This is a photo of Ramza and Aymeric on my MG-1 flying through space. Check the alt text to read about why I need distractions. It’s pretty depressing, so feel free to skip it.
OK, now, let’s talk about pointless stuff, shall we?
One thing I keep meaning to mention because I find it both fascinating and baffling is proliferation of “guess which number is bigger than the other” games on mobile devices. Games where, for example, something with a name like “Hero Quest” or something. You have four soldiers and you have to choose a path where you fight either three soldiers or six soldiers. The larger number always wins. That seems like a really dumb concept for a game and maybe there’s more to it (or maybe the game is nothing like the ad, which is a common occurrence).
But, there’s a part of me that lights up and tells me “Ridley, you would be really good at this!” I’m annoyed by this part of me because that’s obviously what the advertisement is designed to trigger. Would it really be that easy? So far, I’ve resisted the urge to download one of ’em, but their existence and the number of them available are such an interesting phenomenon. Why? Why are there so many of them? Are they that popular? I’ll never know because I don’t care that much, and having shared this, I’m hoping I’ll stop thinking about them altogether.
Speaking of cats (I know, I know, we weren’t “speaking” of them, but I put a big picture of them at the top of this post, so please just give me this one), I hasn’t updated y’all on the Cat Situation lately. Do we have a situation? Oh, you know we do!
That’s Red Velvet, the senior member of the crew. She turns 14 this year and it’s a hard 14. One of her kidneys has stopped kidney-ing, so we’re giving her fluids every evening. She doesn’t much mind on account of the fact we give her a Churru at the same time. She’s lost a good deal of weight from her peak, but she’s pretty stable and spry right now. She went in for a checkup last week and the vet was impressed with her condition. She remains as standoffish as always, and she does not like being photographed, so this is what you get.
And here are the boys. Top to bottom, we have Aymeric (age 2), Ramza (age 3), and Calvin (age 1). If it looks like they’re all sleeping on my legs, well, you have good eyes because that’s exactly the case. They are all snuggly AF (please read “AF” as “As foretold” instead of any other possible option. AF = “As foretold”) and they all love crunchy food, which is too bad, because they mostly get wet food. We use the crunchy stuff to lure them away when it’s time to give Red Velvet her fluids. Beware of Ramza: He likes to jump on your back or shoulder when you’re not looking. He is heavy. He is also sharp.
We have fewer outdoor cats come by these days. Milly still wanders over from across the street. We had a weird political situation where we had three void bois who did not get along at all. As a result, Ardyn and Panthro left the field and Fuzzy became the undisputed king of the porch. He’s kind of an ass, but he tries to be nice. We have seen Panthro wander by again lately so hopefully things are cooling down a little.
I took this photo a long time ago. It still gives me the jibblies.
Saw my mum a couple of weeks ago. She’s just up the road in Texas, but the drive is the equivalent of Boston to Philadelphia. It was a one-day there-and-back, so that’s closer to NYC to Detroit or a bit longer than London, UK to Inverness at the north end of Scotland. It’s a hike. Texas is ridiculous. I mean, it’s ridiculous in a lot of ways, but it’s ridiculously big considering neither terminus of this trip brought me anywhere near a border.
Anyway, mom is…she’s very much herself, but the years are definitely present in her. Some of her infirmities are self-inflicted, which makes me wonder which activities of mine will come back to haunt me. I’m sure it’s a matter of “when” and not “if.”
Nicole got a PS5 today which is an absolutely cracking piece of kit. We’re reasonably sure that the new FFXIV expansion will requires the PS5, so, well, you gotta have your priorities. The graphical capabilities of the 5 are well beyond what our TV is capable of displaying, which means that the game still looks better than anything I’ve seen on that screen. It’s hardly a “need” but it really is a game changer for her and, c’mon, you know we’re gonna be putting in way too many hours on that game. More on that later.
That’s it for now I guess. I feel suitably distracted. Some posts don’t get linked on social media and this is definitely going to be One Of Those Posts. Sometimes, it’s just writing for the sake of writing as opposed to having much to share. I will close by noting that my creative sense remains strong. I’ve written three songs the last two weeks. It may be that none of them will ever be completed/produced/posted, but they’re all good exercises if nothing else.
Night all, and take care,
-RK