Category Archives: Catsignal content

A Cute Stress: 1

Garrett Woolfolk rolled over in his bed, savoring the sensations of the cocooning sheets, the perfectly arranged pillows, and of not having to get up or meet anyone’s demands or deadlines. Both his students and his editor would be nursing hangovers at this hour and would leave him undisturbed. Also, he had trained his friends to forget his very existence until closer to noon.

Saturday mornings were bliss for Woolfolk.

“Mm, mm, mm?”

Woolfolk tensed; he had not made those sounds. A fear washed over him – the fear that his perfect Saturday morning was about to go the way of yesterday’s lunch.

He opened his eyes and his suspicions were confirmed. A chimpanzee stood underneath a jaunty yellow beret and it was looking intently, yet politely, at Woolfolk.

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In related matters …

I’ve been catching up on some of the blogs I’ve neglected over the holidays. One of them (apologies) is 3quarksdaily, where one finds all sorts of thought-provoking essays.

I found one such essay from December 29 by Jeff Strabone titled The Jennifer Anniston in All of Us. It directly relates to Auld Acquaintance, which I had posted here not quite a day earlier. It’s about forgetting our past so we can live in our present. Check it out.

The 4th and your pets

Leaning toward the cat side of Catsignal today, I want to remind everyone to take special care of their pets on this holiday.

The ASPCA has a list of things to keep in mind to protect your companion animals as you celebrate. Make it a happy Independence Day for you and your four-footed friends.

And maybe, just maybe, give a little thought to what the Declaration of Independence says about tyranny and the reasons why we formed our own country.

Creative Commons: License to Thrill

One day, perhaps soon, this post will be considered quaint. I’m writing it for those who don’t know what the Creative Commons license on the About page means. I’m writing it for those who don’t yet understand why I’m putting my creative genius (silence, there, in the peanut gallery!) on the Web for all to see, making no money and apparently inviting others to simply take what’s here.

There’s lots more explanation to be had than I’m going to offer. Just toddle over to the Creative Commons Web site and you can learn all you ever hoped to and then some. My focus here is on what it means to thee and me.

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Begin Captain’s Log

“My son, the writer, thinks I should say something profound on this occasion. He even offered to write me a brief statement. I told him I’d take care of it myself. But, as it turns out, the only thing I can think of is: Begin Captain’s Log.”
— Captain Benjamin Sisko
“The Adversary”
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

We attach great importance to beginnings. We use silver shovels to turn the earth when an important building project begins. We smash a bottle of champagne across the hull of a ship to launch her. Cigars are traditionally given to friends at the birth of a child, and there are religious ceremonies that publicly connect the new child to God or the gods.

Because I am steeped in this human desire to mark a beginning, I feel that I should write something special for my first post. Like Captain Sisko, however, I think simplicity is best: Begin Catsignal.

And enjoy.