Cat Photo Tax

 

More pet photo spam! Let's begin with our beloved elder enjoying her life. I present: Cuillean blep.

Then there's Arya, she of the endless whiskers. She's having a momentary, but meaningful relationship with her fleece toy.

Then there's the youngest. Peseshet. This is the one who, about a year ago, darted across the street in front of me. She was tiny. She's still tiny, only about six pounds, but she's growing up fast. Two weeks ago at o'dark thirty in the morning, we had an animal come to the lanai screen. All of my big, strong cats scrambled ass over tea kettle to get in the house. This itty-bitty stripey kitten stayed out there, all floofed up, reading the feline riot act at the trespasser. At volume. Very unlady-like language. Whatever critter had come to the screen beat a hasty retreat. (Spoiler: When I set the live trap, I caught a possum. We parted with no damage done on either part.) 

Then, today, this little girl decided to exercise her hunting prowess and catch her own animated cat toy. Naturally, she brought it inside and let it go. I had to get involved at that point and rescue the critter.

 The animated cat toy was ungrateful.

Pets have price tags, y'all. Price tags.

Where I Go to Know

The single writing-related resource I use is a search engine. It's because I don't really have one go-to. Most of the time, I want to know what the psychological drive is that transforms hate into love. I want to know how survivor's guilt manifests. How fast is acceleration of a craft in a solar system if you deploy a solar sail of x size. How does the brain respond to foreign objects and where can I place something like that without killing someone outright? 

Huh. It's possible I'm on a couple of FBI watch lists.

Perhaps I land a little more frequently on Jeffe's side of the internet with Thesaurus.com but if I do, it isn't by much. I'm one of those writers who finds a word image or gesture and I make sure I get my money's worth out of it in a draft. It's in rewrites that I realize I've used the same thing sixty-some-odd times and then I break out the synonyms. 

But for most things, it's my trusty search engine. It may take me far afield, but serendipity is a thing and occasionally the rabbit holes pay off, too. Most of the time, I get right where I need to go, grab my info and I'm back in the race. Though, in this race it should be noted that I'm the tortoise. And I stopped for snacks. And a nap. And . . .

This is Perceval (the silver tabby) and her mini-me Peseshet (the brown tabby and white in shadow here) above. Even though they were rescued a year apart, we're pretty certain they are related. Perceval certainly treats Peseshet as if they are. I figured we could all use a little cute on a Friday morning.

To NaNo or not to NaNo

 No one:

Me: . . . So. . .

Absolutely no one:

Me: A dearth of cat pictures? No worry! I so got you.

Last week, I was outside in the early evening. This little cat darted out across the street right in front of me. I grabbed a can of cat food and the cat trap. She was hiding in bushes. To be certain she was still there, I popped the top on the can and set it down. As I stepped back, a tiny little cat crept out of the shrubs and began to eat. Back in I went. The cat darted into the bushes. I set up the trap with the can of cat food inside as the bait. I backed off across the street. My heart pounded too hard and too fast. I'd barely gotten my breath and started to get my head together when the trap went off. 

Meet Peseshet. (Pe as in put, se as in set, shet as in Shetland) She's a sweet little thing with a lot of

attitude. She's looking for her forever person in South Central Florida. Preferably, someone who won't throw her out like she doesn't matter the way her former people did.

Ah, November. Election day can't get here soon enough. Thanksgiving is too damned soon. I am not prepared. Above all, NANOWRIMO. 

To Nano or not to nano. That is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the procrastination and avoidance of  -- wait. Didn't I do this last year? Pretty sure I pulled this. K. 

Y'know, here's the long and short of it. Nanowrimo is a really great way to kick start yourself into writing as fast as you possibly can. There's power in Nanowrimo because you know you are taking part in something larger than yourself. The goal isn't to write well - it's to write fast. Writing well comes later. Nano is an amazing opportunity to give yourself the gift of suspending judgement simply because for thirty days, you and thousands and thousands of your peers are doing one thing - writing to 50k. It's thirty days were you can justify taking a little time to write while the rest of the family (generally) respects the effort because it's only for thirty days. 

The downside? If you're someone who responds poorly to pressure, this will just block you. You have to know yourself, your process, and what drives you. If this sounds like you, stay far away. The other possibility is that you're someone who has far too strong a competitive streak, this could be a little toxic.

Understand. Nanowrimo isn't about 'winning' even though the whole process does have a finish line. You either make 50k+ words or you don't. But no matter where you land in word count over the month, you still win. You're farther ahead than when you undertook the exercise if it turns out to be right for you.