excursion

When I came home this afternoon, all three cats were lined up at the door. Shaitan actually did make a break for freedom. I managed to catch him, without letting the other cats out, before he started exploring the corner where the rat met its end--but somehow I locked myself out of the apartment. The scary thing was that it took me about thirty seconds to break in, even holding a struggling kitten in one hand. (I'm not going to tell you how I broke in because some of you know where I live...then again, there's nothing worth stealing....)

I wish someone had filmed the episode. It must have been hilarious to see me trying to reason with Shaitan. "Look, you, the more you struggle the longer this is going to take, so settle down!...No, I am absolutely not going to let you go try to catch those birds, so don't even think about wriggling free....I know you're excited to be outside, but please, just be reasonable for once, okay?"

update on the little devil

Shaitan has taken to sitting on my feet while I'm making breakfast. (Yes, on, not at. He doesn't think I'm likely enough to notice him if I'm just tripping over him; he has to actually keep me from moving.) I still haven't figured out if this is because he knows there's food around and he's greedy, or if it's that he missed me and wants to say good morning, or if it's just that he's bored as heck and has already antagonized the other cats enough.

dude

...so, what you're telling me is that if I take out a line of code that reverses how the centre-of-mass to lab frame transformation is done, I won't get the right angular distributions? huh. And that if I don't realize that this is what I've done, I'll waste several days debugging? huh.

I've said it before and I'll no doubt say it again: Life would be a whole lot easier if I were just a bit smarter.

hurricanes as agents of divine retribution

Whose side is God on? This chart gives us some clues. Hey, I'm just presenting facts here, people. We report, you decide.

I asked Debra tonight, "Do I shock you all of the time, or just most of the time?" I think she agreed that it was closer to most than to some. Maybe it was my abortion comment that tipped the balance--about how it should be not legal but mandatory. ... just a hunch.

an airborne Shaitan is sooo close to killing that shadow

cats, the pinnacle of evolution

I was putting some stuff into the hall cupboard just now when I noticed Shaitan stalking me. This isn't unusual. My toes are some of his favourite toys. Turned out what he was actually stalking was my shadow--the bright little lamp on top of the cupboard was making my hands cast most intriguing shadows on the wall. He demonstrated his hunting prowess with lightning-quick pounces and four-foot-high leaps, and yet somehow was left with nothing to show for all his effort--except for the pictures.

Yes, that's right. I've become one of those people who takes pictures of their cats.

But really, he's got some truly impressive hunting skills. I think my favourite move is when he gets so excited by chasing something that's moving in a circular pattern that he himself starts spinning in a circle, chasing his own tail. The one where he assumes a lying-slumped-on-his-side posture, so that he can either bat at his quarry with one paw, or take a nap, as the situation demands, is pretty good too.

I can't understand why cats don't run the planet.

Success!

I'd just like to gloat over the success of my hangover-averting endeavours. Staying up until 4 am drinking water meant that at 10 am I was happy to go out for breakfast with T&M. ... I kept trying to tell them that my resilience was proof that with age comes wisdom. They say that's true as long as I mean wisdom teeth.

It's wonderful that enough water protects one from the bad effects of overindulging in alcohol. Now if only there were a similar remedy for cheesecake....

...and of course where TF is my water glass? uuhhhhh.....

so many questions

After a v. pleasant though not particularly rowdy party, I'm left with many questions. For example: Why did eveyone have to leave before midnight, when I clearly was not going to sober up anytime before 4 am.? Why did I think it was a good idea to eat that cheesecake on top of that ...was it pizza? most likely? How did I let myself be talked into those three last shots of akvavit? And perhaps most compellingly, do I never learn?

... all of which, of course, can be summed up as, WTF?