The Cat Room

So, today we were back with our volunteer two-hour weekly stint in the car room. This time it was just four cats in three cage: one bonded pair and two solos. First up were the little black panthers ISSA (all blACK EXCEPT FOR THE TIPS OF HIS TOES) and MUSE (who has a few more white little white spots). ISSA has has an identify mark: a tiny bump at th tip of his tail. Issa was charming so we took him out for a morning walk. He did okay at first but got increasingly worried that the people approaching were cat-eating fiends in disguise, so we took him back inside. When it was ONYX and when TIGER's turns we decided to keep them inside. ONYX loves games and toys and attention and catnip. He knows all about doors, but is more interested in opening doors and peering inside cupboards than in going in. TIGER is quieter, but only by the standerds of his fellows. All in all, friendly, playful, and affectionate. And they all liked the catnip. --John R

So, yesterday I petted an alligator named Lucy. We'd gone down to our favorite farmers' market, the one in Auburn.* When it's summer season Janice and I generally go about once a weekend to look around at fruit and vegetables but sometimes add a craft item. Two weeks ago it was a wooden pen. I like wooden pens for the aesthetics but they tend not to be v. durable. By far the most interesting non-food item this week was a booth which held a smallish alligator and a python with unusual color. Their keeper encouraged them to interact with people. Hence these photos. The alligator was active and confident; the boa lively. We got to stroke each while we got there handler to hold them A pleasant surprise. I'll have to see if the group of Seattle turtle fanciers whose exhibition we stumbled across quite a few years ago on the other side of Seattle are still active. --john R P.S. *This is the one with the crow statue, complete with little statues of French fries. Somebody out there knows his or her crow. Current (re-)reading: skimming bits of A. A. Milne' play adaptation of Grahame WIND IN THE WILLOWS

Young's Fairies

So, yesterday I read a review by Ronald Hutton of Francis Young's new book FAIRIES.* What I've read so far of the review I found surprisingly comprehensive and well-written to boot. Two points in particular caught my attention: Hutton's statement that the largest current genre of literature is fantasy and his pointing out that much (most?) of the scholarship on fantasy is done on the fringe if not outside academia. Also notable to see is Young's faring far afield (he devotes time and attention to the BalticS). In short, someone who really has something to say in a crowded field. --John R. *thanks to DF, AH, and DAA for drawing this to my attention. current reading: FIRST WHISPER OF THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS re-reading THE ROOK by Daniel O'Malley

Happy Tolkien Day

 So, Happy Tolkien Day, for those who celebrate with a cup of tea, old books, and the good green things of the earth.

--John R

--current reading: MacDonald's PHANTASTES (third reading), de Camp and Pratt's LAND OF UNREASON (second or possibly third reading), with Loconte's WAR FOR MIDDLE EARTH waiting in the wings till its turn comes.

--current viewing: the new streaming Hogwarts (recommended).

Tacoma Dune

So, we've just rerurned  from a trip to Tacoma --a place we rarely visit although it's not far away. We had a good time, getting a break from the usual daily routine. A highlight was a long walk along the seafront.  I assumed that Dune Park featured sand dunes and it does, but its focus turned out to be Frank Herbert's DUNE. I had not known that Tacoma was Herbert's home town.

https://www.parkstacoma.gov/tacomas-real-life-dune/

Recommended.

--John R.

current reading: a whole bunch of books, in various stages of unfinishedment.

Jean Rabe

Sorry to hear today of the death of Jean Rabe.  Jean was head of the R. P. G. A. when I first came on board at TSR (in October  1987 I think it was). My first contacts there were actually through the book department (via friend Jim Lowder) and the RPGA (then the domain of Jean, ably assisted by Skip Williams).  

That first discussion with Jean of a job at TSR didn't pan out due to my (a) living in Milwausee at the time and (b) not having a car. Instead I helped out with various tournaments and the like (e.g. providing sets of pregenerated characters for sanctioned events). A few months later I was more successful, joining the R&D department as a game editor, along with fellow 'new fish' Rich Baker (designer), Thomas Reid (editor), and a few weeks later Tim Beach (RPGA).

Through the chaos that was what we might call mid-period TSR, Jean ruled over her own fiefdom, acting pretty much independently of R&D (e.g. the Living City/Raven's Bluff project). If I rember rightly (eventually the comings and goings get conflated) she had moved over into R&D and later still was one of those who decided not to follow TSR to the west coast. 

If I had to sum up Jean in a word, it would be Kindness. Rest in peace.

  

So, how easy is it to spot the common thread in this list of names?

 

Andria Heyday

Anne Brown

Karen Boomgarden

Dori Watri

Julia Martin

Jean Rabie

Barb Young

Sue Weinlein

Carrie Bebris