In the unlandscaped area at Tabby's Place

 

A Meandering Path

First, Twitter:  a tweet that China has been waging economic warfare to gain power and influence in Asia and Africa.  

Next, a comment on the tweet:  "Did they not read Confessions of an Economic Hitman?"

Next, a search for more information about that book.  According to its author, the US has used that same kind of strategy to gain power and influence in South America.  Decided to side with the reviewers who said the book was long on accusations and short on proof.  

Next, the Wikipedia entry for that book also contained a link to Gen. Smedley Butler's "War is a Racket" on the HathiTrust site.  

While on HathiTrust, I searched for other collections and found a recently updated one devoted to Cats.  One of the books is Walter Chandoha's Book of Kittens and Cats, copyright date 1963.  The black-and-white photos aren't as useful as the author's advice for wannabe cat photographers.  While some of it is no longer relevant since film gave way to digital, other parts may be more impervious to time.  

He recommends a shutter of 1/250 or even 1/500, an aperture of f/16 or f/22, and the absolute need for flash or a speedlight.  But most important, beyond the equipment and the usefulness of an assistant, is "lots of patience."  

And now, to go to Tabby's Place and try to put some of that knowledge into practice.  

Last Night

How I spent a couple of pleasant hours in the public domain yesterday evening.  I picked a random vaudeville review, one that was sparing in its praise for both members of the team of Bronson and Baldwin.  Bronson's poem was good, the song was too long, and the best thing the reviewer could write about Winnie Baldwin was that she looked nice.

New York Clipper, May 13, 1917

Later that year, both Bronson and Baldwin had starring roles in a Broadway show, so Mr. H.G.'s review didn't seem to set the team back any.  But the show only lasted 96 performances, and that was the last time he appeared on Broadway.  She starred in one other show in 1925 that topped out at 136 performances.  By then, the two had divorced.

He remarried in December 1927, went back to work on stage the next day, and died before the week was up.  

Variety, December 28, 1927

 

Welcoming Wildflowers

The wildflowers in our area have different seasons.  In February, if the weather hasn't been too cold, you can see the first tiny blue speedwell flowers.  Along about April, wood violets make their appearance, and just as they fade away, the roadside Dame's Rocket begins to blossom.  This faux phlox spreads quickly and unpredictably, so that you might find one large clump surrounded by open green space.  Here's a good-sized patch, a mile or so west of home.  

Soon, the chicory flowers will take their place along the back roads and the main roads.  

Trivia:  the slightly elevated area at top right, in front of the stand of trees, was the location of an abandoned farmhouse.  It was burned decades ago by the local fire department so they could practice reacting to blazes.  

 

The Return

Music:  Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca.  First listen.  (1) Because Deradoorian (now with Kate NV as Decisive Pink) was in the band (2) Because it was referenced in a comment on a reappraisal of Vampire Weekend's Modern Vampires of the City (a copy of which I own and enjoy) on the 10th anniversary of its release.  Interesting music from DP.  That's all I'll venture on the first listen.

The mallard pair are still visiting, and PG has looked up information on what mallards eat to adjust what she puts out for them.  Yesterday, a second mallard drake tried horning in on the pair and was sent packing by the other drake.  I got a moment of video on my phone before the fight broke up, not as much as I would have liked.

This morning, I looked out the back door and saw a squirrel rolling in the dirt where the red maple tree had been cut down.  In looking for a place to plant some phlox PG bought at the roadside store a couple of miles away, I'd raked away the remaining mulch and broken up the dirt clods.  The tree cutter had gotten rid of the main trunk to a depth of a few inches below the surface, but roots remained rooted on all sides.  I had pulled up the cut end of one of them, which resembled a cylinder about a foot long and an inch or so in diameter, and stuck up at maybe a 30 degree angle to the right.  

The squirrel continued to roll back and forth, frontward and backward, for several seconds.  I thought about reaching for a camera of some kind, but I'd left my phone upstairs next to the bed, and the cameras that only take pictures and don't make phone calls or track your every move... although now that I think of it, the DSLR can put a GPS location stamp on its photos, so I'll have to modify the second part of that clause... anyway, both the point-and-shoot with the 40x zoom and the DSLR with the 50mm prime lens were snug in the camera bag, also upstairs.

Then, the squirrel stopped, and it was as if it had spotted me somehow, some twenty feet away and behind a layer of a deck rail and row of balusters, and could see me peeking at it through the back door.  The squirrel stood up on its hind legs and put its front paws on the exposed root.  Its back paws were close to the bottom of the root, while it leaned a little to the left of vertical, opposite the rightward lean of the root.  It looked like it had been hiding behind the wood and was leaning its upper body away from it to get a better look, but holding on in case it had to pull its exposed body behind it.

It held that pose only long enough for me to wish I'd had a camera focused on it, ready to trip the shutter.   But this description will have to do. 

Work, work, work

About done with the 80% of the work that takes 20% of the time.  Doing it with as little prep as possible.  No plastic on surfaces, no masking tape anywhere.  If I slop a bit of paint, I wipe it up right away, but generally I don't slop a drop.  

The beige is a good neutral shade and a big improvement on the deep tan that was there before.  One more coat tomorrow, and then PG and I will share the trimming duties.

Besides the painting, I did my day job for the standard 8 hours, and I wrote about 500 words for supporters of a Special Needs cat.  My secret?  All month long, I'm taking notes, scraps to put each visit in memory.  Also, I'm looking for cat-related items to work into the letter.  This month, the praying imam who was climbed by a cat; Charles Barkley's deliberately offensive take on cats; a photo story in a NJ newspaper.  

If I write something that doesn't fit in the 500 words one month, I save it for possible future use.  At the end of the month, we're given a summary of the health of our assigned cat.  So I'm assembling something consisting of medical news, pop culture references, and a little story involving the cat.  The framework looks like this:

1) Hi (I usually don't spend much time on it, because often I wind up writing about myself instead of the cat.  Address the reader; "May greetings to you, and to all Buddy's buddies!")

2) Health (the cat's medical issues are the reason for this letter, so put it up front for the sponsor)

3) Anecdote (I've learned that something always happens to write about.  Just keep your eyes and ears open and be ready to record it.)

4) Kicker (always leave 'em laughing)

5) KTHXBAI (thank the donor and sign off.  Keep it short and simple.)

I reserve the right to shuffle the order of the five steps, and even to skipping one of them.  #2 and #5 are the only mandatory ones.