shall we?

Almost a Cat.

I was looking at my blog hits for the month:

It occurred to me that if there had been a dip in page views, instead of the slight spike, then my stats graph would have looked like a cat:

See?

Wig/Hat A. or Wig/Hat B.?

I'm torn between two crochet wig/hat ideas.

Clearly there is going to be some bouffant action either way.

poll by twiigs.com

Sugababes 4.0

We really need to discuss the Sugababes, because I'm just not sure they can be called the Sugababes now that Keisha has "left" after 11 years.  This means the band now has an entirely different line up to the original group.

I'm sure you know how this happened, but for the sake of clarity, let's look at it step-by-step (and the BBC have it in pictures too.  Yay!).

1. Keisha, Mutya and Siobhan (3 years)
2. Keisha, Mutya and Heidi (4 Years)
3. Keisha, Heidi and Amelle (4 years)
4. Heidi, Amelle and Jade (Present Day)

Now, to be fair, the most successful combination was the second (Keisha, Mutya and Heidi), and I suppose it could also be argued that after 8 years that Heidi has actually been a Sugababe for longer than original member Mutya, who you can see sang with the group for 7 years. 

However did Heidi ever learn to speak Keisha and Mutya's secret Sugababe language?  Is that something the new girls have received training in at all?  It is intrinsic to the very fabric of the Sugababes that they speak a secret language, damn it!  Assuming that there will be some sort of special secret language coaching for Jade (For the sake of argument lets say that Heidi is up to speed by now and that Amelle has got at least some of the vocab and grammar down by now), I still think there needs to be some sort of concession to this totally new era of Sugababes. 

My suggestion would be that they put the "R" back in "Sugar", and I'm not just suggesting that because it has been bugging me for a while.  Nope.  Not at all.

Fuzzy and Autumnal.

Furry White Caterpillar with Crazy Black Markings!

Pretty Red Autumnal Leaf!

Yay!

Grrh. Arrgh.

Ugh! What a day.  Nothing major happened, but so many little piddly annoyances bombarded me that by two pm this afternoon I was just weepy with irritation.

I am so glad that Doc recently got a second-hand mini fridge for his office.  It's not a mini bar unfortunately, so no lunch time G&Ts for me, but it does have fresh milk.  So today he made me a proper cup of PG Tips tea with milk in it.  That made everything so much better.

Well that, a mini caramel nut brownie (only 80 calories!) and a Doc C pep-talk.

Actually, and this is completely off topic but it does fall under the category of annoyances and clearly I'm in the mood to vent today, I cannot BELIEVE that there won't be any more "Defying Gravity" screened in the foreseeable future.  I don't mean that they won't be made, because they've already been filmed, it's just they are being shelved mid-run.

What the hell does Ron Livingstone have to do here people?  Why can't we just let him be a star already?  He's a really good actor!  And they just opened Pod Four, but we didn't get to see inside, so what is in Pod Four?  And what was Nadia's back story?  And would Zoe and Donner ever have an actual, you know, conversation about anything?  And who are those kids that are creeping Eve out?  And Fractal Tomato Plants?  I don;t get to see where this is going?  Really?

Suffice to say: Grrrh.

Happiness Is... ...Really Selfish Apparently

Doc was teaching a class today and one of his students came up with such a delightful definition of happiness that I couldn't resist scavenging from "Love Is..." cartoon web archives to create a custom one. 

Doesn't that just make you all warm and fuzzy inside?

Doc wants it on a t-shirt.

Move Along... Nothing Here To Snipe At Here...

It turns out I am, like, totes naive when it comes to the world of blogs.   Recently Dooce has started an archive of her hate mail  Most of it is has been attributed to one particular woman, which piqued my interest, and a quick google revealed that this one particular woman also had similar issues with a few other "mommy-bloggers".  It was at this point that I went through the self-reflexive looking-glass of blogs.

It turned out that a lot of the poison-pennings were originally posts and comments from a blog that's whole purpose is to be scathing and critical of a few other people's blogs.  And, AND, it's not the only snark-fest out there!  This is a self-cannibalising blog trend that I was completely unaware of before today, and I'm sort of bemused by it.  It seems like a lot of mental and emotional energy to expend on extreme snarking.  Can't we all just post photos of kittens and unicorns?

If you are even considering starting a blog I would not go looking for these web critics, not because they aren't amusing some of them are very funny, but because some of it is pretty vitriolic and quite depressing really.  If I'd seen this stuff before I started blogging I would have been trepidatious about publishing that first post.  Now I'm just hoping to never do anything to draw any ire from that quarter of the web.  I cry really easily.

Of Intellectual Property Rights and Things.

Today I've been thinking a lot about intellectual property, copyright and plagiarism.  It's fascinating stuff, but not very funny and, just perhaps, a touch dry.

So instead let me tell you that I think I'll be basing Doc's Brain Slug Wig/Hat on a pattern posted here several years ago, which illustrated the construction process of costumes for twin boys who had decided to be Dr Seuss' Thing One and Thing Two for Halloween.

I only wish Doc would even consider the Wig/Hat in blue, but it still amuses me to think he will be Thing Three: The Growed Up Version.

Chris Williams' Flyers and Posters

The most interesting thing I've seen this weekend was a exhibition of flyers and posters designed by Chris Williams. The only problem was that no photos were allowed in the gallery so I couldn't take any pictures. Hmmm...  Hello internet...

Yay! His press has a website and a

Flickr account! 

Ooh, and an Etsy Shop...

   

Decemberists
Originally uploaded by plasticflame

Mock GRE.

I'm on day seven of a 12 day stretch of being at work, or on campus for some reason, every single day.  Is it a coincidence that is has also been raining, well I say raining but only because I'm fairly sure "monsooning" isn't an actual word, for all of that time?  Well, yes it is a coincidence, but it's one of those damn annoying ones it is hard not to take personally.  If I have to be constantly hanging around work, I'd at least like my feet to be dry whilst I'm there.

Anyway...

Today's trip to campus was so I could take a practice GRE test.  I have to take an actual GRE before the end of the year to be able to complete my application for my MA; this is because, at the moment, I'm masquerading as a non-degree seeking student. Once I've taken the GRE I can easily convert my status to degree seeking, and the hours I've taken this semester will count.  Simple, right?

However, we all know that exams are the stuff of classic anxiety dreams for a reason, and so I took a trial run in the hopes that it will make the actual exam less intimidating.  There are several sections to the real GRE, and it's a computer based test so it actually adjusts the difficulty of the test according to how well you are doing. The practice test today was in a classroom with exam booklets and HB pencils, and just covered the quantitative (Maths) and verbal (English) sections. 

The maths doesn't really make any difference for me, because I already know that the English department won't even look at that; but I still have to sit the thing and personal pride dictates that I don't totally fail it.  There is, however, the small matter of my not having had a maths class since I took my GCSEs sixteen years ago, and the differences in the focus of the British educational system as opposed to the American educational system, so several of the questions on the GRE were just totally unintelligible to me.  When I knew I didn't have a hope in hell of working the answer out I just guessed, but I did at least try with the all of the others.

The English was a much friendlier paper.  The questions were oddly phrased I thought, but I felt as though I understood what they wanted from me, and I was much happier with that section.

The main thing that struck me today was how no matter what age you are or the type of exam you are taking, being in a classroom where an exam is being given never changes.  It's at once too quiet and not quiet enough, I could hear every sniff of the fellow students, the air conditioning that I wouldn't even notice usually seemed deafening and when two girls started to whisper to each other it was really annoying. Plus it was bloody cold in there, why is it so hard to get an exam room to a sensible temperature?

I get my results back on Tuesday, not that they matter in any real sense, but it will give me an idea of how much work I need to do to get a good enough score on the real thing.

The Brain Slugs Brothers.

I've finished the bigger Brain Slug, he's just as intent on enslaving humans through brain control but I like to think he's got a better sense of humour.

A Dog-Earred (Former) Bookseller.

How do I know it's been years since I earnt my living by standing behind the counter of a bookshop all day?  Well, today I helped to man my department's stand at the University's Open House, which meant I was standing for four hours talking to prospective students, when I got home I had to nap for a good hour or two and now my legs feel like they want to fall off. 

Four hours is nothing to a seasoned bookseller at the peak of their selling capabilities, so clearly I'm seriously out of condition!  To think I used to flog books all day, then go clubbing and get up for the early shift and do it all over again is just exhausting.  Where did I get the energy from?

FEED ME!

For breakfast I had a bagel with honey, after the gym I had a cup of tea and a protein bar and then, at about 11, I had a coffee and a maple walnut scone.  Which is all fine, if a bit sugary, except that I then accidentally skipped lunch, so by the end of the working day I was totally wired.

It's weird that my blood sugar levels being too low has almost exactly the same effect on me as tanker full of coffee and eating only candy floss for a week.

Anyway, I ate a bowl of cereal as soon as I got home and Doc's cooking dinner now, so everything should be be fine soon.

Early Morning Reminder: Cats are the Dominant Species in this House.

Sometimes I forget that it is not MY bedside table, it is actually EDITH'S observation platform.

It is clearly necessary for her to have a suitable position from which to sit and observe sleeping humans from an objective distance.  If I bear this simple fact in mind, it really is my own fault that Edith made a hell of a noise this morning when she knocked everything off by stepping from the bed onto the observation platform.   

I really shouldn't put things on it if I don't want them to be jostled off when Miss Cavell-Cat makes her inspection rounds.

Seven Years.

When we got home I flopped on the sofa to get on with crocheting the larger Brain Slug for Doc's Halloween hat, whilst Doc C went upstairs to get changed.  Then he came running back downstairs in his boxer shorts, because he'd just remembered that it was the seventh anniversary of our having met and he wanted to give me a big smooch.

He is so sweet.

Lost Logan.

Yesterday the new Graduate Assistant and one of our Work Study Students were in the work room next to my office, and I could hear them whispering and giggling for ages.  I don't know about you, but that sort of thing always makes me feel paranoid.

Then they came into my office and asked if I wanted to be part of their conspiracy, but I had to say yes or no before they would tell me what it was.

Essentially they had hatched a plot to kidnap the Wolverine figurine from Zack, the department's Tech Specialist / Advisor / Assistant Lecturer / Photographer / Videographer / Webmaster / Housing Liason.

I let them do it, because they were so hyped up by then it would have taken the X-Men to stop them.  The thing is though that I really don't like practical jokes, so I made sure Wolverine was put somewhere safe (on top of the stationary cupboard) and when Zack hadn't noticed by lunch time today, I cracked and dropped a hint that he might not be noticing something.

He worked out that Wolverine was missing, and found him almost immediately after that.  The students had put a Post-It on Logan, that said "Want a Muffin?" because Zack had offered us all a home-made mini-muffin yesterday.

The plan right now is that Zack is going to put Wolverine back on top of the stationary cupboard, but change the Post-It note.  He just hasn't worked out what it's going to say yet.

Evening Class Supplies.

This evening's class was on John Webster's "The Duchess of Malfi", which has everything you could want in a Jacobean play, and throws in a nice case of lycanthropy when you're least expecting it.  Love it.

As you can see from the photo I bring all the necessary school supplies to the class with me.

• Text
• Last week's hand-outs
• Notepad
• Pens (It's important to have two or three different colour options, for the more detailed doodles)
• Cough sweet
• Folder
• Water
• Tea
• Chocolate, in this instance Reece's Peanut Butter Cups, but the exact type of chocolate is not important.

Message for Megan Mullally.

So TLo, you know Tom and Lorenzo from "Project Rungay", right,? Well, they interviewed Megan Mullally for Metro Magazine.

It turns out that she is developing a new musical, which sounds great! (I won't spoil TLo's interview with any more details, go and read them) But, and I think some of you will be able to guess what's coming next, there is still no mention of her doing a revival of "Mame".

What the H-E-double-hockey-sticks do I have to do here Mullally? Why are my psychic projections that you should play this role being ignored? I'm seeing either an opulent mini-series, or a full on Broadway that transfers to West End extravaganza. It would be so fabulous.

The Unanswerable Question

I'm already in bed, but Doc C is downstairs and everything was quiet until I heard him talking to the cat.

Doc: Edith! What the hell are you doing?

Edith: (Silence. Followed by the sound of paws scampering up the stairs)

Edith walks nonchalantly into the bedroom, her plumed tail waving gently like a banner behind her. Nobody ever knows what Edith is doing or intends to do, she a cat of chaos and mystery.

Unfortunately Named Film.

Note to Film Makers: When naming a film, I would avoid having it be too close to a popular turn of phrase with a negative connotation.

I'm looking at you in particular Brandon Camp, writer/director of "Love Happens".  Because, frankly, "Love Happens" is a terrible title.  Does Jennifer Anniston's film career really need to have the inevitably titled reviews this will generate?  Poor woman, it won't make any difference if she's any good in the film or not.

Can Team Aniston, if there still is one, please get her an assitant who will at least read the titles, if not the scripts themselves?

Tea and Banana Bread.

Doc brought me home a little bit early because I'm feeling a bit under the weather, again.  I'm beginning to think that I must be allergic to North Carolina, because this is ridiculous!  When am I going to build up an immunity to the local germs?

I'm sure that I will be fine tomorrow though, because when I got home I made myself a pot of tea and had a slice of banana bread.  The skull-shaped plate is entirely optional of course, but I felt like really treating myself.

Work Study.

Week three of my college classes and I'm still not 100% on top of all the reading I need to do, I am getting through most of it somehow but I don't feel like  it's digested properly.  I feel like there is a chapter or two stuck in my throat.

I was talking to Doc C about this problem of working a 40 hour week and studying for two MA classes a semester, because that is a lot of work, and I mainly just wanted him to sympathise.  Naturally, and if you've read the blurb on the back of "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" you'll know this, he responded by trying to come up with a solution.  He began recounting anecdotal instances of academic colleagues getting up at 6 so they can read for two hours, then go to the gym at 8, then reading for another 2 hours before teaching a class. The problem being, I already do get up at around 6 and I have to be at work by 8:30, so the idea of having 4 hours of reading time every morning is just so luxurious as to be laughable.  And not helpful.  I may have snapped a little tiny bit, before remembering who would be nipping out to buy me a burrito so I could have my dinner before going to the class.

Having considered the matter further, there is really only one logical solution.  The deal with the University is that they pay for three classes a year and I get time out of my working week to attend those  classes.  As it happens that both of mine are in the evenings, it's absolutely necessary for me to re-appropriate that time for research and reading.

So if you walk past my office and you see me reading a book, no I am not relaxing with chick-lit (as if!) and yes, I have finished that paper work you wanted.  I just also have a ton of homework to get through and I am loving it!

Reading Frenzy.

I tweeted earlier that I'd like a USB port into my brain, and when I typed that I was joking.

Now I'm really wondering if that can be done, because I have a shelf full of books that I need to cram into my brain this semester and radical science fiction brain surgery seems the most logical way to achieve that goal. I'm not sure it can be done with conventional methods.

Well, unless I find a whole extra day a week behind the fridge.

That Sunday Feeling.

Yesterday I intended to finish "The Duchess of Malfi" and start reading "Frankenstein", then make a start on the pile of additional reading I need to do. Totally achievable, right?

So naturally I stayed up until 2 last night, and I watched episodes of "Law and Order: SVU" and made a Brain Slug.  I'm sure I can hand that in instead of one of my research papers and it will be graded appropriately.

Still for me Sundays have always been about that mad scramble to get homework done anyway.  Why should that change, just because I'm 33 and should know by now how to efficiently plan my time?

The important thing is that the Brain Slug turned out quite well, except Doc thinks it needs to be larger.  So I anticipate that I'll be whipping up this one's bigger brother when I should be doing something else entirely.

Ah, crochet!  It's nice to see my wool gathering take a solidly literal form!

Home/Work.

This weekend I have a LOT of reading to do for my classes, so naturally I slept for most of this morning, went out for lunch, played with the cats and started a new crochet project.

An Attack of the Vapours.

Last night we went to a Graduate Student and Faculty Mixer, but we only stayed for an hour because I nearly fainted.  It was ridiculous!  One minute I was happily chatting to my friend Tori and an English Professor I know slightly, and the next I had that horrible light headed too-cold-but-too-hot feeling.

I think all that happened was that I didn't eat enough yesterday, and the room was really warm, that seems to be what usually triggers the vapours for me.  Well, that and having blood taken.  The one and only time I've ever actually fainted I was standing in a queue in the food court of a motorway services with my Mum.  I can remember I was looking at some sort of custardy dessert and thinking it looked like something I'd seen in the trailer for a really tacky horror movie, which is what I thought was making me feel ill.  Then my legs went from under me, and I was on the floor.

Fortunately when I started feeling horrible last night Doc C, who had been across the room, had just walked over to me.  When I said "I think we ought to go now" he didn't ask why or make a fuss, he simply helped me outside to a chair on the balcony.  Then he whisked me off to the car, got me home and made me a nice cup of tea.  He said afterwards that he could tell by my face that I was about to faint.

I'm just really glad it was a Friday night, so I could sleep late, have breakfast, nap for another couple of hours and then eat a great avocado sandwich.  And drink a whole pot of tea, that was the thing that really did the trick of course.

The Cat Piano

I found an animation on-line today, it's a film noir set in a city of cat musicians and it's amazingly well done.  I particularly love the narration by Nick Cave, and that certainly helps it maintain a creepy tension.

The Cat Piano from PRA on Vimeo.

Cat IQs.

For the most part the Alien Spouse house is a fairly benign dictatorship, but living with cats, as you may know, is essentially co-habitating with small but imperious aliens.  They have very definite ideas about how things are and how they should be, which they communicate via the medium of doing whatever the hell they feel like until the humans learn better.

This learning process does seem to work both ways, although cats can be very stubborn about what lessons they allow to "take".  For example, Edith needs to be given a laxative three times a week, so I decided it was best to put it on her paw at breakfast time on Monday Wednesday and Friday. She has learnt this after only two weeks, and is now deeply suspicious of my motivations if I try to touch her at that time of day.  I'm pretty sure she even knows the yucky brown paste is kept in a tube, because she bolts the moment she sees that.  I can be forced to chase after her with a blob of the laxative on my finger, but once it's actually rubbed firmly into her fur she relaxes, washes it off again and forgives me pretty quickly.

The thing that I find impressive is that she has learnt to be suspicious of me under a very specific set of circumstances, but otherwise is still very affectionate and trusting of me.  By way of comparison Nancy never seemed to be aware that the dreaded eye-dropper full of medicine was coming, despite her hatred of it and it being a twice daily task over several weeks.

The only conclusion to be reached is that Edith is more intelligent than Nancy.  Fortunately I'm fairly confident that the humans still have the edge, I'm keeping an eye out though.

Lunch Accessory.

During the week I have a routine in the morning -

1. Turn off my alarm clock
2. Snooze for 10 minutes
3. Turn off my iPod Touch alarm, and then get up
4. Feed the cats
5. Scoop litter
6. Get washed and dressed
7. Eat breakfast
8. Pack lunch
9. Put on my shoes
10. Remind the cats not to destroy the house
11. Leave for work with Doc C

I'm on auto-pilot for most of that routine, which is a particularly excellent thing around step 5, I simply require everything to work properly so I don't have to think about any of the individual steps. Mostly I've got everything well organised, but packing my lunch was still slightly niggling.

Food fitting neatly into containers for storage is very pleasing to me, which there's no need to go on about again here, but the difficulty is then transportation. Finding a suitable lunch box in my collection of Lock and Locks is easy, finding a bag to then carry that box in is more problematic.  Last year I bought a small cheap cooler bag, but it's dimensions are best suited to holding a six pack  of coke, which turns out to be oddly inconvenient for actual food storage. This will sound daft, but it was increasingly annoying trying to fit my lunch into a container that just could not comfortably accommodate, say, a sandwich, an apple and a drink.  After several months it occurred to me that starting the day with irritation, however minor, is not good.

So last pay-day I treated myself to an "Extra Relish Lunch Tote" from Built:NY.  It's only slightly bigger than the cooler, but it's a much better design, and it's made from neoprene (the fabric wetsuits and dubiously winning "Project Runway" dresses are made from), so it's a bit stretchy.  That slight expandability means I can fit all of my lunch, snacks and water for the day in there, it's like Mary Poppins' tiffin case.

Plus:

How gorgeous is that?

The coloured polka dots and the utility of it makes me just a touch happier during the working week. And who doesn't need that first thing in the morning?

Alan Turing Gets His Apology.

I was at work this afternoon when Stephen Fry mentioned on his Twitter feed that there was breaking news about the petition for Alan Turing's official apology.

SO naturally I skipped over to http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page20571 and there was a statement from Prime Minister Gordon Brown saying the treatment of Turing had been appalling, and he actually said sorry.

Go Gordon!  That was nicely done sir.

You can read the whole statement after the break.

Cat-in-a-Box.

I'll be honest, this photo instinctively prompts a reference to Jack Nicholson in "The Shining".

"H-e-r-e-'s Edith!" probably.

In a lovely adherence to cat clichés, Edith adores boxes and this big box is her particular joy.  The tear was already in the corner, but it was taped closed until this evening.  With the removal of the tape, Edith has discovered a whole new facet to the box, and she has never been happier.

The Classic Excuse.

Naturally I shall now turn to my cats to provide a welcome upbeat change of pace.

This morning Nancy felt that I didn't get out of bed promptly enough this morning, and this therefore delayed me preparing her breakfast.  Driven by starvation, Nancy started chewing something on my bedside table, which turned out to be my copy of "Othello" that I had been reading for my class this evening.

So I can legitimately claim that the cat ate my homework.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

I am extremely glad that I am able to say that I have never experienced domestic violence first-hand, but this weekend a colleague of mine lost a close relative.  She was beaten to death, and the police currently have her boyfriend in custody.

Hearing that when I arrived at work this morning has, well, overshadowed everything else.  I really don't feel like making jokes or posting pretty photographs, but I will take this opportunity to say that October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the US, and there is a website here with all of the information.

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, He Loves Me...

(SPOILER: The yellow one is an "He Loves Me")

Happy Monday.

Long weekends.  Aren't they just lovely?  And somehow a long weekend's Monday doesn't have that quality of dread to it, so it really feels like a totally different day. 

Do you think Monday has an inferiority complex?  I mean it must be tough at parties when everyone wants to meet Friday, or asks Monday to introduce them to Saturday.  Even Wednesday and Thursday are more popular, although to be frank I've always had issues with Wednesday myself.  Double Latin, double lacrosse, double music, double physics?  Time table from hell when I was 14.  I imagine, again at parties, that Monday and Tuesday tend to sit on the stairs and get completely off their faces on vodka, whilst everyone else is in the living room dancing.

Anyway...

This Monday was very pleasant.  I cleaned the bathroom (although, don't tell Doc C, but Edith already done something dreadful in there.  sigh), and tidied my side of the bedroom, before going to see "(500) Days of Summer" with Doc.  Romantic comedies are always a gamble with the Doc, but fortunately this was more of an anti-romantic comedy, so it went over very well.  I adore Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, so it was an excellent date movie all round.  To give you an idea of how good it was there is a dance sequence in it, and the Doc actually enjoyed it.  Unprecedented. Then we went to get ice cream, yum!

All in all a pretty splendid Monday really.

Watch.

Actually I've also decided that being an adult also means having to know what time it is, and whilst it's all very well using your phone as a sort of high-tech fob watch, it's not always appropriate. So having not worn a watch for, I don't know, 15 years?  I think it's time I got one.

That was the easy bit, the tricky bit is going to be finding a watch that I actually like, but isn't ridiculously expensive. I want a nice watch that I'll be happy to wear every day, so I don't want anything too colourful because that will just end up clashing with something eventually.  Essentially I'm thinking a classic Tank Watch with black leather strap, white face and a silver casing.  Just not a Cartier, because that would end up costing $6000.  I don't understand why anyone would want a watch that cost that much, personally I'd be nervous about breaking or losing it.  No, I'd be happy with a reasonable knock-off of that style for around $100 by a decent watch maker.  Easy!

Any suggestions?

General Cat Maintenance.

Edith Cavell-Cat wishes to make it clear that we are bad humans, and she does not like us.  How dare we trim her claws, and then, AND THEN clean her ears?  What business is it of ours?  Outrageous!

Edith refuses to even look at me right now, but she can at least be satisfied that she managed to cover Doc C and I with the earwash stuff when she shook her head to get it out.  At least, as the vet pointed out, it smells quite nice.  It could have been worse, at least we didn't need to give Edith her laxative today, that would have been the last straw for her.  I usually put that on her paw whilst she's eating breakfast on a weekday, so by the time we come home in the evening she's pretty much forgotten and loves us again.

It's all part of being a grown up I suppose, having to do slightly unpleasant things for the health and well-being of creatures that cannot do things for themselves or understand why they need to be done.  sigh.

Tiddlers and a Dragonfly.

After breakfast this morning we went for a walk around one of the local lakes, and I noticed loads of little fish in the water.  They were just floating around, minding their own fishy business and weren't keen on posing for photos.

Unlike this dragonfly, who flew past me to sit on this log and basked in the sun whilst I took photos of him (or her?  I have no idea) from several different angles and with the camera on different settings.  Aren't the wings amazing?

Biometrics Capturing Appointment.

In the PO Box today were two things for me; one was a text book, and the other was a letter from the USCIS scheduling my appointment to got to the Application Support Center in Charlotte so that they can "capture" my biometrics and it's in four weeks time. Considering the last letter I got from USCIS indicated it could take up to twelve months for this to be scheduled, getting the appointment so quickly was quite a surprise.

However my favourite part of the letter has to be the postscript which specifically says that "If you have open wounds or bandages/casts when you appear, the USCIS may reschedule your appointment if it is determined you injuries will interfere with taking your biometrics". Noted.