Amanda Frederickson's Blog: Musings - Posts Tagged "pippinpaddle-opsokopolis"
Cats are a Book's Best Friend
"A catless writer is almost inconceivable." - Barbara Holland
I've missed having my own cat. I just didn't realize it was also affecting my writing.
I've been a voracious reader since I learned how (I mentioned a little of my book obsession in the last post), but in the last few years I've had trouble reading as much as I used to. I thought it was just a factor of life getting more complicated, as it always seems to do, but then life got quieter again and I still had trouble reading. I write more (better?) when I'm reading anything, but even knowing this I've had trouble just sitting still long enough to read (though I've had no trouble sitting still for making chainmail; unfortunately the two don't combine well).
Apparently a content cat in my lap does wonders for my ability to finish a book.
All through middle school and high school my cat was my reading buddy. He was perfectly happy to sit in my lap or on my legs while I devoured books.
Four years ago now, my siblings stopped calling him "fat cat" and started calling him "flat cat" because he lost so much weight. We think he might have developed the feline equivalent of diabetes. In any case, at the ripe old age of seventeen, my tuxedo baby decided to pass away. I lost my best childhood friend.
I posted a few months ago about my family's new kittens. I'm officially stealing one. His name is Pippinpaddle-Opsokopolis the Third, and he's a beautiful, lanky cream tiger. (Ok, you can call him Pippin.) He's Callie's third baby, and already proficient in the Art of Key Slaying and Candy Wrapper Chasing. The other day when I was visiting the House he decided to take a nap in my lap. Of all the kittens, he has the loudest purr.
He's so mine.
It was the first time in a long time that I finished a book (that wasn't a manga) in less than 24 hours.
By the way, on the subject of the kittens: Phineas turned out to be a girl and is already loving her new family, Ferb is a cuddly, fluffy butterball with the same coloring as Pippin (he might come home with me too if I can pull it off, but my youngest sister is begging to keep him), Callie's first baby is also already with her new family and the middle kitten is waiting to be picked up. They got so big so fast!
I can't wait until Pippin is big enough to bring home.
I've missed having my own cat. I just didn't realize it was also affecting my writing.
I've been a voracious reader since I learned how (I mentioned a little of my book obsession in the last post), but in the last few years I've had trouble reading as much as I used to. I thought it was just a factor of life getting more complicated, as it always seems to do, but then life got quieter again and I still had trouble reading. I write more (better?) when I'm reading anything, but even knowing this I've had trouble just sitting still long enough to read (though I've had no trouble sitting still for making chainmail; unfortunately the two don't combine well).
Apparently a content cat in my lap does wonders for my ability to finish a book.
All through middle school and high school my cat was my reading buddy. He was perfectly happy to sit in my lap or on my legs while I devoured books.
Four years ago now, my siblings stopped calling him "fat cat" and started calling him "flat cat" because he lost so much weight. We think he might have developed the feline equivalent of diabetes. In any case, at the ripe old age of seventeen, my tuxedo baby decided to pass away. I lost my best childhood friend.
I posted a few months ago about my family's new kittens. I'm officially stealing one. His name is Pippinpaddle-Opsokopolis the Third, and he's a beautiful, lanky cream tiger. (Ok, you can call him Pippin.) He's Callie's third baby, and already proficient in the Art of Key Slaying and Candy Wrapper Chasing. The other day when I was visiting the House he decided to take a nap in my lap. Of all the kittens, he has the loudest purr.
He's so mine.
It was the first time in a long time that I finished a book (that wasn't a manga) in less than 24 hours.
By the way, on the subject of the kittens: Phineas turned out to be a girl and is already loving her new family, Ferb is a cuddly, fluffy butterball with the same coloring as Pippin (he might come home with me too if I can pull it off, but my youngest sister is begging to keep him), Callie's first baby is also already with her new family and the middle kitten is waiting to be picked up. They got so big so fast!
I can't wait until Pippin is big enough to bring home.
Keystone and Lord of the Rings
I am now officially a resident of the Keystone state. How funny is that? And I think my cat has a vendetta against my Lord of the Rings posters.
Pippin (my cat) has discovered that the sounds of rattling posters will wake me up in the middle of the night. He has now completely destroyed my map of middle earth and has moved on to my Two Towers poster. He hasn't touched I, Robot, Tangled, my dragon poster, my unicorn poster, Star Wars, or any of the others (yes, I have a lot of posters, and finally have the wall space to put them up). I had to finally kick him out of my room or the bottom edge of my Two Towers poster would have been shredded. This seems to be the equivalent of his brother's obsession with knocking over unattended glasses. Which means that no amount of discouraging him will actually work. Sigh.
Maybe I'll just have to resort to framing them.
Pippin (my cat) has discovered that the sounds of rattling posters will wake me up in the middle of the night. He has now completely destroyed my map of middle earth and has moved on to my Two Towers poster. He hasn't touched I, Robot, Tangled, my dragon poster, my unicorn poster, Star Wars, or any of the others (yes, I have a lot of posters, and finally have the wall space to put them up). I had to finally kick him out of my room or the bottom edge of my Two Towers poster would have been shredded. This seems to be the equivalent of his brother's obsession with knocking over unattended glasses. Which means that no amount of discouraging him will actually work. Sigh.
Maybe I'll just have to resort to framing them.
Tinkerbell Syndrome
Tinkerbell Syndrome: the inability to feel more than one thing at a time.
I feel numb. My brain is so tangled don't know which way to turn.
We lost Jamie. He had another blood clot and the vet said he would probably develop more, so Mizu decided to let him go. Days later we lost Skippy, the dog who had been my parent's "house guest" since I was in high school. Two days after that I caught Pippin trying to pee outside the litter box, except nothing was coming out. I took him to the vet. They said it was a UTI and put him on antibiotics. Then, I got a phone call from our landlord. Somehow we missed a rent payment and now owed them two months. Due June 1. The next day, Pippin started throwing up everywhere and didn't want to do anything but curl up at my feet. We rushed him to the pet hospital. They said he was now completely blocked and should be admitted for IV fluids and a catheter. I went home in tears with an empty crate. I wouldn't be able to bring him home for another three days. Three days that would cost a month and a half of rent.
Pippin did well at the hospital. They said he was hyperactive and talking to them a lot. It made me laugh. When I went in to pick him up, I was nervous they would bring out the wrong cat. But there he was, ear tufts and all, wide eyed and unhappy about being crated yet again. He was such a car veteran at this point that he barely fussed at all on the way home. He had three different meds to take and hated them all, but finally finished them yesterday.
This morning I caught him peeing blood.
The vet said he probably needs more antibiotics. That it isn't an emergency. I don't even know what to think anymore. The wires have been cut.
It feels like a very small thing, after all that's been going on, but I decided to do a giveaway for two print copies of Keystone. The end date is June 21st, which is when I had hoped to release Kingstone, but it's definitely looking like that isn't going to happen right now. But by hook or by crook, the next giveaway I do will be advance copies of Kingstone.
Here is the giveaway page: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
I feel numb. My brain is so tangled don't know which way to turn.
We lost Jamie. He had another blood clot and the vet said he would probably develop more, so Mizu decided to let him go. Days later we lost Skippy, the dog who had been my parent's "house guest" since I was in high school. Two days after that I caught Pippin trying to pee outside the litter box, except nothing was coming out. I took him to the vet. They said it was a UTI and put him on antibiotics. Then, I got a phone call from our landlord. Somehow we missed a rent payment and now owed them two months. Due June 1. The next day, Pippin started throwing up everywhere and didn't want to do anything but curl up at my feet. We rushed him to the pet hospital. They said he was now completely blocked and should be admitted for IV fluids and a catheter. I went home in tears with an empty crate. I wouldn't be able to bring him home for another three days. Three days that would cost a month and a half of rent.
Pippin did well at the hospital. They said he was hyperactive and talking to them a lot. It made me laugh. When I went in to pick him up, I was nervous they would bring out the wrong cat. But there he was, ear tufts and all, wide eyed and unhappy about being crated yet again. He was such a car veteran at this point that he barely fussed at all on the way home. He had three different meds to take and hated them all, but finally finished them yesterday.
This morning I caught him peeing blood.
The vet said he probably needs more antibiotics. That it isn't an emergency. I don't even know what to think anymore. The wires have been cut.
It feels like a very small thing, after all that's been going on, but I decided to do a giveaway for two print copies of Keystone. The end date is June 21st, which is when I had hoped to release Kingstone, but it's definitely looking like that isn't going to happen right now. But by hook or by crook, the next giveaway I do will be advance copies of Kingstone.
Here is the giveaway page: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
Updates
First of all, thank you everyone who entered Keystone’s giveaway and congratulations to the two winners! The signed copies of Keystone will be in the mail soon.
For those who are wondering how my kitty is doing, Pippin is feeling much better. The vet did put him on a stronger antibiotic, which he loathed as only a cat can loathe, but it did the trick. For the moment he’s also on the special urinary health food, which he also loathes but finally caved in to eating. His poor little patches where they shaved him for his IVs and such are starting to get some fuzz back so he’s not quite so pitiful-looking.
The heat has made for some very lazy cats, but I can tell Pippin is feeling more himself because he’s not cuddling so much anymore (sigh) and is back to chewing my toes in the mornings (with a vengeance). His newest favorite trick is jumping onto my headboard, knocking everything down onto my head (in Jamie’s memory, no doubt) and then leaping full force onto my stomach.
The joys of owning a cat. :p
For those who are wondering how my kitty is doing, Pippin is feeling much better. The vet did put him on a stronger antibiotic, which he loathed as only a cat can loathe, but it did the trick. For the moment he’s also on the special urinary health food, which he also loathes but finally caved in to eating. His poor little patches where they shaved him for his IVs and such are starting to get some fuzz back so he’s not quite so pitiful-looking.
The heat has made for some very lazy cats, but I can tell Pippin is feeling more himself because he’s not cuddling so much anymore (sigh) and is back to chewing my toes in the mornings (with a vengeance). His newest favorite trick is jumping onto my headboard, knocking everything down onto my head (in Jamie’s memory, no doubt) and then leaping full force onto my stomach.
The joys of owning a cat. :p
