The "Quickie" Project

...is taking slightly longer than I thought.

So I've been thinking for a while that there are two things that I need in my bathroom, which kind of also became Hermes' room when Jolie was staying with us (did I mention that she finally went home, after over three months? I am overjoyed! Sweet cat--not so great to have around when she makes you break out in hives and attacks the host kitty for no reason).

The first thing is a mat to go under the litter box, so that the litter doesn't get tracked all over the place. With hardwood floors, it ends up all over the house. I could go out and buy a rug from Target or wherever, but why spend the $10-15 when I have yarn?

Yeah, I know. I'm knitting something for my cat to wipe his paws on. Clearly, I have crossed over into crazy cat lady territory. But here's how I'm looking at it:

1. It's something mindless that will keep me occupied while my brain is still restarting.

2. I like knitting.

3. If it makes it easier to keep the house clean, then I am all for it.

4. It saves me $15, since I already have both the yarn and needles, and what else am I going to do with two balls of acrylic boucle? Cat crap seems like a good use for it....

I swore off boucle yarn about six weeks after learning to knit. If you don't know what it is, boucle yarn, rather than being smooth, is covered in little loops. Those little loops love to catch the tips of unsuspecting knitting needles when attempting to insert them into a stitch, and also love to snag on anything and everything that gets within six inches of them. I've knit with it. I've crocheted with it. The one thing I haven't done with this yarn that I would love to do is set it on fire, because I'm sure that acrylic would make some lovely, multi-colored flames.

And heaven forbid you have to rip it out.

I've actually found more practical uses for eyelash yarn and fun fur than I have for boucle, and it's easier to work with.

The second thing that I need (I use the term "need" loosely) is a second mat to go under the cat food/water dishes, since Hermes likes to take his water dish for a walk and the sound of ceramic dragging over ceramic is not something I like to hear at two in the morning. When we lived at my mom and dad's place,  his food and water were on a rug, and he had no problems. Here, he will stick his paw in his water bowl, drag it six inches to the right and take a drink. Then he'll move it eight inches to the left, and take another drink. But no, he's not done yet! Next he walks around the dish, and the process repeats an additional 2-3 times before he's satisfied. By this time, the floor is soaked.

I do not even pretend to understand him. I'm just trying to get a decent night's sleep.

And a bonus, since Bill asked for it:

If you haven't seen the other Hermes comics, you can find them here.

ETA: Thanks Rob, for pointing out the error with the link. It should be fixed now. Blogger won't let me link to just the correct search results, but keep scrolling for more the comics.

Chocolate, Writing, and a Cat.

I'm starting to think that the hardest part of writing a book is writing the proposal. Getting the manuscript out in such a way isn't so much of a challenge as convincing other people that they should care about it. My natural shyness doesn't help--I was raised to be humble, play off my accomplishments. "So I wrote this book, maybe you'll read it, if you want?...Why? Oh, well, no reason..."

This is the first time I've ever written a book proposal (I'm only just starting to get the hang of the query letter and the cover letter is still a mysterious beast for me), so I constantly feel like I'm doing it wrong. Is there enough information? Too much? Is it the right information? Is my wording professional enough? If I make it more formal, will it still convey the feel of the book accurately? How many images should I include? What size should they be? Do I sound arrogant when listing my meager credentials? Or just stupid?

I do have a book on the subject--which was, in fact, written by the owner of one of the publishers I'll be sending it to--and that is helpful, but not as helpful as I would like. But then, I'm cautious by nature and seldom like to move forward unless I have a green light glaring down at me.
 
As a form of procrastination, I've resorted to organizing my desk (don't all writers do that?). I did have a legitimate reason. I had to make room for the necessities, which are pictured at the center of the drawer there. 

Yes. Chocolate is ESSENTIAL to my creative process.

Besides, where else would I keep my stash so that the cat doesn't get into it?


You can see how intent he is. He's lately renewed his obsession with whatever I am drinking (usually water, thankfully) and has been knocking over my glasses again. I've taken to keeping bottled water by the bed and using a juice glass the rest of the time because it's low enough that I can stick it in my desk drawer when I'm working. The last time he dumped my drink, it was all over my desk. Thankfully, my laptop was on the pull out tray at the time and was spared, but it came dangerously close to an important notebook and a new book. I don't think he'd eat the chocolate, but I can see him using the Cadbury eggs as a toy because of the way they spin.

Don't let the cuteness fool you. He's trouble, nothing but.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go cuddle my fuzzy little demon.