Month: February 2018

Friday’s Theme Music

I’ve always like the elemental approach of this song. This was one of those songs that Mom said, “What are they singing?” She also disparaged the singing. “That’s not singing. That’s…I don’t know what that is.”

No, it’s not very smooth. One generation always struggles with the next generation’s interpretation of what they’re passing. But when the band sing, “I’ve been waiting so long,” I can relate. Seems like I’m always waiting so long, somewhere, sometime, to check in, check out, get in, get out, get on, get by, although yesterday’s shopping went very fast. We only waited to check out in one line out of three.

Here’s Cream with “Sunshine of Your Love,”

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Squirrelly Writing Session

Today’s writing session was weirdly structured (or unstructured). I’d write a few pages in the novel, and then my brain would squirt some random idea out. Like a dog addicted to chasing squirrels, I’d pursue that idea until the squirrel was gone, edit what I’d written, and then resume writing.

I attribute the randomness to conversations with friends yesterday about quantum mechanics and brains (and consciousness), and dreams I had last night. But even with the squirrel breaks, it was a satisfying and engaging day of writing like crazy.

Time to stop writing like crazy for today and squirrel off to do something else.

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Floofryu

Floofryu (catfinition) – short poetry form, similar in structure to haiku: three lines, with twenty-three syllables. Floofryus deal with the foibles of cats, also known as floofs.

In use: 

Dancing with paws and claws extended

mouth open and teeth exposed

she battles phantom adversaries

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Clawthered

Clawthered (catfinition) – caught by a cat hanging on with its claws.

In use: “He needed to get up and leave, but a small tabby was clawthered to his jacket, and he couldn’t get released.”

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Thursday’s Theme Music

In 1971, I was fifteen years old, and entering high school. Richard Nixon was president.  The Vietnam War continued, and the Pentagon Papers were printed while the U.S and U.S.S.R. continued their arms race. Protesters marched against the war and the bomb. Although it was a new decade, we hadn’t turned the page socially. The summer of love, Watts riots, and Chicago ’68, among many events, all still resonated through our awareness.

Peace was a major topic. From it came songs, like this one, “Peace Train.” Cat Stevens wrote and released it. He’d soon add to the national conversation by becoming a Muslim and changing his name to Yusuf Islam after almost drowning.

He’s an interesting, talented person.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rdakyltMX8

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Flooftable

Flooftable (catfinition) – the schedule by which cats complete their activities. Flooftable is often misconstrued as being the same as the Periodic Table of Floofs; the two expressions are not interchangeable.

In use: Abiding by the flooftable, the cat arose at 3:30 A.M. and nuzzled the sleeping people. They swatted him away and covered their heads. At 3:40, he batted the mouse across the floor and chased it, and then jumped up on the dresser and knocked everything off that he could. At 3:50, he demanded to be let out of the house. 4:15 found him demanding to be let into the house. At 4:30, he insisted that he needed to leave the house again. The angry people obliged him, with threats, which saddened him.

Sitting down, he washed his face to console himself. He didn’t want to do these things (he’d rather be sleeping, of which he was very fond), but it was the flooftable, and the flooftable needed to be observed and respected, or catnarchy would reign.

So said the Great Floof, who crafted a specific flooftable for every cat in the world. He wished people could understand that.

An idea was born.

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

I’m sure I posted about this song before. I’ve always found it compelling, as it expresses the behavior of a person struggling with love, self-confidence, addiction, and the inability to express themselves. Yes, that’s a lot for a rock song to carry. The same lines return to me: “She gets mad and she starts to cry. She takes a swing but she can’t hit. She don’t mean no harm. She just don’t know what do to about it.”

Here’s Jane’s Addiction with “Jane Says” from 1987.

 

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A Turbulent Dream

Wow, what a dream.

Featuring swollen brown rivers, hill people, and my wife and I as we search for a new house, the dream was very strange.

Brown swollen rivers flowed everywhere. I had the sense that they surrounded us. When I looked in some directions, the rivers seemed higher than the land and moved like fat, sinuous dragons. While they never overflowed, they hampered and guided our movement by their presence.

Meanwhile, my wife and I sought a new house. We had pages of listings, seventeen in all. But as I visited the houses, I discovered they vastly over-promised, were overpriced, and underwhelmed. After seeing the first one (alone), I found my wife and told her, “Don’t go to it. It’s a waste.” Then, talking almost to myself, I said, “I hope the others are better.” My doubts were high that they were.

I kept losing my wife and finding her. This was against a backdrop of lurking, spying, menacing mountain people out of Deliverance. If you’re not familiar with the reference, read the James Dickey novel, or see the movie starring Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, and Ronny Cox.

Eventually, concerned with the rivers and the people I’m encountering, who are growing more aggressive and belligerent, and disappointed with the houses, I look for my wife and develop plans to get us out of there. Extricating ourselves isn’t easy, and drains my energy and concentration, but eventually, we put the land behind us.

It was an intense dream.

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