I was quite dismayed early on Monday to learn that Winston, a Cleveland-area comic shop’s shop-cat, was missing.
I’ve been to this shop (Carol & John’s) a handful of times, and even if I’ve only caught a glimpse of the kitty, that’s made me smile, and justified the visit. (And I once drove out there specifically hoping to see Winston…something I’m contemplating doing this weekend again).
For me, there’s just something to there being a “shop cat” around…particularly given the way I’m such a “cat person.” I’d encountered a shop cat at a comic store in Pennsylvania about 6 years ago that I’ll always remember–he followed me around, stuck his paws down between issues while I flipped through a longbox, and even decided my head was a plaything while I knelt to flip through a box on the floor and he was stretching down as far as he could reach over the edge to swipe at me, trying to get me to play with him. I had also once “discovered” a book/comic/something shop when I moved for grad school back in 2004…the cat curled up in the window caught my attention, or I wouldn’t have even noticed the store.
There’s also the story of Dewey, chronicled in the book Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World that gets to me.
I ‘discovered’ Dewey barely a week after I lost my first cat, Christy…and reading the book had a huge impact on me, was truly cathartic and really helped me, in its own way, to deal with that loss.
And aside from that, it’s just fascinated me ever since, to consider there being a library or a shop or such with a resident cat that I might see every time I went there.
Even as I type this, a memory’s just surfaced that when I first “discovered” Carol & John’s, I researched the place online, their web page, before I went out, and it was the notion of Winston, their shop cat, that “sold” me on driving out immediately, and the inward thrill of actually seeing him briefly (it was late and he’d probably had enough for the day–I recall him going behind the counter away from the main part of the shop).
So when I saw the top edge of a “Missing Cat” poster in my Facebook newsfeed early Monday afternoon, I had that immediate thought I always have–feeling bad for whoever has lost a cat, but was shocked and then dismayed to realize it wasn’t “just” Carol & John’s page sharing a local missing kitty, but it was their own kitty–a kitty I’ve met, that I “know,” and it was a gut-punch I don’t usually get from such postings.
I’d shared a couple of the posts on social media myself, doing what I could to get the word out so anyone local-ish would know and could keep an eye out, all the while dreading what seems to be the “usual” horrible news.
So when a friend shared a post to my newsfeed last night, I was first curious about the post…but my heart truly leapt with a beat of joy when I saw what the post actually was:
And I’ve thrilled tonight looking at the Carol & John’s facebook page, reading all the comments, seeing several recently-posted photos, and generally seeing just how well-loved this cat is, by so many in the community.
I’d commented to a couple friends last night that I’m sure Winston’s gonna have extra visitors this week, and as mentioned above, I myself am really thinking I want to take a trip out there to see him (regardless of a Not-At-Comic-Con sale the store is holding this week).
And obviously the situation touched me in such a way that it’s what I chose to write about tonight, superseding any other posts I might’ve written.
Photo (above): Winston laying on some comics, back home again after going missing for a couple days. This particular photo was posted as the profile picture of the Carol & John’s Facebook page Tuesday evening 7/7/2015. Please visit their page, check them out (enjoy photos of Winston at least!), and all that.
Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts | Tagged: Carol and John's, cats, Cleveland, comic books, comic shops, comics, Ohio, pets, shop cats, Winston |	2 Comments »	
These days, almost exclusively, my reading is ongoing super-hero stuff…primarily Valiant, Ninja Turtles, and starting the summer, Marvel‘s Secret Wars (2015) stuff. Even the occasional collected volume is generally something whose content was originally serialized, such as trying one of Image‘s vol. 1s or some other $9.99 first volume. I only have so much budget and don’t often care to take a chance on unknowns when I’m perfectly happy with and have a huge backlog of other stuff I’m already reading/trying to keep up on.
So last summer when I saw ads for this book, I Was the Cat grabbed my attention. Full-page ad; full back-cover ad, actually, and I’m a cat-person. So the prominent cat on the cover and the title gave me cause to look and consider. The book turning out to be a hardback was a bit of a surprise and the price seemed a bit steep "on paper." Then I saw the book and its presentation was attractive, it was pleasantly thick, and looked to be well worth its price. But I was buying other stuff, and tacking an additional $25 onto the purchase was not something I was prepared for, so I passed on it.
But where often passing on "the immediacy" of something, letting it slide past that initial "gotta get it" moment, and time moving ever forward tends to show me I’m not nearly as interested in something as I might have thought, or that any perceived interest was merely hype and I "forget" about a book…this one stayed on my mind. The title, and the image, and sheer curiosity.
Thus when I came across the book again…I picked it up, deciding anything else I might find to buy could wait–I was not passing on this again. Though I had some slight worry about it living up to my months’ worth of expectation, I’m glad to say I needn’t have worried.
In simplest terms, I Was the Cat is about a talking cat–Burma–who is nearing the end of his ninth life. As such, he hires Allison Breaking–a blogger–to write his memoir, so that he doesn’t simply pass away unnoticed. In execution, we meet said blogger and her friend and gain insight into where she’s coming from and her reaction to learn that her employer isn’t some eccentric rich guy but actually a real-life talking cat. Amidst Burma’s telling tales of his past lives through history we begin to see that there may be something else going on. Burma isn’t just a cat that can talk…he’s been part of significant historical events, sharing time with many famous, influential individuals…and he’d had his sights set on ruling the world. Unlike most cats that people say must want to do so, Burma was able to do something to attain the goal…and it turns out that on more than one occasion the world had actually been in his grasp. But those times behind him, it remains simply to chronicle those times and pass his knowledge to the world at large after all this time. There’s a subtle dynamic sprinkled throughout with a bit of mystery, and I found myself piecing things together along with Allison, and quite enjoying the experience in general.
As said, I am a cat person, which is largely what drew me to this. And Burma is an interesting character; the whole premise of the book is interesting. We get some of the typical cat-stuff here; but more than just some novelty of "a talking cat" we get a fully-realized character in the cat; someone who has learned and grown from his experiences, had dreams, pursued long-term goals, has a life…and just "happens to be" a cat. That the character has been such a part of history comes from the notion of a cat having nine lives. This plays out as a sort of reincarnation–Burma has had a number of different appearances…it’s his soul that’s remained consistent. Despite the many human attributes, he remains a cat–in appearance, mannerisms, poses, and interactions. It’s an authenticity that I really appreciated and made this believable in its own way, without requiring extra suspension of disbelief.
Typically I expect comic book cats to be cartooney, but Dewey maintains a realistic visual style, and Burma and other cats never come off as being anything but ordinary cats. And as much as the story is engaging, the whole thing is sold by this realism and avoidance of visual tropes for cats in comics. Transitioning through multiple lives means multiple deaths…and while not gratuitous, the simple notion of seeing a cat that’s dead or injured cuts to my heart, and there were several panels that pained me, feeling for Burma in a way that human/superhero deaths in comics do not. While cat lovers may find the scant handful of such panels disturbing, they should not be enough to put one off from reading this…I myself kept peace with the narrative thread that it’s Burma in the present talking about his own past, and that though his bodies experienced deaths, we weren’t seeing his finality.
To be reserved in my phrasing: I was suitably impressed with this entire book. The story, the art, and the physical package as a whole. I Was the Cat is well worth its cover price, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys cats…or conversely, anyone who is highly suspicious that their cat or a cat they know might have more going on than merely existing in a life of luxury, their every need catered to by their humans. I wish I had bought and read this immediately when it came out, but having read it nearly a year later, instead of being one of my favorite reads of 2014, it gets that candidacy for 2015.
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The error "Command execution failed:cybermation.plugins.ftp.CybFTPException" is most likely due to permissions on the remote server. When uploading the file, the SFTP client (CA Agent) tries to rename or replace the file that already exists on the remote host. Based on the user permissions, this may not be allowed.
Note: If the job requires to replace an existing file, then please consult the remote host administrator to add proper privileges to the username that is used in the SFTP job.
You may also try to connect to the remote host with an SFTP client like FileZilla. It can provide a listing of the remote files and permissions on the files.
Sysload Agent for PowerVM: when the connection between HMC and pSeries fails, this causes holes in the graphs
Description :When the connection between HMC and pSeries fails, it takes a while for the connection to be operational again.
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Project Aims To Improve HIV/AIDS Prevention Materials For African-American Women | NC State University Department of Communication | NC State University	
African-American women make up a disproportionate number of HIV/AIDS cases in the United States. Researchers from NC State University–including faculty from the Department of Communication–are trying to change that, leading a National Science Foundation project aimed at developing HIV/AIDS prevention materials that resonate with African-American female college students.
“We want to know how we can improve the language and communication strategies used in HIV/AIDS prevention efforts targeting African-American female college students,” says Dr. Fay Cobb Payton, an associate professor of information systems at NC State and primary investigator (PI) of the project.
“Our goal is to help craft messages that will be resonant with these young women,” says Dr. James Kiwanuka-Tondo, an associate professor of communication at NC State and fellow co-PI of the effort.
I am a software developer in test automation. I want to measure how the Video Card fares when running a large scale test on a program with hardware acceleration
Anyone know why these inbuilt ACT functions are returning an error? As far as I know it's not causing any issues in the UI.
I figure it out, the trick is you can't run these directly from the database, only through the ACT! OLE DB Provider for Reporting.
I keep seeing mention of 802.11v. I saw it at Airheads in Feb, just saw an article about how it received final Sponsor Ballot approval, and keep seeing (old) articles explaining that it will "ease client management on wireless LANs", but there's very little technical specifics available.
I know this is partially due to the standard's in-development state, but I'm hoping that it's at a fairly mature point, and was interested to see if anyone here had technical details about it (as Aruba is a driving force in its development). What, exactly, will it enable us to do? Can I force a client from one AP to another? Can I retrieve data about the client's RF environment? Any insight anyone can contribute would be appreciated :)
Today is my due date and baby boy shows no sign of arriving anytime soon. I'm only 1cm dialated and 50% effaced. I've been scheduled to be induced. Im supposed to go to the hospital Monday night and be given a pill called Cytotec. Then on Tuesday morning be given an IV dose of Pitocin. What little bit of research I've done on these drugs has me worried. From what I gather, the contractions are WAYYY more intense than if I were to have natural labor pains. Also I'm reading that a lot of times when these medicines are used you will end up having a c-section anyway because the stress it puts on me and/or the baby.
Anybody had to be induced using these drugs? Did you have a successful vaginal birth or did it end in c-section?
I got induced this morning with cytotec because I haven't dilated at all. But if you dilate more maybe they will just do the pitocin.
edited to add: contractions started around an hour after taking the pill. Not sure what happens next because I'm getting my first cervical exam since I took it in about an hour.
I had an induction with pitocin last Thursday. I was 1 cm when I checked in. They didn't use cytotec because my OB felt that my cervix was favorable - this was my second delivery and second induction. First delivery I ended up with an epidural and vacuum assisted delivery. This time I was able to do it without pain medication. They turned the pitocin up gradually. When they broke my water is when things got really intense. I was able to get them to turn the pitocin down some after they broke my water and that helped. Otherwise the contractions were one on top of the other. I agree that contractions that are induced with medication are more intense, but it can be done.
At 41+2 I was 3cm and 50% effaced. I was given cytotec at 8:30am. Then the OB broke my water at noon. Baby was born vaginally at 1:48 pm...pretty fast, right?
I was clear from the get go that I wanted to avoid Pitocin if possible. The OB was very accommodating. No Epi either.
Yeah...it's the Cytotec that worries me the most. My cervix is unfavorable at the moment so I will most likely have to take it. Then whole thing just has me worried.
So, I work in a high street shoe shop (it's not as good as it sounds lol) and I was helping a gentleman pick out a pair of slippers in his size today. He wanted to try them on so he went "Here, take this" and handed me his BABY! So I'm stood there holding a random stranger's baby who was as cute as hell, wearing a little Pudsey suit and the panic began to wash over me as I have literally no experience with babies and all I could think was that in a few months, I'll have one of these little things and I have no idea what to do with it. I know I've got a good 6 months to go but feeling so unprepared!
Did enjoy baby cuddles though. It's been 4 years since the last time I held a baby as usually they cry at me. :P
I think mine had them last night. It was quite scary to be honest - like a massive heartbeat every second....and my OH (other half) could see my belly moving from the other side of the room! I've never seen movements from so high up (like 2 or 3 inches above my belly button). But I've got a posterior placenta so I can feel movements really easily - I would imagine it could also feel like popping and would say it's probably hiccups especially if it's regular.