David Cranmer's Blog, page 17

Sammy

Sammy came into my life in 2000 and I brought him from Virginia to New York where he eventually lived with my mom and dad. When dad passed away in 2005, Sam was someone for my mom to take care of even though she wasn't a pet person. However, there was no doubt that six years later when they were separated a mutual bond had developed. Mom, in her eighties, had a hard time hearing Sam at the door ready to come in, so he would climb onto the roof to the side of mom's front door and leap down onto the air conditioner causing a loud enough din for her to go open the door and let him in. Also amusing, when it was getting dark and she was ready for him to come inside, she would call in a loud, vociferous shout, "SAM! SAM! HERE, SAM!" Like she was calling a person. It worked. And we all loved that chemistry.

My nephew Kyle took care of him next, though as with my mom, looking back, maybe it was Sammy taking care of him. Not a cat person either, he also fell to Sammy's charms. Once my sister Meta stopped by to see her son, looked through a window, and saw Sammy sleeping while wrapped around Kyle's neck as my nephew typed away on his computer. I love that image. For the last several years, my niece Kayla and her husband Kevin took extraordinary care of this kind soul and gave him tons of loving attention with all the comforts that I'm eternally grateful for. She called me today to say Sammy was on his way out. Though, seventeen years is a good, long time for a cat, I can't help feel profound sadness over this wonderful creature who made a difference in our lives.

Goodbye, and love you, old friend.

Five D's

Here are some words I have used in some recent or upcoming projects. All definitions are from Merriam Webster.

Deviltries is an archaic variant of devilry. Wickedness, mischief.  I said on Twitter earlier today: I'm bringing back the word "devilry" that Merriam places in the low 30% of usage. Slipped into two colloquies in one week—no one blinked.

Disport means sport, pastime. A recent Merriam Webster Word of the Day.

Discursive is digressing from subject to subject.

Dissolute. From the bottom 30% of deviltries to the top 30% with dissolute which means more or less lax morals.

Dragooned has become a quick favorite which means to coerce someone into doing something. Click on the link for another essential word of the day.

The Drone King: A Newly Discovered Kurt Vonnegut Short Story

The Atlantic has "The Drone King" by Kurt Vonnegut.

I'm Reading...

Valuing again, the inverted (at times discordant) panache of Times's Arrow by Martin Amis. In the top five of his best with Money, London Fields, The Information, and The Zone of Interest. And what is your current read?

Gerald's Game | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix

One For The Books: Tom Corbally, P.I.

BuzzFeed has quite a story I feel is well worth your time: "This Private Investigator Was The Original Most Interesting Man In The World."

Memento — Telling a Story In Reverse

Despair

Conversations with Vladimir Nabokov collects 28 interviews with the author of Pale Fire, Lolita, etc. A must for me. And, in case you missed it, one of my most read articles was
Vladimir Nabokov’s Hidden Noir: Despair. You know me, always return to that noir thumping heart no matter the genre.

The Longest Word in the Dictionary - Merriam-Webster Ask the Editor (Not Antidisestablishmentarianism)

Blinders

That nettlesome sporadic occurrence filling in a number, in the daily sudoku, when that very number is present in the grid. Fleeting 'blindness' of sorts, occupational hazard.