Are you lookin' at Me?

Yonkers

Manhattan

Brooklyn

Bronx

I Heart NY

The boys are doing better, they are meowing at us and purr when we pet them.
They still smell like a barn so Fermi is hissing, but they seem interested in him as a potential wrestling partner.

We gave them names! (drum roll.....)

Bronx
Brooklyn
Manhattan
Yonkers

4 new boys!

Just a quick post - 4 new boy kittens arrived at our house last night.
The still to be named boys are former barn cats about 9-11 weeks old.
They have had all of their shots and are old enough to be adopted but are still a little skittish around people.
They have been sent to the Caledonia Cat Academy for 3 to 4 weeks of Charm School and Finishing.
School Pictures will be posted on Sunday

2008 - A Year's Worth of Reading

So last Jan 1st I decided to keep track of all the books I read or listened to using my LibraryThing profile.

Here is what I read:
The Forge of War
The Grand History of the Realms
The Doom of Camelot
Skreyn's Register: The Bonds of Magic
Wizards Presents: Worlds and Monsters
The Savage Sword of Conan, Vol. 1
Jonathon Strange & Mr. Norrell
Heirs of Ash Book 2: Flight of the Dying Sun
House of M Complete Collectors Edition
Black Wind
Showcase Presents: The Brave and the Bold - The Batman Team-Ups, Vol. 1
Showcase Presents: Metamorpho, Vol. 1
The Twilight War Book 1: Shadowbred
Erevis Cale Book 1: Twilight Falling
Erevis Cale Book 2: The Dawn of Night
Erevis Cale Book 3: Midnight's Mask
Showcase Presents: Green Lantern Volume 1
Drawing the Line: Tales of Maps and Cartocontroversy [library]
Heirs of Ash Book 3: Rise of the Seventh Moon
The Twilight War Book 2: Shadowstorm
The Blade of the Flame Book 2: Forge of the Mind Slayers
Tales from the War of Souls Book 1: The Search for Magic
The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop [library]
The Blade of the Flame Book 3: Sea of Death
The Pythons: An Autobiography by the Pythons [library]
The Haunted Lands Book 2: Undead
Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall
The Order of the Stick Volume 0: On the Origin of PCs
The Legion Companion
Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Vol. 1
The Order Of The Stick Volume 1: Dungeon Crawlin' Fools
The Order of the Stick Volume 2: No Cure for the Paladin Blues
Dork Tower Volume 1: Dork Covenant
Secrets of Xen'drik
Earth (A New Perspective)
The Barrytown Trilogy Book 1: The Commitments
Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Vol. 2
Stardust (Gaimen/Vess)
The Best of the Legion Outpost
Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Vol. 3
Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Vol. 4
Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Vol. 5
Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Vol. 6
Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Vol. 7
Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Vol. 8
Pathfinder Player's Guide: Curse Of The Crimson Throne
Pathfinder 07 Curse of the Crimson Throne: Edge of Anarchy
The Barrytown Trilogy Book 2: The Snapper
Pathfinder 08 Curse of the Crimson Throne: Seven Days to the Grave
The Barrytown Trilogy Book 3: The Van
Pathfinder 09 Curse of the Crimson Throne: Escape From Old Korvosa
Dance in a Buffalo Skull
The Draconic Prophecies Book 1:Storm Dragon
Ptolus: Secrets of the Delver's Guild
The Knights of Myth Drannor Book 2: Swords of Dragonfire
The Citadels Book 2: Obsidian Ridge
Pathfinder 10 Curse Of The Crimson Throne: A History Of Ashes
Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide: Roleplaying Game Core Rules, 4th Edition
Dungeon Master's Guide II (3.5 Edition)
Dork Tower Volume 03: Heart of Dorkness
Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual: Roleplaying Game Core Rules, 4th Edition
Dork Tower Volume 06: 1D6 Degrees of Separation
Dork Tower Volume 07: Dork Side of the Goon
Castle Waiting
Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook: Roleplaying Game Core Rules, 4th Edition
The Savage Sword of Conan, Vol. 3
City of Stormreach
Showcase Presents: Teen Titans, Vol. 1
Bathroom Book of Wisconsin Trivia: Weird, Wacky and Wild
Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition For Dummies
Confessions of a Part-time Sorceress: A Girl's Guide to the D&D Game
Dungeon Survival Guide
Storm of the Century: The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935
Pathfinder 11 Curse Of The Crimson Throne: Skeletons Of Scarwall
Dragons of Faerun
A Practical Guide To Dragon Riding
Denizens of Freeport
Pathfinder 12 Curse Of The Crimson Throne: Crown Of Fangs
The Inquisitives Book 4: The Darkwood Mask
Forgotten Realms Player's Guide
Red Hand of Doom
The Savage Sword of Conan, Vol. 4
Races of the Dragon
The Savage Sword of Conan, Vol. 2
The Citadels Book 3: The Shield of Weeping Ghosts
Sandstorm: Mastering the Perils of Fire and Sand
Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, 4th Edition
Cocktail Time
Manual of the Planes, 4th Edition - finished Dec 31st!

A lot of fantasy, D&D books, graphic novels and a little science and history.
I read Dungeon, Dragon, Budget Travel and AAA Living magazines every month, the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel every Sunday and probably close to a literal ton of comic book and manga.
I also read PG Wodehouse's "Cocktail Time" a novel of his I had not read yet. It's getting harder to track down his last 15 books or so that I don't have of the 96+ he wrote.

In late 2007 and early 2008 when I was driving to Munster Indiana every week for work I got even more hooked on audio books than I was previously. In late 2007 I finished listening to all 11 of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series so I needed something new. My library system has an online service where you can check out books and burn them to CD to listen to in the car.
Here is the list from 2008:
The Sword of Truth Book 01: Wizard's First Rule
The Sword of Truth Book 02: Stone of Tears
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
The Sword of Truth Book 03: Blood of the Fold
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
The Sword of Truth Book 04: Temple of the Winds
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
David Attenborough - The Early Years: Zoo Quest For A Dragon
Eva March Tappan - When Knights Were Bold
The Sword of Truth Book 05: Soul of the Fire
Penny Arcade / PvP D&D 4E preview
Magic Kingdom of Landover Book 01: Magic Kingdom For Sale - Sold!
The Sword of Truth Book 06: Faith of the Fallen
Penny Arcade / PvP D&D 4E preview (repeat listen)
Al Franken - The Truth (with jokes)
The Sword of Truth Book 07: The Pillars of Creation
Magic Kingdom of Landover Book 2: The Black Unicorn
The Sword of Truth Book 08: Naked Empire
Magic Kingdom of Landover Book 3: Wizard at Large
Magic Kingdom of Landover Book 4: The Tangle Box
Magic Kingdom of Landover Book 5: Witches' Brew
The Sword of Truth Book 09: Chainfire - finished Dec 31st!

So that's all of Harry Potter, the whole Magic Kingdom of Landover series, and 9 of the 11 books in the Sword of Truth series, plus a little science, history and politics.
I also listened to "This American Life" from Chicago Public Radio almost every week. You can download the current episode for free from iTunes.

So what's in store for 2009?
On the audio front I have the last two Sword of Truth novels, then I might start getting the Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Mysteries by Sue Grafton (A is for Alibi, B is for Burglar, etc.) or maybe the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters. I'm getting a little over loaded on fantasy mega-series.
On the book front I have a whole shelf in the computer room of unread books, several boxes of unread in the basement and a pile of 10 or so by the bed in various levels of doneness. A couple of Clive Cusslers, JK Rowling's new book Beedle the Bard, etc. etc. etc.
I also need to read and review the 3 books I got as an Early Reviewer from LibraryThing - I guess I am a Late Reviewer by this point :)

They Blinded Me With Science!

Introducing our current batch of foster kittens!

These four boys and one girl were found by nice lady in Northern Illinois who called Kindred Kitties and we got them.
This is our second batch of black & white kittens in a row.
As I have mentioned several times in the past, it's sometimes hard to name kittens, but not this time.
As soon as the kittens got here and we let them out, they were tearing around the rooms exploring. One of them found the plastic ring with the ball inside of it and was spinning around and around so fast I was worried he would create a black hole. He was instantly dubbed "Fermi". I looked to my right and saw another boy playing with a small stuffed monkey and he became "Darwin". The other three quickly acquired the names of other famous scientists - hence the last video post :)


This is Marie who we named after the Polish chemist and physicist Marie Curie. Marie is almost totally black, with only white hairs in her ears. Two sisters, aged 15 and 16, from Kenosha pooled their Christmas money and adopted Marie on December 27th from Petco. Marie's last name is now Schultz.


This is Einstein who we named after the German-born theoretical physicist Albert Einstein.
He is the most fearless member of the family, first up on the sink, first jumping onto the dresser, first out the door into the loft to visit with Wooster and Sunshine and Gitana. He has a lightning bolt shaped white mark down the center of his back.


This is Pasteur, named after the French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur. Louis Pasteur is best known to the general public for inventing a method to stop milk and wine from causing sickness - this process came to be called pasteurization. This was a very important discovery for kittens too!

Einstein and Pasteur were both adopted by our friends Pete and Julie on December 28th.

From left: Julie, Osty (aka Pasteur), Pete, Lynx (aka Einstein)

The other two kittens have not gotten permanent homes yet but are showing no signs of being in a hurry to leave.


Fermi, named after Enrico Fermi, the Italian physicist most noted for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor is a very laid-back kitten with a huge purr. He follows me around whenever I am in the room.


Darwin aka Monkey Cat is named after Charles Darwin the English naturalist who first realised and demonstrated the process of natural selection, which has lead to the modern evolutionary theory. Darwin is a climber who spends his time either sitting on top of the dressers or on the kitty condo staring out the window watching the birds.

Both Darwin and Fermi will be at the Kenosha Petco this Saturday and Sunday and will be available for adoption for a tax-deductible contribution of $80 for one or $120 for both!

Update 1/3/2009
Darwin got adopted today!

She Blinded Me With Science!

And now a blast from the past!

From the depths of the 80s....

Thomas Dolby's 1982 Top 5 Hit

You can listen to another great version of this song by New England Folk Singer Bill Parsons here.

Why am I posting this? Check back soon!

Brrr

Current conditions per the Weather Channel