Update

Our friend Rick is no longer homeless. He slept indoors last night, under his very own roof and on his very own carpet.

Yammering Away

Thanks, all, for li'l Snorri's warm reception. He won't actually be with us until late September, but when he does come he'll be as polite a kitty as ever was seen. And a badass. And a math wizard. And an author. And waaay more advanced than most other kitties his age. I would be an insufferable parent.

Norwegian Forest Cats are climbers, so we're going to have to get a cat tree. I refuse to have one of those hideous carpeted monstrosities in the apartment, so we're looking for something a bit less aesthetically nauseating. I will also be carting him all over the place in a baby bjorn, just see if I don't. Enhabiten, my fingers are crossed that you'll find your kitty soon.

Not much going on in these parts. Our visitor left. I participated in a day of Think Tank activities (which, by the by, I've cleverly dubbed the "Stink Tank." I'm just so creative.) Poor n.o.c. is working about a million hours a week. I feel very sorry for him as I click my way through yet another novel, but I don't let sympathy interfere with my scrabble playing. How's he gonna be tough if no one beats him when he's down?

Rick, our homeless friend, has gone through a bit of an unfortunate/fortunate period. Unfortunately, he got the shit kicked out of him on Saturday night, and now has four staples in his head. Fortunately, he signed the lease on a Section 8 apartment, so he'll be off the street by next week. Yay for Rick! Though, as he told us yesterday, he won't have a job or receive a disability check for a while, so he'll still be "working" in our neck of the woods. In truth, I'm glad that I'll still get to see him.

Incidentally, I've decided that the next time I have a summer off, I'd like to have an abundance of friends and money. My favorite Baltimorians have been off jaunting around Italy - one of them for the entire month of July, which is incredibly rude, since he has the summer off too and was supposed to spend his time entertaining me. It's bullshit, really. My favorite New Englanders have been marinating in stinky old Europe. n.o.c. is out the door by 7am and seldom comes home before 7:30pm, and he works a good bit when he is home, so he's not really in an ebullient I-don't-have-to-work-let's-play-all-the-time sort of mood . AND we're trying not to spend any money, which, let me tell you, limits your damn options something serious. I'm not complaining - I mean, I'd much rather sit on my couch or wander aimlessly around the harbor than try to teach seventeen-year-olds how to think rationally - but I just think I'll do this differently next year.

And on that oh-so-insightful note, I'll leave you until I have something more interesting to say. Happy Friday.

Quality - highly preferable to quantity.

While the hoards may not be stampeding to my blog, the visitors I do get are the absolute best. Thank you. Anyway, the unwashed masses make me nervous, so this arrangement suits me just fine.

Since Thursday, which will henceforth be known as The Meltdown of a Navel Gazer (funny Times piece about that), many good things have happened:

1) You all made me feel better, even though I'm a lazy sh*t and don't really deserve your scary German encouragement or your kind words.

2) I played bocce ball in a park while eating fried chicken and drinking excellent sangria. Made the ball a bit difficult to grip, but I persevered.

3) Snorri was born. This cat will be the sh*t. Just you wait.

4) I spent three whole days in the company of my Number One Cookie, who is a badass main squeeze, despite (or perhaps because of) his inferior scrabble abilities.

5) I made a blueberry-lemon-ginger crumble with a doubled (!) crust(!). I have eaten it (by itself! just the crumble! 'tis but a pittance!) for breakfast and lunch. I feel f*cking fabulous, thank you for asking, and I am on my way to the gym shortly.

6) I am getting sh*t done. Today, for instance, I activated my key fob, canceled my verizon DSL (which, by the by, you basically have to break someone's legs to do), scheduled dental appointments for me and n.o.c., arranged my f*cking summer work schedule, and ordered a new filter for the refrigerator. Daaaaamn. And that's in addition to finishing a book, napping, eating crumble and drinking an entire pitcher of green tea! AND I flossed!

So, things are looking up. I am now off to give some crumble to our homeless doorman, Rick, and waddle to the gym.