You know how, way back in the day, entertainment centers were a thing? Y’know, a case to set the TV on and maybe store some stuff underneath? Well, we got one of those for storage purposes, and of course the kittens had to check it out. Here are some of those pictures!
For those of you who haven’t read it yet, last week I wrote about the Civil War battlefield game Battle Cry. So, this week, I thought I’d open my new onslaught of cat photos with Zuko’s demonstration that the lid is a great size for cats! (Sorry it’s kind of blurry.)
And two photos of Diane cuddling other cats on the couch, because apparently Diane is who you go to for cuddles.
We’ve all been there. Your old computer is dying, and however much some of you may drag your feet — whether out of loyalty to the computer or to your wallet — you’re going to need a new one. And you know what that means… having to set up all your preferences all over again.
I bring this up now because I myself have just gotten a new laptop, and I was surprised to find that it’s been a lot easier than anticipated. There were, of course, a number of applications to install in the new computer, and if there’s one thing I learned from sorting through files to transfer, it’s that most of what I had saved should’ve been deleted as soon as I was done with it, but on the whole the process was no worse than mildly tedious. Even logging in to all of my usual websites has been easy — my default browser saved all of my passwords to my account, so all I had to do was type out the URL and hit “Log In.”
Overall, I’ve just been really impressed with how smoothly the transition has gone — besides the new computer running better, and the fact that I sometimes accidentally search two or three letter gibberish because I haven’t visited the site enough yet for URL prediction, it’s really easy to forget that I switched computers at all.
The cats weren’t really posing together when I had my camera available, but I figured we were overdue for some solo shots (complete with commentary).
Great news: I got my second Pfizer shot this weekend! As such, I figured now would be a good time to address anyone who hasn’t gotten vaccinated yet and tell them how easy it is. For starters, by this point in the process vax centers are all over the place, and many of them easily findable on sites like Vaccines.gov which search by zip code to find options near you. I was able to find one maybe ten minutes from my house, and once I had my consent form and registration filled out, it took probably less than twenty minutes — fifteen of which were the wait time after to make sure I had no adverse reaction.
While I can’t speak for the J&J or Moderna vaccines, I can say that my experience with Pfizer has been fairly light on side effects. After the first shot, I was unusually tired that afternoon and my arm was a bit sore the day after; so far, the second shot has had a bit more immediate soreness, but less fatigue. In both cases, I’d say it went pretty well.
If you’d like to watch a humorous rendition of how the vaccine actually works and why it’s important, check out Google Translate Explains the COVID-19 Vaccine. Note: while the human side of the video is reliably informative, heed the warning at the beginning and do not refer to Google Translate for scientific or medical advice. Please.
Yeah… it’s been a busy week, so you’re getting more cat pictures. But hey, June and Zuko being civil with each other is always worth commemorating!
Good thing we have an even number of cats. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to pair off like this.
Yep, cat photos! This time, primarily featuring June (but also Diane).
Everyone knows that the American colonies won our independence from Britain through a revolutionary war, rebelling against unfair taxation and lack of representation in Parliament. However, we were, once, loyal subjects of the crown. Little shows this contrast more clearly than comparing two historical documents, “The Mayflower Compact” and Thomas Paine’s “The Crisis-X: On The King Of England’s Speech,” both in large part about the King of England, but with a century and a half between them.
The first document, even though it’s merely a colonial declaration of forming a “Civil Body Politic,” takes the time to almost reverently introduce the King’s titles: “…our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc.” It likewise signs off with the date, not only as the year Anno Domini 1620, but also as “in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth.” To use someone’s personal timeline as an official unit of reference is a significant matter of respect.
Furthermore, the document continually states the colonists’ loyalties to England, outright referring to themselves as “loyal subjects,” and reaffirming this in their mission statement, which states that they act not only “for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith” but also “[the advancement of the] Honor of our King and Country.” Even writing those reasons adjacent to one another implies a level of equivalency, as though King and Country are innately divine.
In contrast, the excerpt from “The Crisis-X: On The King Of England’s Speech” is downright scathing, condemning King George for “with the most sullen insolence [refusing] to answer, and even to hear the humblest of all petitions,” as well as for enabling and even encouraging the misdeeds of his officers, and most of all for the outrage that the king “should now, with an affected air of pity, turn the tables from himself, and charge to another the wickedness that is his own.” As you can see, where “The Mayflower Compact” carried an air of devotion towards England, “The Crisis-X: On The King of England’s Speech” utilized the flip side of emotionally charged language, with words such as “abuse,” “savage cruelties,” and “scandalous plundering” to drive home Mr. Paine’s contempt for King George and his behavior. He even goes so far as to insinuate that the king has “invoked every aid of hell in his behalf,” a sharp contrast to the perceived holy righteousness of King James in the first document.
From commendation to condemnation, it is truly remarkable how much a collective opinion can change over the course of 156 years.
After reading “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” by Nathaniel Hawthorn, I wrote this opinion piece on whether or not I thought the “Elixir of Life” from the Fountain of Youth was worth drinking. As a note, this post contains some spoilers for the short story in question, and I definitely adopted far more of its formal vernacular than strictly necessary.
In “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment,” we see four elderly characters sample the Elixir of Life, granting them, if only briefly, a return to the height of their youth. While this may seem like the ultimate gift, I would argue that the Elixir of Life, is, in fact, more a curse than a blessing.
I freely admit, some of my stance on the Elixir comes from my broader opinion on eternal life, which is that it would be a rather unpleasant experience. The fact of immortality is that you will, inevitably, watch the world pass by, as everything changes and everyone else lives and dies as is natural, while you merely linger. It seems to me there can be few existences more painful than outliving everyone you might ever love, or alternatively, condemning them to the same eternal lingering as your own.
There is also, however, something to be said for the means of immortality. To be blessed or cursed with it, depending on your standpoint, only once, to hold true for eternity… that would be one thing. But the temporary nature of the Elixir’s effects in “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” suggest that one must constantly be consuming it if they wish to maintain that coveted youth. So allow me this query: if one must constantly be retrieving water from the Fountain to stay young; if one’s singular focus, as the ending of the tale implied it might become for the doctor’s friends, is to maintain that youth… is that a life worth living? It seems to me that a life spent intent only on prolonging itself is a life that is no longer truly being lived, a life that has been drained of its value by its all-consuming need to persist. Dr. Heideggar’s friends forgot, it would seem, that a thing is not beautiful because it lasts, but because of the mark it makes in the time that it is given.
Granted, some things are meant to last. For instance, the wisdom we gain from experience, which the four test subjects were shown to have lost when they drank the Elixir. They thought it ridiculous, “the idea that… they should ever go astray again,” and yet they immediately did so, as apparently youth of figure brought with it youth of mind. This, to me, seems like the greatest nail in the coffin — would a drinker of the Elixir, addicted to its effect as the characters became, not simply become caught in an endless, vicious cycle of making the same mistakes over and over again? What a torment that would be, truly.
Yes, it seems to me that the Elixir of Life would not be wise to consume — after all, it is not the length of a life that defines it, but its quality.