The Cat Report (Fri.3/31-23)

TOPAZ

Black TIGER

LUNA

LILY

CALLY

MARLY

CINNABON

The seven cats were in a lazy mood when we arrived but did not stay that way. 

The first to go out were the lively pair of yearlings TOPAZ (orange stripped) and Black TIGER (black patterned stripes). After they’d played a bit on went the leashes and we ventured out into the main room of the store. I walked the one while Janice walked the other. Topaz started out skittish but warmed up to walking as he got further afield. He particularly loved getting attention from folks.  His favorite bit turned out to be a little office opposite the drinking fountains; he went right in and wanted to get up on the chair at the desk. Good memories of a previous owner’s work room, perhaps?

   While I was walking Topaz, Janice walked Tiger, who seemed to attract an even larger crowd and to be our current champion walker.

Next up were our resident guests LUNA and LILY, who were happy to come out into the room with the bench but made clear their distress at the idea of putting on the leash and going out. So both got petting, and play, and some holding, but not a walk.

The two kittens, CALLY (the yellow and white kitten) and MARLEY (the pastel kitten and dominant of the pair) were too squirmy for the leash*  but made up for it by playing pretty much every game we had for the to play.   

Last out was our senior-ish cat CINNABON, who seemed to enjoy having the place all to themselves. I was unable to make her into a cat burrito or enchillada: my efforts turned out more along the line of a cat taco. She stayed with me holding her surprisingly long (see photo) but did not altogether forgive me till I let her play with a catnip sachet, which she seemed to think the Best Thing Ever. 

I have to ask: What’s up with the crowd? About the time Tiger came in we had a dozen or more people gather outside the glass. They seemed to be a tour group, since they all left together, but I didn’t find out who they were or why they were here.

—John & Janice

*to wear it, that is. He thought it made a great chew-toy.

 

Then to Little Rock

To make a long story short, as my uncle wd say:

After east Texas it was up to the western edge of Little Rock for a gathering that brought together the Smiths, Philpots, and Rateliffs (me). I think I was the youngest person in the room, my ninety year old Smith uncle the most senior.

The next day we went up in Sherwood, on the north side of the River, to visit my Rateliff aunt, my father's sister-in-law, whom I'd not seen in a good many years; good to catch up on the doings of cousins.

The next few days involved getting ready for the trip back, which was thankfully uneventful. It was a good trip, and served as 'proof of concept' that I shd be able to make trips in the future so long as I don't overdo it. Kalamazoo 2023 here we come.

--John R

--current reading : Le Guin ALWAYS COMING HOME, which I'm finally within reach of the end of (have now read 84% of the expanded edition).  It'll be a good day to re-shelve this ponderous work.

UPDATE. 

The news today out of Little Rock --six hundred people hurt by a huge tornado-- thankfully did not include any of the family I'd just been to see. Thankful for that.

And off to Longfield

 After an unsatisfactory night in Shreveport (waterleaking from the ceiling was only one of that hotel room's failings), we went back over to Waskom for more visiting. 

We had to cancel the trip to Magnolia to visit the graves, since heading that direction at that time wd have brought us into the storm front: thunderstorms and a tornado. 

Instead me went by Jonesville,  a small town near Waskom that reminded me of Washington, Arkansas, which we got to visit some years back. Its main feature is the T. C. Lindsey & Co. General Store, which has been in business continually since 1847 (a record in the state, they tell me, and only a few years after statehood). The original building burned down in 1922, so the current structure is only one hundred and one years old.

Inside is half museum and half store, with current for-sale items at eye level or below and antiques in glass cases further up. Among my favorite items was the Remington typewriter (I asked if they'd sell me a ribbon spool for my Remington Oldstyle Portable, but they declined). A bale of cotton (marked as the last one ginned and baled in the area.  An array of craft rootbeers. And much, much more. My brother-in-law, who was with us, remembered when the store was still someplace you'd go to do practical shopping (such as the time his older brother brought him there to buy shoes). Well worth the visit.

Today it was over to Longview for an enjoyable family gathering. Tonight we're back in Shreveport, in a new room in a different hotel. Tomorrow it's up to Little Rock for a visit with the Smiths.

--John R. 

. . . And in Shreveport

So, the family visit is off to a good start, with a good long visit with my sister yesterday. We even got to see Kashmir the cat, who was deposed to be accommodating. The only sour note was the restaurant. I'd picked, the Shreveport Cracker Barrel, my favorite restaurant in these part, only to find it's not what it was. Service was bad (for example the food came but the knife fork spoon didn't follow till ten minutes later). The soup wasn't hot but instead slightly under room temperature. A pity; it's been a fun stop when passing through the area for years, but I doubt we'll stop there again.

Still, we got more family visit time in, and I bought a Chunky, one of my favorite candy bars in my youth. And the shortcomings of the restaurant turned out to be middling compared to the hotel room, which (to make a long story short) culminated in our currently waiting to be switched to a new room. On without a leaking roof. 

After which our plan is to drive to Magnolia. If the tornado they're predicting for today manifests we'll need to make some adjustments.

--John R.

--current reading: ALWAYS COMING HOME. Easier to read, it turns out, on the Kindle --easier to hold and 

I'm in Dallas

So, you know you're not looking your best nearing the end of a long day of travel when fellow travellers offer to help you with your luggage. Or insist you take their seat on the shuttle. Or hold the door open for you -- this last from a woman with a walker. Never let it be said that Parkinson's isn't a disease with a sense of humor.

A good night's sleep here in Dallas and we shd be in good shape to start the family visits tomorrow.

--John R.

--current reading: the Dunsany/Clarke letter (finished, as book #II.363)

--resumed Le Guin's ALWAYS COMING HOME, reading almost 10% of it on the flight.

Marketplace covers D&D

So, here's another sign, if any were needed, of how D&D is Big Business. 

The recent turmoil over Hasbro's decision to revoke, by fiat,* the open license under which other game publishers release D&D-compatible products caused a big enough stir that it got covered by national radio: 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketplace/id201853034?i=1000602711724

The show in question is MARKETPLACE, hosted by Kai Ryssdal; the D&D piece is the final segment. 

It takes up roughly the last five or six minutes of that week's show.

The battle for the Dungeons & Dragons economy,

 

It's good to see one thing hasn't changed: The enduring truism that D&D is, always has been, and remains a license to print money.  This piece also divides the industry into (a) D&D and (b) non-WotC D&D compatibles. That there's a third category, independent RPGs, seems to fall below their radar. Still, it's interesting to see national-wide coverage of what was once our little hobby.  It'll be interesting what effect the release of the D&D Movie this week will have. 

--John R.

--current reading: the Dunsany/Clarke letters

*since rescinded 

TOLKIEN STUDIES Volume XIX is out

So, the latest volume of TOLKIEN STUDIES* is now out; my copy arrived today. Haven't had a chance to look through it yet, but it looks to be primary material by JRRT, Wm Cloud Hicklin's edition, sorting out and editing Tolkien's time-charts keeping track of who was where when in LotR. It's a nice bonus to have the "Lorien Time" drawing nicely reproduced on the cover.

As so often with Tolkien, we sometimes have to wait for it; this looks like one of those times when it was definitely worth the wait.

---John R

*officially Volume XIX Supplement (2022)