Dandelyon's Worlds

Oh, my, what a big tail you have, kitten!

Yes, I know that outside the screen in the second floor window there's just a narrow, narrow ledge. And a loooong drop--this is an old Victorian house with ceilings even My Angel in her tallest high-heeled platforms can't reach with her fingertips.

Why did I put the scary ledge there? Better ask why I put the screen there--to protect kitties from falling. Oh, and to protect my skin from mosquitoes. And now you've defeated both purposes. My next mosquito bite will be your fault.

Have you had enough adventures for one night, kitten?

Kitten?

Kitten?

Where--Hey, what are you doing on the shelf full of--well, that used to be full of notebooks, up until about a tenth of a second ago.

My, what a big tail you have, kitten!

Oh, yeah--unwanted adventure on Saturday.  In retrospect, it has some dark humor--My Angel was telling me that you have to be careful not to cut your fingers off with the hand scythe when she cut her finger.  Deep.  And she's on blood thinners.  Oh, yay!  Instead of continuing to do yard work and take pictures, we get to go to the hospital.  On a holiday weekend. 

Hurray.

So I grabbed my laptop and purse and drove her to the hospital she'd been in when she had the pulmonary embolisms.  So we sat in the waiting room.  Then we sat at the counter where they input your information.  Then we sat in an exam room.  Eventually a nurse cleaned the cut, and a doctor added three spider-like black stitches, and I got to get instructions on changing the dressing.

During all this I tried to do some writing, with very limited success.

So now, at least until next Saturday, My Angel has a finger splint to keep her from bending the finger, so that the skin on top of the knuckle will actually grow back together instead of being pulled open.  So much for her plans for getting work done over the weekend and the next few days.

Oh, well, at least she didn't cut the finger off!

And, of course, by the time we got back, it was quite dark. 

And then we found out that Mamacat had figured out how to open the media room door.  The kitten I was to give away Monday was nowhere to be seen.  More time spent searching for the cute little kitty, who had become all skittish as one by one her brothers were handed over to new human families.

Eventually I caught her in the living room, so I closed that room up again, and we took food, water, and a cat box back down there, with sighs of relief.  And I went back to trying to write, significantly tireder and more distracted than I had been.  I was just getting going when we heard the sliding door to the living room opening. 

Did we have a burglar?  Nope--Mamacat had just figured out how to open that door too.  They had vanished into the much-cluttered basement.  We looked a bit, but it was late, and finally we went to sleep.

Sunday morning I tried to write, but kept getting up to look for the kitten.  I had firm intentions of waiting to look for her until My Angel was up, so we could double-team her once found, but it's hard to ignore the call to find the poor lost kitten.  Around dinnertime, food lured her to the kitchen, so we locked her and Mama into the room in the house that has the most secure latch--and which opens outward.  Then I piled my )small but heavy) suitcase full of sculpy and some other stuff in front of the door. 

With the wayward cats safely trapped,  I should have been raring to go, but instead I was exhausted and falling asleep at the keyboard.  So I changed My Angel's dressing and headed to bed, with the kitten we're keeping (pictured here, playing with the strainer from the downstairs bathroom sink) in the bedroom with me, obviously very curious as to why I had a weird face-hugging thing on my head.

Got up just in time to have a glass of milk before xap  came to claim her family's new kitten. 

All's well that ends well--My Angel's finger shows no sign of infection, and Xap wrote me here on LJ last night to let me know the kitten was curled up beside her, washing herself and licking Xap's hand.   And I finally got my minimum writing and art goals for the weekend done, before the deadline.

And I got word that the next chapter of the story of Dini and Lalya will be up on Torn World tomorrow!  I also submitted the first story to Ergo Fiction, whose theme for June 6-12 is "Love Is in the Air".  Hopefully they will include Building a Home in that issue, and their readers will like it.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.

And now I'm all tired again.  *sigh*  Good night, all!

Finished one more piece, The Colors of Science, a slightly irreverent look at the people wearing the robes. (Torn World scientists and science students wear official robes with their rank symbolized by the color of their robes. Every educated person has a rank in the science education system, even if it's only "lettered".) Eight four-line stanzas, $9 to sponsor and I'll post it in my LJ today, as well as making it public when it's published on the Torn World site.

I thought I'd do more poetry this time because it's often faster than prose, but this one took a while!

Kittens probably didn't help, alternately dashing around being cute and trying to leap up my leg (sometimes with claws out, which necessitates catching said miscreant, gently folding him or her into a ball, and petting the delicate little paws until all the claws are inside. And then peroxiding the cuts. *sigh*). The kittens look at me all confused--how can they play when I'm curling them into a furry roly-poly? But they're learning to avoid clawing me, a little at a time.

They kept tempting me to take pictures, though I missed getting a photo of the one who leapt valiantly into the trash can. I really need to find some people within 100 miles of Milwaukee who want to adopt a cat or two!

I'm also pleased with last night's writing; I'm almost ready to submit the second part of Wild Snowy Chase to the Torn World Canon Board.

I'm busy yawning now; unless inspiration strikes while the Muse Fusion is still technically open, I'm heading to bed. I guess I'll figure out which story or poem to post as my free sneak preview tomorrow.

I have a story called Boney Fingers which will appear in the upcoming Magicking in Traffic anthology.

As the story opens, the protagonist is busking in a Chicago subway.

* * *

I will be starting a three-month temp job soon. It's not the permanent job I need, but I'm still excited. It's at a big enough firm that it might lead to something permanent if they like me.

* * *

I got a call from someone who wants to adopt the black kitten. So one of my cuties should be going to his new home after work tomorrow.

* * *

filkart should be here any minute now, so that's all the details you get today.

* * *

The next Torn World Muse Fusion is next Wednesday!

The kittens are all eating food, and have been for over a week. Though they're still nursing, that means they're adoptable. If you know anyone in Milwaukee or Chicago who would like a sweet grown female cat or a kitten (or two), send them my way!

I finished a story today. It was inspired, in a non-obvious fashion (it kept mutating) by prompts from some of my LJ friends, and I posted the story privately to them. I'm actually pretty pleased by the titlen (Blade of the Battleflute), which showed up about halfway through the story, and led to some of the changes from the original inspiration.

The temporary job is ongoing; I went to work this morning not knowing if they would need me Monday; the person I'm, covering for is now out until at least May 25, so that gig continues unless something more permanent (or at least more predictable) materializes.  The lawyers I've been working for seemed cheerful to hear I was going to be there again next week.  It's good to feel valued.

Torn World is going great guns. There's an incredible amount of writing and art happening there, and despite the wide range of styles and topics, I really like most of what's being published there. And it's been listed on Top Web Fiction. If you've been enjoying our work in Torn World, you can go here to vote for it.

Top Web Fiction is an interesting site; if I weren't working full time and trying to keep up on the writing, I'd check into getting Fireborn or the Feather Dragons listed.  When you go there, the default page is to show sites that have received votes in the last day, though you can choose different time periods, up to a year.  So, to be on their default list every day, you have to have someone vote for you every day. 

Oh, well, I have more things on my to-do list.  I should be doing that stuff, or getting my beauty sleep. 

See you folks later!

[Poll #1549389][Poll #1549389]

Last week was hard, emotionally, but that issue seems to be resolving.

I finally got the kitsune story written; I'd love rush comments on it if anyone's in the mood.  So if you're willing to offer helpful comments and want to read a story (and aren't already on the filter because you responded to my request to inspire me) let me know.

The kittens are starting to roughhouse with each other, and to wander further from their mother.  They're still cute.  I need to print some pics to take to work, but I'm tired.  Despite giving up on doing anything productive yesterday evening and going to sleep before eight.

I guess I'll make sure Mamacat has food and water, and go to bed.

So, last night, I laid down with the firm intent to sleep until I woke up, get up, log into the "war" room, and accomplish a rewrite of my "Grandmother Marie" story. I still want my kitten back, but I have to stop moping and get stuff done.

Instead I was awakened by my daughter, reminding me that there was this mandatory meeting I had to take her to, since her Dad was at work. I checked the address and ascertained that I at least had time for a bowl of cereal, grabbed the bag with sketchbook and asthma meds, and headed out.

The meetings organizers were all gung-ho to get through their very extensive agenda in time to get us all out "at least in time to hear the kickoff on your car radios". Um. Whatever. I mean, I'd rather the team in whatever town I'm in wins, because it affects the feelings of so many people around me. But it's just a game, and not even one that I can have fun playing.

During the meeting, I decided I'd work on my project of thank-yous for donors; my original plan had been to draw small--about three inches square, total. But discussing things with my sister at Christmas, she offered to help me get the face right, except her idea of help was to draw a better sketch, full size! So, using her sketch as a reference, I did a larger drawing for red_trillium .  First in pencil, then pen.  I stopped before starting to color, though I had markers in my bag; I wanted to get a clean scan of it first.

I rather think I got a bit carried away, but since my idea was to make him into a Green Man because we discuss gardening, and since I enjoy drawing green men, I suppose that's no surprise. Since I had all that space for detail.

Anyway, here is the inked drawing.  I'd planned to color it, and I probably still will, but right now I'm enjoying it as it is.

Sorry I haven't been around much. My daughter's cat has been sick (but is better). But when he sniffed the much-loved canned cat food, walked off, and hid under something in the basement, I decided I needed to take him to the vet.

So, I figured I might as well take that no-longer-quite-feral kitten that we had brought into the house when it got so cold (figuring we should get it used to being indoors before sending it among strangers).

I figured on taking it to a shelter; I shouldn't have more cats with my allergies, but the critter insisted on climbing into my lap and purring and purring and petting my face ever so gently with its paws--and my allergies weren't going into overdrive. I fell in love. And it seemed the kitten had too--it followed me around and talked to me and insisted on me holding it while I was trying to write at the computer. And it could sit in my arms for a couple of hours, inches from my nose, and not set off my allergies. So I could enjoy the purring, and the petting, and the playing.

So I needed to take the older cat to the vet, but it was snowing; well, living in Milwaukee makes one rather blase about snow.

But the snow led to me dropping the case in the vet's parking lot, and it popped open. It shouldn't have popped open. But the scared kitten ran off into the snow. The snow was falling fast and the lot was being plowed. Whatever tracks the kitten left were immediately obliterated.

The vet watched the older cat, in the other cat carrier, until the doc was ready, letting me wander around outside calling the kitten.

This was Thursday, and I have been driving back to that neighborhood wander around in the snow calling it, hoping it will hear me and be hungry enough or lonely enough to venture from wherever it's been hiding.

Are red_trillium and valdary.   Special thanks to jolantru  for breaking the rules, and upstart_crow for the first entry.

 

red_trillium and valdary - what would you like as prizes? 

And, since my judging criteria were totally subjective, and not everyone shares my sense of humor, here's the other suggestions.  Everyone can feel free to toast their own favorite.

Thanks to all who entered!
( more cute kittens inside - well, the same cute kittens, actually. But with different words! )