Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

[Multiple quotes today -- I tried to come up with something that seemed suitable for a New Year day and also related to Jules Verne (I'm not certain whether the first two came from two different works, or two different translations of the same work), and then I couldn't resist tacking on the third quotation.]

"Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real"

"Whatever one man is capable of conceiving, other men will be able to achieve"

-- Jules Verne, French science fiction author and third most translated author in the world (b. 1828-02-08, d. 1905-03-24)

"The real origin of science fiction lay in the seventeenth-century novels of exploration in fabulous lands. Therefore Jules Verne's story of travel to the moon is not science fiction because they go by rocket but because of where they go. It would be as much science fiction if they went by rubber band." -- Philip K. Dick, American science fiction author (b. 1928-12-16, d. 1982-03-02)

[And to everyone noting that today starts the Year of the Rat, happy new year!]

[Multiple quotes today -- I tried to come up with something that seemed suitable for a New Year day and also related to Jules Verne (I'm not certain whether the first two came from two different works, or two different translations of the same work), and then I couldn't resist tacking on the third quotation.]

"Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real"

"Whatever one man is capable of conceiving, other men will be able to achieve"

-- Jules Verne, French science fiction author and third most translated author in the world (b. 1828-02-08, d. 1905-03-24)

"The real origin of science fiction lay in the seventeenth-century novels of exploration in fabulous lands. Therefore Jules Verne's story of travel to the moon is not science fiction because they go by rocket but because of where they go. It would be as much science fiction if they went by rubber band." -- Philip K. Dick, American science fiction author (b. 1928-12-16, d. 1982-03-02)

[And to everyone noting that today starts the Year of the Rat, happy new year!]

I want one of those high-frame-rate cameras with a fast lens like sports photographers use ... for my cat. She just showed me a move I hadn't seen her do before: I flipped the end of a rawhide boot-lace out in ront of her, past the end of the bed, and she leapt to catch it in midair, as has been her habit lately, but this time she drew her hindquarters forward in the air so that all four paws grabbed the lace at once, about haf a meter off the ground, instead of just grabbing it with her front paws as usual. The effect was both adorable and dramatic.

Her leap was more horizontal than vertical, so the effect was that she was flying horizontally past the end of the bed a foot and a half off the floor, body aligned vertically (that is, butt directly below head), belly and all four paws forward, spine bent in a C shape, with her tail curled forward in a way that reminded me of a bat scooping up insects in flight. I've got one instant mid-flight frozen in my brain, but oh how I wish I also had it frozen on film or in pixels to show you all.

Cats -- nature's adorable little killing machines.

Of course, she then took the lace from me, marched across the room dragging it, chewed on it briefly, and is now staring at me asking me to whip it again. I've not yet managed to teach her to bring toys back within reach when she wants me to throw them again.

I did not have a good day today ... not really an especially bad day, either, but I'm not recovered from the exertions of the week, not up to running any more errands (I really need to get downtown to the credit union -- maybe I'll be up to catching a bus thataway tomorrow). The pain from the fibromyalgia was extra-bad, unsurprisingly (even walking on a level floor hurt, and stairs, of course, were worse) but I mostly stayed in bed and tried to deal with things that could be accomplished via telephone and email. I didn't try to wrestle the ladder; I tried to contact roofers. My hands still hurt from the rope, from Wednesday, and my back is unhappy as well. I've got competing events on the calendar for tomorrow, but attending either seems unlikely the way I feel now.

I definitely tried to do too much this week.

I want one of those high-frame-rate cameras with a fast lens like sports photographers use ... for my cat. She just showed me a move I hadn't seen her do before: I flipped the end of a rawhide boot-lace out in ront of her, past the end of the bed, and she leapt to catch it in midair, as has been her habit lately, but this time she drew her hindquarters forward in the air so that all four paws grabbed the lace at once, about haf a meter off the ground, instead of just grabbing it with her front paws as usual. The effect was both adorable and dramatic.

Her leap was more horizontal than vertical, so the effect was that she was flying horizontally past the end of the bed a foot and a half off the floor, body aligned vertically (that is, butt directly below head), belly and all four paws forward, spine bent in a C shape, with her tail curled forward in a way that reminded me of a bat scooping up insects in flight. I've got one instant mid-flight frozen in my brain, but oh how I wish I also had it frozen on film or in pixels to show you all.

Cats -- nature's adorable little killing machines.

Of course, she then took the lace from me, marched across the room dragging it, chewed on it briefly, and is now staring at me asking me to whip it again. I've not yet managed to teach her to bring toys back within reach when she wants me to throw them again.

I did not have a good day today ... not really an especially bad day, either, but I'm not recovered from the exertions of the week, not up to running any more errands (I really need to get downtown to the credit union -- maybe I'll be up to catching a bus thataway tomorrow). The pain from the fibromyalgia was extra-bad, unsurprisingly (even walking on a level floor hurt, and stairs, of course, were worse) but I mostly stayed in bed and tried to deal with things that could be accomplished via telephone and email. I didn't try to wrestle the ladder; I tried to contact roofers. My hands still hurt from the rope, from Wednesday, and my back is unhappy as well. I've got competing events on the calendar for tomorrow, but attending either seems unlikely the way I feel now.

I definitely tried to do too much this week.