Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
Floofquake (catfinition) – shaking caused by a house pet’s activities.
In use: “Leaning against the sliding closet doors, the big black and white cat groomed with apoplectic energy, as though disgusted that his white ruff wasn’t the whitest of whites, causing a floofquake that rattled the closet doors.”
A nostalgia stream is flooding me today. First it pushed me to consider old television shows, then I began googling places where I used to live, using the street view to remember those childhood places.
Music then came up. While I was discovering rock, pop and its bubblegum variations were very active, with a presence from groups such as the Osmonds and the Jackson 5. When “ABC” and “One Bad Apple” were big on the radio airwaves, I read a newspaper article in the Pittsburgh Press about whether Michael Jackson or Jimmy Osmond would have a successful singing career after their voices changed.
So, in memory, here’s “ABC” from 1970 on ABC’s American Bandstand with Dick Clark.
I do a lot of this, so I think I’m well ahead of the game.
Don’t you hate it when you put your underwear on backwards?
Thank God I discovered it when I used the coffee shop restroom.
This is my first rule. It’s almost ironclad. In the last two years, I’ve probably not written on ten days because I was sick, traveling, or on a holiday.
Incatestable (catfinition) – something that can’t be disputed because the cat has decide that it is so.
In use: “The cats’ need to be present when Michael used the bathroom became incatestable as at least one feline raced into the bathroom ahead of him whenever he went in that direction. Wondering what was driving their obsessive interest, he became a master at misdirection and quiet walking. That worked for a while, but he’d forgotten that cats could read humans’ minds.”
Floofrient (catfinition) – intense, obsessive interest demonstrated by an animal, typically house pets such as cats or dogs.
In use: “Whatever the human was eating brought floofrient attention as the dog and cat hurried over to sniff at the least, but more often attempting to snatch food out of his hand or off his plate, take a bite, or give it a lick.”
I run through the checklist.
Check the Air Quality Index. We’re at unhealthy, bordering on very unhealthy. Remember, that’s an average, and it’s early. The AQI usually goes up (the air becomes unhealthy) as the temperature rises.
Checking the weather, I confirm that it’ll be in the nineties in our area, with no precipitation. (Ironically, I check Ash Station, ironic because of the fine ash that covers things after a few days.)
It’s a mask day.
I apply my SPF 50 UV A/B lotion.
Then a hat to cover my head, and sunglasses for my eyes.
I’m ready to meet the great outdoors.
Masking up is becoming the new norm, along with skin and eye protection. It’s not truly the new norm yet. We haven’t monetized the masks.
There’s potential there.
America is a consuming, personality driven nation. I can see masks being spun to political preferences – MAGA masks, blue masks, Code Pink masks – but also to styles, personalities, and trends. Advertising can be put on masks. Budweiser and Coke can issue masks in their colors, with their logos, and give them away for free, or a discount. But two litters of Coke and get a free mask!
Pick up your mask with your Domino’s Pizza.
Or, take zombies. If you’re going to wear a mask, find a way to make it look like a zombie. Prefer Star Trek or Star Wars? Show it on your mask.
Bling can be added to the straps. The masks can be manufactured and offered in different colors. Come on, support the Pittsburgh Steelers in your Black & Gold mask. State your preference for the Oregon State Beavers in orange and black, or wear a green and yellow Duck mask to support Oregon University.
Call me a cynic (or call me Ishmael), I’m so surprised that some company hasn’t jumped all over this. I’m sure it’ll happen soon. When it does, when you finally start seeing blinged masks or masks supporting your cause or your team, then you’ll know that the new norm has arrived.
Speaking of which, I better stock up before the prices jump.
Redlegagenda posted this song this morning, so I credit them with reminding me of this Weezer classic. I enjoy Weezer, catching their remake of the Toto classic, “Africa”, and I’ve posted several of their songs as my choice of theme music before. This is a first for “Hash Pipe”.
But since Weezer covered “Africa”, I went with Toto’s live cover of “Hash Pipe”. Got to admit, I like Weezer’s “Hash Pipe” better (because of the more rocking guitars and Cuomo’s high-voiced singing), but this is still fun.
I first heard this song when I was thirteen.
My family had moved away from Wilkinsburg, PA, to a housing plan in Penn Hills, a few miles away. My friends were in Wilkinsburg and I kept going back to see them. In one of those early trips, the only friend I found on my old street, McNary Boulevard, was Richard O’Leary. A bluff and big good-natured child, Richard was a few years older than me, but had failed a few grades, becoming my classmate.
Richard lived in a small, narrow house on the brick-paved Wesley Street. It was a classic, hugely steep Pittsburgh hill. Richard’s family was large, with one older sister still living at home with her own little sister. They were a poor family, too, a point that pained Richard.
Having all those older brothers and sisters kept Richard knowledgeable about pop music. That early Sunday morning, he was raving about the Fifth Dimension and a song called “The Wedding Bell Blues”. Richard kept singing the opening lines, “Bill. I love you so, I always will.” I suspect that his older sister’s boyfriend, the father of her child, was named Bill, so the song was being played often in the home.
It’s a fond memory of an early sunny, cool, Sunday morning.
Michael Seidel, writer 