Random thoughts
Posted by Joel Mathis
March 29, 2007 at 6:28 a.m.
Things on my mind this morning:¢ My wife's cat often spends part or all of the night sleeping with us -- often, on top of us. Normally, this isn't a problem.This morning it was.Shortly before 4 a.m., I woke to the sensation of a knife being plunged into my mid-back. Annie the Cat, you see, had decided to start the day -- and used her back claws, sunk into my torso, to stabilize herself as she launched off the bed.![][1]I screamed and cursed through it all. My wife slept through the entire thing.Kitty, of course, didn't understand why she wasn't welcome in my lap as I ate breakfast later in the morning.There was no going back to sleep -- waking up with shooting pain flowing through you has a way of getting the adrenaline flowing.Damn cat.¢ Oprah has named Cormac McCarthy's ["The Road"][2] as her next book club selection.You may remember this was one of my favorite books of 2006. And you may remember that I've weighed in against [book snobbery.][3]Still. I'm conflicted.![][4]¢ Finally: today is [Christopher Lambert's 50th birthday.][5] There can be only one! (Birthday party.) [1]: http://130.86.80.251/~jak43/angry%20cat.jpg [2]: http://www.lawrence.com/blogs/mathis/2006/nov/02/road/ [3]: http://posts.blogcarnival.com/page.php?p=15911 [4]: http://home.att.net/~g.michon/march29/lambert.jpg [5]: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091203/quotes
Comments
thetomdotdot 16 years ago
One word.
Whipped.
Joel 16 years ago
By Oprah?
Aileen Dingus 16 years ago
ooo- Lambert! Yay!
Althea Schnacke 16 years ago
That's why our cat was banned from the bedroom. When we were dating, it tened to sleep on my head and I'd wake up with a mouth full of fur. So, when we moved in together, the cat was kicked out. Instead, she scratches at the door all night long (which wakes up only me) and pees on the bathmat.
thetomdotdot 16 years ago
Gosh, I've been thinking about this all morning. What is the conflict? You liked the book. Is it a lesser book by Ofrah's endorsement?
If thats what it is, then take heart in the fact that no matter how many Cadillac commercials you watch, it isn't any less long or lonely a time since Led Zeppelin rocked and rolled.
Know what I'm saying?
Joel 16 years ago
You're right, of course, Dotdot. It's just an anti-Oprah instinct that must be tamed, is all.
leslie 16 years ago
And she thought Franzen was a pain in the ass. Will McCarthy really talk about the book with primmed housewives over margaritas?
thetomdotdot 16 years ago
I guess there's two kinda people in the world. Those who wait for Oprah's endorsement so they can determine what to read, and those who wait for Oprah's endorsement so they can determine what not to read.
Either way the terrorists win. ;)
..
Deb Townsend 16 years ago
This is the scenario in our house EACH morning: Cat crawls in bed and meows and nudges at about 5:30. Having not roused either of us to an acceptable level of wakefulness, he decides to sweetly put his paw on my cheek. If there is no response, he flexes the claws, if there is no response to that (I have learned to sleep through it evidently), he just flexes his claws and takes a swipe at my nose. This obviously needs to be remedied before the baby arrives!
Jillster 16 years ago
My old lady cat, Gremlin, often sleeps on my pillow by my head. One night in my sleep, I must have moved suddenly and startled her out of her sleep. She responded by howling and swatting my left temple with her claws. This woke me up screaming. My poor startled husband had no idea what was going on for a few moments...he thought that there must be some sort of intruder in our bedroom, since both the cat and I were making such bloodcurdling noises.
We were all awake for a bit after that.
bevy 16 years ago
I am awakened each dawn by a chorus of tom cats yowling outside my bedroom window. Or sometimes one of them is outside the door. We have two toms (Well, one is neutered but apparently nobody told HIM that) and they either go out together or separately in the evenings. If they are separate, then they have to switch places in the morning. Or both go out, or both go in. You get the idea. We also have a visiting Tom who likes to intimidate my boys as they come in or out of the door. They are at the point where they just yowl and hiss, they don't fight anymore.
Then there is my 4 pound female who "stampedes" across the living room beginning at 5 a.m. Lap after lap, across the LR, up the kitchen stairs, turn around and go back. How does a 4# cat sound like an elephant, anyhow?
lazz 16 years ago
So, one of the most prominent --- perhaps THE most prominent --- personalities in all of American TV, an intelligent and curious woman, chooses to champion great books and authors who otherwise would certainly be completely overlooked by mainstream entertainment outlets. The problem here being...? The source of ridicule being...? Yeah, sure, her "book club" has traditionally generated ridiculous sales that primarily benefit one author to the exclusion of others, but isn't it fairly safe to assume that Oprah is also getting A LOT of Americans to wander away from the CDs and DVDs and check out those mysterious things called books? What's to be conflicted about? I'll choose to support those who support the reading, discussion, writing, and sales of books, especially here and now, in big-screen-TV obsessed USofA ...
matt 16 years ago
Don't you dare temper any anti-Oprah sentiment you may have. Build that shit up, hardened to a death dealing point. Smithy it, if you will. It's the only way to win the fight against retar(ded).
Jocelyn Craft 16 years ago
cheers lazz
The source of ridicule would be, I would guess, the (in my opinion, erroneous) perception that either
1) popular = not good enough
or
2) endorsed by a woman = not manly;
all this depending, of course, on the ridiculer.
Anything that gets people reading = (IMO) good.
Joel 16 years ago
Lazz: I've conceded my anti-Oprah instinct should be tamed; I applaud her selection -- "The Road" was the best book I read in 2006, and getting McCarthy to sit for a television interview was a coup. I'll probably try to catch that episode, frankly.
One can't always help one's instincts, but one can be aware of and even attempt to overcome them. That is what I've attempted here.
In jochan's dichotomy, I admit to being somewhat in the former group. Not always to my benefit, and it's something I try to curb in myself.
Jocelyn Craft 16 years ago
Slight edit: "The source of ridicule could be" not "would be". There are other perspectives besides mine, for certain. :)
leslie 16 years ago
BUT: Why have we adopted the notion that reading is the holiest of pastimes?
Joel 16 years ago
OK, here's a good point from Edward Champion, one of the more entertaining litbloggers out there...
"I haven't seen anyone point this out yet, but consider this: Cormac McCarthy will go on television for an Oprah interview, but Jonathan Franzen won't?"
http://www.edrants.com/?p=5748
copt_a_feel 16 years ago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDhZ-E-3nlU
Jocelyn Craft 16 years ago
leslie: I don't know that we've all (here in this blog commenting section) determined that reading is the "holiest of pastimes", but I like people to try it out -- it's better for me than TV most of the time, and therefore it could be for them, too.
If someone doesn't like to read, that's their deal. They'll have other hobbies. But I'm still going to champion my favorite one. ^^
Jocelyn Craft 16 years ago
Sorry to double-post.
The YouTube video: She's not a cat person. If she were, she'd know that sound meant "I'm pissed". I'm thinking she might know that now.
Joel 16 years ago
Leslie: My personal experience with TV is that the experience never ends. I sit down at the end of the day, turn my brain off, and keep watching -- regardless of quality or entertainment value -- until it's time to sleep. And often till past time to sleep.
I don't consider reading the "holiest of pastimes." I do consider it an activity that generally leaves me more thoughtful and more engaged with the world than does the tube.
You know: Except for "Battlestar Galactica."
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