You will follow me. You will leave comments here on my blog. Because I crave attention and external validation.
Close Encounters of the Furred Kind by Tom Cox
Image via tom-cox.com
I stumbled across Tom Cox the way many people discover new authors - I have been stalking following another author (G.M. Malliet, writer of cozy mysteries) and she retweeted something from him and I read it. I have cats and I feel that many people don't understand my relationship with them, so Tom's Twitter posts and his blog entries rather struck a chord with me. Ms. Malliet lived in England (according to her bio info) and her mysteries are set in Great Britain, so I kind of assumed that's how she would have heard of him. When I was a bookseller, I do remember selling his book on golf, but I'm not a golfer so I never looked at it closely and I didn't remember his name.
Tom seems to be doing something different with his writing. He's taking his career into his own hands a little bit - the promotion part of it, anyway. He created Twitter accounts for his cats, foremost among them being My Sad Cat. (I think it was @MySadCat that I came across originally, now that I think about it.) He has tweets indicating, 'My cat is sad because _". Usually it relates to the cat's deep, soul-searching eyes and the crass world's failure to live up to his expectations. @MySadCat has thousands of followers.
In his writing, Tom anthropomorphises his cats a little bit, for the sake of humor and to express the way they make him feel. But, for the most part I think that he is simply trying to understand them on their own level - their distinct personalities and the way they interact with each other. Through them we meet Tom's father who writes and talks in all caps, his mother and a few friends. But, mostly it's poignant memoir about a man who loves the outdoors and loves his cats and loves a genre of music that I can't quite put my finger on... 70's psychodelic rock? Obscure bands from just before he was born who were experimental and edgy?
If you enjoy animals, if you enjoy the outdoors, if you feel that cats were given a bad representation in The Secret Life of Pets, then I suggest you read this book, and follow @MySadCat on Twitter and read Tom's blog. He has several other books related to his cats as well.
Enjoy.
Anniversary of the Bastrop Wildfire
Image from the Atascocita Volunteer Fire Department
Today marks the anniversary of the beginning of the Bastrop Wildfires. It was Labor Day that year that I first heard about the fires; they were just fires then. One in Pflugerville, one in Bastrop, and a handful of others. The winds had picked up and caused the fires to spread; and they contributed to the fires themselves. The official report was that trees hit power lines and the winds blew the sparks, causing at least one of the fires that later converged into the Bastrop Wildfire Complex. Central Texas was in the height of the drought at that time, leaving so much dead grass, trees and brush. Wind + sparks + dry brush = wildfire. The Bastrop wildfire ultimately burned 34,000 acres, including the Lost Pines Forest and Bastrop State Park, over 1600 homes and 40 commercial buildings.
It wasn't just Bastrop, though they were hit the hardest by far. Steiner Ranch, a subdivision in West Austin, was evacuated due to fires. At my job in west Austin we could smell the burning in the air, but couldn't tell if it was Bastrop (east of Austin) or Steiner Ranch or any of the other fires that had popped up around town. Anywhere there was brush there was likely to be fire. My brother was living in Australia at the time and I was watching his house. I got a shocked text message at 3 in the morning, "Steiner Ranch is burning?!" It was about 10 miles from each of our homes.
I remember several things. I remember putting cat carriers by the front door for easy evacuation. I remember keeping a suitcase in the trunk of my car in case my condo burned down. I remember finding a website that tied in with the Austin Fire Department and spending large chunks of time monitoring that. We all wondered if the next big fire was going to be our home. I thought about leaving my condo and staying with Barry in Elgin, but there was no guarantee that his place was safer than mine. (He actually has more brush, so his house was probably in greater danger.) Several animal shelters, such as Austin Pets Alive, mobilized to evacuate the animals from the Bastrop animal shelter. (I volunteered to foster cats, but they didn't end up using me.) Here in Elgin (in Bastrop County), Barry let some people park a camper on his property while they waited to see if their home in Bastrop survived.
Meanwhile, Bastrop burned and burned. It was over a month before they were able to contain it. One problem was that so many of the resources that we might have borrowed from the State of Texas and other neighbors were being used for other wildfires. An obvious problem was the incredibly dry grass and dead trees and brush due to the drought. And, then wind wouldn't stop. The Colorado River might have been a natural barrier for a fire, except that the wind blew sparks and ashes across, allowing the wildfire to jump the river.
Ironically, it seems that Tropical Storm Lee was at least part of the cause for the winds, though we didn't receive rain from it. My brother and his husband live in New Jersey and they were being flooded and blown away by Hurricane Irene. That storm hit around August 28th, a week before our fires began. I would watch in dismay for the next few years as our drought continued and as they were time and again flooded by storms such has Hurricane Sandy the following year. (If we can build a pipeline for oil from Canada to Texas, why can't we build one for excess water from the Northeast to Texas?!)
Today, the Bastrop County Long-Term Recovery Project has organized an event to commemorate the fires, offering a place for people to come and feel safe and to remember – remember the people who acted to keep them safe, remember the people who lost everything, remember and discuss where they were when it happened and to be able to come together to see how far they've come in recovery. It was a surreal experience that none of us will soon forget.
Change is Afoot
There are some changes in the air. The summer is waning; we can breath again without feeling like we are inhaling the air from inside a brick oven. (Some days this means that we are merely hot, as opposed to dying, but we'll take what we can get.) And, there are other changes afoot – changes in direction, changes in focus. Changes in accessories.
I was shopping for shoes with Barry yesterday and I heard something call my name. I turned and saw this leather Aldo bag looking at me from the rack.
Aldo, looking smug
I had to look again to make sure that I was the one this thing of beauty was talking to. I tried to reason with myself. I don't need a new bag. I was there to buy shoes for Barry. Beauty is only skin deep (or in this case, leather). But I knew, as sure as I know the day is long, I knew that this bag and I were meant to be together. Aldo, in the meantime, was very nonchalant, as if he was confident that he was going home with me and didn't think anything about my internal debate and torture. Barry told me that we looked good together. That's really what sealed the deal.
However, as it turns out I already have a bag. My messenger bag by Fossil has been with me through so many adventures. We've been in the rain together; we've had coffee together. We've visited other cities and other states. At work and at home Messenger Bag has been by my side. When we got into the truck Barry said a rather callous and disparaging remark about Messenger Bag, and I pretended to rebuke him for it. Really, though, Messenger has a thick skin. That's why we've gotten along so well. That's why I've not paid attention to the disparaging remarks hurled in my direction about the condition he's in.
Messenger Bag standing tall in spite of the wear and tear
The wear and tear
But, at some point one has to face the facts. Messenger Bag is tired. He's been through a lot and he's stood up there with me. But, at what point do I have to say that enough is enough? People have been telling me that for a while, though I haven't listened. Messenger's only thought has been to make me happy. I haven't taken a moment to wonder if maybe he's tired and ready to rest. We have to think about these things, though, because our faithful companions will never voice this sentiment for themselves.
So, it's with a heavy heart that I unload Messenger and decide what I need to equip Aldo with for the adventures that lie ahead for us. Aldo's skin is so soft, not tough and strong like Messenger's canvas, but soft and supple like leather. I honestly can't believe that I have something this beautiful. I don't know that the adventures will be the same. Would I run through the rain with him? Toss him on the floor beside my bed when I lie down, exhausted after a long day of walking through a strange city? He'll hold my small Netbook, whereas Messenger was intended only to hold my Nook.
To say that I'm torn is an understatement.
Likewise, I have been writing a blog on blogspot for six years. Six years I've laid down my thoughts on bemol Ardiente. The initial reason was to begin writing again, which is exactly what I did. An energetic writing teacher is now encouraging me to put aside the old and go forward with what will fit my future needs. A website of my own is what is needed in the future as I continue to write my novel and then as I look for a way to publish it. Before spending any more energy on promoting myself via the blog, I needed to move to a more permanent location. A location that can let me grow into my writing and into my artwork.
But, again, I have been with bemol Ardiente for six years. I reread the initial post and I realized anew what it was I was hoping to achieve. I believe that I have achieved that. That doesn't mean that I can't take with me the best of what I've done. I've transferred the blog to my new site - to the blog page on my new site. And, how many people have blogs? How many authors have blog pages? Quite a few; I'd say. So, I've kept bemol Ardiente – for the time being anyway. We'll see how well it fits. It's an interesting turn of phrase. If anybody has picked it up and looks for it, I want them to find me.
So, please visit me here at ratherearnestpainter.com and visit my blog. I'll be adding to the website and growing it. I will have more flexibility. I will have more fun.
And, thank you for your support.
Earnie Painter
A Rather Earnest Painter
Cat TV
I don't generally let television babysit my cats for me, but if it's a educational nature show, I don't mind.
