Halt! What manner of beast be ye?

Before you write that grand, sweeping fantasy sage, you have to take the test.

Season of Perpetual Vacuuming

Now that the weather is starting to get a bit warm, the cats have begun to shed. I brush Hrothgar and Aethel every day, to minimize fur, just like all those pet-care website suggests. I still find myself having to run the vacuum nearly every day. I don't know where or how the cats produce so much fur.

Last night I brushed Hrothgar, and the pile of fur on the floor was nearly as big as him. I could have knitted another cat.


But what trully amazes me is that this morning, I went in to the kitchen to find the floor covered in a fine dusting of gray fur. At the epicenter of the fur was a strange, calm space of cleanliness. It was almost as if a cat had stood in the middle of the kitchen and willed all the fur to explode off of his body. That's what it was: a cat shedding explosion.

Andy's wrong!

So Andy's been watching all the Harry Potter DVDs this week and now he thinks he's an expert. In anticipation of the final book, I'm re-reading the series, but that's something else.

So this morning Andy announces, "Neville Longbottom will kill Harry Potter."

"Um, no."

"Yes. Voldemort will take over Harry and Neville will kill them."

"No! You're wrong!"

"But we already know that Neville can stand up to his friends."

"NO! NO! Harry Potter is not killed by Longbottom!"

"Just you wait and see."

So there, now it's on record, just in case the crazy idea pans out, even though he's totally wrong. Totally.

Kurt Vonnegut

I couldn't believe it when I heard it.

Vonnegut it one of my favorite authors. Especially Slaughterhouse Five. And Cat's Cradle.

When I was in high school, Vonnegut gave a lecture at KU entitled, "How to Have My Job." My English teacher arranged a field trip for the top English students. It was awesome.

I was only 17 at the time and hadn't read any of his works. I've read most of them now.

Here's Vonnegut's "How to Write With Style."