Day in the Life of an Idiot

Before I get to my weekly reading (which isn't going to be much, alas,) I should report that over the weekend Willow went into heat.

I have had nearly a half dozen female cats before and I had NEVER experienced this before in my life. At first we were so confused by her behavior that we had to look it up on the internet! Everyone talks about the vocalizing, but Willow didn't howl so much as constantly 'meerp." She rolled around on the floor a lot, which is a sign, but the thing that gave it away was her "presenting" behavior (which is exactly what it sounds like it might be.)

Our poor neutered male was very confused. He likes to play mount, but when directly asked to DO THE THING he literally looked to me with the "What is this?" expression and then went to sit miserably on his chair, like he was mortified to have lost his very best playmate.

Luckily, her cycle is fast. We only had to have two days of giving her lots of pets and distracting her with games (I told Shawn it was like the worst parts of having a toddler again.) Buttercup has his playmate back, at least until she goes into the next cycle.



I called the vet to see if it was necessary to do the spaying sooner, but they thought that it was okay to keep the appointment that we have, which is still several weeks out.

So, that's been fun.

In other news, our house is almost fully decorated for Halloween. I just need to get some of the outside decorations up and we're ready!

The things I've been reading are: Black Torch by Takaki Tsuyoshi (volumes 1-3) and before that I read several yaoi titles, including Docchi mo Docchi / The Same Difference by Hiiragi Nozomu and Porno of Yankees by Fujimura Ayao (the last of which I read because I stumbled across the title and thought: "how can I not read something like that??") I don't have a ton to say about any of the above that I didn't already say on my manga review site, though I am amused by the fact that "Docchi mo Docchi / The Same Difference" has a LIVE-ACTION film... which I started watching? Thing is, that one is written as a comedy, so it has maybe more of a popular appeal? Not sure, as I couldn't watch more than five minutes of it before having that "I'm embarrassed for you" feeling that you have sometimes when someone is behaving so weirdly in public and so you feel the need to take on the shame they clearly don't have.

I also just started a non-fiction book called Queering the Tarot by Cassandra Snow that naomikritzer picked up for me at a bookseller's conference she went to. I'm really enjoying it so far.

The last thing to report, which will likely become a regular feature is that it 'tis the season to prep for the vegans who are coming for Thanksgiving. We always try out the recipes in advance. Last night, in fact, I began my search for the perfect vegan gravy, but I was half way through the recipe when I realized I only had beef stock. So, I ended up dumping that batch in with the pork chops I was already making for dinner. I will try that one again soon, because my love language is cooking and it is Very Important to me that the gravy not only satisfy their dietary restrictions, but also be the BEST THEY'VE EVER HAD.

We also always make cookies and treats well in advance of their visit, so tonight I am trying out some orange-chocolate "crinkle" cookies. My poor family gets to be the guinea pigs for all of this, but I will also post pictures and whatever running commentary we have regarding the results.

So, look for that fun new feature over the next several weeks.