Hello! I have nothing to report that is Indian film related, I’ve been taking a sabbatical from all that. But I can give y’all a life update! Niki just commented and I was so happy to hear from her, it made me hope I could hear from more of you. And think that I should let you hear from me!

Let’s see, what have I been doing since my little mental breakdown post-election? Well, I got a new job! A lot less money, a lot less stress, and an easy commute to an office every day. I get to say “Good morning!” and “Have a nice weekend!” to a whole variety of pleasant people and feel part of a community, without being overwhelmed and angry and sad all the time about work.

In June, our local alley cat decided to have kittens in our backyard, and about a month after that we managed to get the kittens to a vet and learned they needed eye drops and antibiotics and flea shampoo and all kinds of things that meant they couldn’t go back to Mom in the backyard. So instead, they moved into my sunroom! We started with 5 barely mobile bottle feeding kittens, and as of today I have 3 super healthy and active halfgrown cats. 1 of them is going to his furever home tomorrow morning, so I’ll be down to 2. And hopefully 1 of those will find a home and then I can have just one nice peaceful easy cat. The real problem is that they loooooooooooooove Albie Dog and vice versa, so his emotions have been a rollercoaster all summer.

(this is what’s happening on the other end of the couch as I type this)

I’m losing kittens, but I gained a person! A friend I’ve known for over 15 years moved into my second bedroom. Her longterm boyfriend is doing a year long grad school program, so I told her to put all her stuff in storage and move in with me for a year. So far, it’s been really nice. I make her dinner and lunch and fuss over her, and she helps me with the kittens and vacuums.

(speaking of dinner, this is a kitten in poor Albie’s dinner bowl. I have to lock them up so he can eat, otherwise they start eating his food and he goes “oh, okay little babies, all yours” and starves himself)

My nephews are getting bigger every year, the way children do, they are now 6 and 3. I’ve gotten into a routine of doing flying weekend visits, arriving Friday and leaving Sunday, or arriving Saturday and leaving Monday. It’s not too disruptive to their little routines, or to my little routines, and it means Auntie is 24 hours of pure joy and excitement with no downtime.

(Like the kittens feel about Albie! They will not leave him alone, want to have fun fun fun all the time)

Well, pure joy and excitement mostly. Last visit, I was stunned by how difficult it is to get them to stop doing ANYTHING in order to move on to the next thing. Getting in the car is a battle, and then getting out of the car is a battle, and then leaving the event is a battle, and then getting out of the car again, and then stopping playing in the yard, and then having dinner, and then stopping having dinner, and on and on and on. It was tempting to say “just leave it be!” but I suppose people do have to progress through time? You can’t just leave a 6 year old stubbornly refusing to stop playing with his trucks in the yard until he’s 30, he does have to eat and bath and sleep and all that stuff.

(Only way that the kittens are willing to sleep)

And then there’s The World. I’m doing a lot of local stuff, I highly recommend getting involved in your local food pantry, homeless support group, refugee center, etc. There are people who need food and warmth and basic stuff and doing something to help them get food or warmth or safety is a lot more rewarding than just talking about it online. That’s what I’ve been doing a lot of instead of blogging (and also taking care of kittens, moving in a roommate, etc.).

(Albie helps. This is him looking after kittens so I can leave to do food pantry deliveries)

Visual media wise, I’ve been getting together with my Indian film friend every few weeks, and we’ve been watching our first love, golden age Hollywood! Random Harvest, Now Voyager, Magnificent Obsession, Desk Set, so much great stuff. Oh, and my new roommate has introduced me to “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” which was too scary for me when it first came out in the 90s, but now is delightfully hokey and cozy.

(Albie and kitten falling asleep while I watch a movie)

General media wise, I’m all about books on tape. My new job involves a lot of time sorting incoming messages and things like that. A podcast would be too detailed and I’d worry about missing things, but a nice long chunky book like Lord of the Rings is perfect. Currently I’m going between Star Trek novels (fun but dumb, and I already know all the characters so I don’t have to think) and Terry Pratchett (brilliant and fun, and I’ve read them so many times I don’t have to think).

(Considered giving the kittens Star Trek names, and then thought about sticking with a pattern and naming them “Albie Cat”, but currently the remaining three are Big Tony (because he’s BIG), Little Felix (because he’s little), and Stormborn (not sure why, that’s the name his furever family picked for him)

How about you? How are your kids/pets? What have you been watching or reading? How has your life been going?