We spent the rest of the day reading old magazines in dungarees

[sovay]

Of course we are supposed to get a thunderstorm today, and of course we are supposed to get it during the exact block of the afternoon I am supposed to be traveling to/at a potluck at the house of people I have never met before. Of course I have also slept badly and mostly want to spend the day on a couch with a cat. I will bring one of my new books and an umbrella along with the lemon cake I baked last night. I was not designed by nature for parties.

1. I am generally thrilled by this review of Gemma Files' Invocabulary (2018) because I love her poetry, but it doesn't hurt that it makes me feel like some kind of muse.

2. An unpleasant but useful read: Myke Cole, "The Sparta Fetish Is a Cultural Cancer." I did not actually know how far the fantasia had extended among the current crop of Nazis. I have negative affinity for Frank Miller's 300 in any of its forms, but "The Oracles" has always been one of my favorite poems by A.E. Housman, so it feels a little personal.

3. Not recent, but I kept forgetting to link it in the overheated chaos of July: Siobhan Carroll, "For He Can Creep."

I am hoping to catch up on some of the movies I intended to review for July, even if I have to do some of them from memory. I just want August to be less exhausted.

Comments

[heron61]

I just got around to reading "For He Can Creep", it was absolutely wonderful and perfect. Of course, I also have a special place in my heart for Smart's verse about Jeoffry, and I named the (terrifyingly intelligent) cat who adopted me in grad school after it.

[sovay]

I just got around to reading "For He Can Creep", it was absolutely wonderful and perfect.

I was a little uncertain about it when it started, but ended up really impressed. It reminded me favorably of Angela Carter.

Of course, I also have a special place in my heart for Smart's verse about Jeoffry, and I named the (terrifyingly intelligent) cat who adopted me in grad school after it.

Good cat!

[heron61]

I dearly loved that cat, but he was also far more like having a caring but also deeply selfish furry roommate than like having anything like a pet. When he wanted something, you either gave it to him, or he did things like destroy my stuff in front of me until I gave in. He's also the only cat I've met who could turn doorknobs and open doors.

[sovay]

He's also the only cat I've met who could turn doorknobs and open doors.

I have been fortunate enough to live with two different families of door-opening cats. So, who needs doors that shut?