Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Buried Under Stuff

Cat's buried under lots of stuff that has to get done. We hope to see her in her natural state sometime after next Wednesday, by which time she'll have turned in her English Honors Project, have a draft for her senior seminar project, and have met 3 times for her one act, as well as having applied for various forms of financial aid from various sources.

So in the mean time, for your amusement, Dr. Stewart!

"It's metaphorical. We call it a mouse because there's a little body and a little tail - except now there's not - so really we should call it a 'computer hamster.' "

"Now 'in lieu of" has gained the meaning of 'in light of' rather than just meaning 'instead of.' Trying to interpret it as 'instead of ' can be really funny with phrases like 'in lieu of the facts.' Now, people use 'instead of ' instead of 'in lieu of.' "

"Ah, the crisp, chips, fries continuum. It's like a chain shift like we saw with the Great Vowel Shift - the Great Potato Shift."

Monday, March 10, 2008

Spring Break

Miss Caitlin is currently on that time of vacation known as Spring Break. It started out eventfully enough, with Miss Caitlin forgetting our return ticket in Kirksville. Luckily, Miss Adrien was able to get us our ticket, since she returned on Saturday while we returned on Friday. If Miss Adrien had been unable to do this for us, Miss Caitlin was going to ask one of Miss Adrien's house mates, either Miss Shelly or Miss Katherine to mail it to her, with the understanding that Miss Caitlin would pay them back, as she viewed it as her own folly. However, we did not have to subject the ticket to the Kirksville mail system, which has similar qualities to small black holes, and instead now have the ticket in our possession.

Tipsy was rather upset by the whole business. After all, it has always been her duty to keep track of Miss Caitlin's tickets. Miss Caitlin told her not to worry about it, that it was Miss Caitlin's fault that she did not give the ticket to Tipsy, but we all know who is truly at fault. After she was reminded of her failing, Tipsy chose to mope and not socialize with myself and the other fine animals in our house. She did take charge of the ticket after we received it from Miss Adrien. She has refused to come with Miss Caitlin, Mrs. Caitlin's Mother, and myself as we journey to visit Miss Caitlin's Grandparents. A lesson well learned for her, I hope.

Miss Caitlin is taking the time to read books for her Senior Seminar in English project, and also to organize materials for auditions and the subsequent rehearsals of her one act play. She will be directing A.A. Milne's "The Ugly Duckling," a charming little comedy about a rather nice, but tragically plain Princess and how she finds love for being herself. Miss Caitlin admits to feeling overwhelmed with all the responsibilities of a director, but she hopes to do well.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Her Schooling Continues

For those unaware, Miss Caitlin has been accepted at Dominican University of the Library Science Program there, and is awaiting word from other schools which should arrive at any time.

In the meantime, Miss Caitlin is rather busy. Earlier this week she presented a small scene for her directing class. Today, she wrote a paper for her literature class. Tomorrow she takes a test on the history of the English language. Friday we will depart for Illinois again, this time for spring vacation. Miss Caitlin has a number of things to accomplish during that time, mostly in the nature of readings. Tipsy has insisted that I include this picture of Tipsy and myself aiding Miss Caitlin in the writing of her paper earlier this evening.


The weather here has been most unreliable. One day it is warm and to all appearances, spring has finally beaten back the harsh winter. The next day winter has firmly reestablished itself. The vacillations in weather have caused giant chasms to open up in the streets. Some people call them "pot holes" but this is an understatement as it is possible to lose small children in them. Also a form of ice which Miss Caitlin has dubbed "stealth ice" (I believe the more common term is "black ice") has taken to covering the sidewalks in the mornings, and sometimes lasts all day in shady areas (for instance Miss Caitlin's back step). It is hard to spot and can lead to unexpected falls. Miss Caitlin thinks (hopes) that today saw the melting and drying out of most of the spots. However it is still far from warm. We all await more permanent fair weather.