A Meowing at My Door

A meowing at my door. It’s Sammy. No great surprise there. But it did seem like such a gentle, even kittenish meow, that I was expecting it to be either Ash or Coco.

I did get the cats inside last night and kept them in, on account of the cold weather. However, I decided to stay in my room and see how it goes, and it went wonderfully. Except for that wake-up meow, it was a perfectly quiet night, or maybe I just slept too soundly to be bothered.

The rationale I used to stay in my room is that the windows would have to remain closed because of the cold and the use of the heater. That’s not a great rationale, because the main point was the noise and feline yowling, but that was not an issue on this night.

The Natural World

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Acid Reflux

Last night, I jumped out of bed with a hot splash of acid reflux shooting up into my mouth.

Is the party over?

I think it must be a couple of years since I suffered an attack of acid reflux. Accordingly, I let myself go wild, drinking two cokes per meal, with maybe a fifth coke with my breakfast. Of course, I don’t know if cokes have anything to do with acid reflux. I have also let go on the sweets, sometimes (though not often) enjoying an afternoon snack. In short, I have been acting like I am in my twenties again. However, until this starts proving to be more of a problem again, at this time I am only inclined to take it easier on the sweet breakfasts and see what this gets me.

Pumpkin Pie

That is a big pumpkin pie. I see Pop still hasn’t gotten any whipped cream, though. It used to be practically obligatory with him. I wonder if it’s forgetfulness or stinginess, a chance to save a couple of bucks - so he can spend more on his ever growing country music collection, if not on others. The whipped cream is not a big deal, but it was always a nice touch. And the pie could use a little sweetener, a little more dazzle. It is a rather plain pie.

Chris Brown

Chris Brown comes out of rehab after a couple of weeks, following a pretty vicious assault on a man, a beat down. Celebrities go to rehab; we go to prison. What really makes it so bad is that it is only a couple of weeks. If he had to stay in rehab for, say, six months, that might be a tad better. It might look a little better. But two weeks!? That is sheer mockery. Well, at least he is black, which goes to show that this sort of wrist-slapping is no longer reserved for only white celebrities. We have at least obliterated that color line. But I hesitate to call it progress.

{Source: ONTD}

Alexander Hamilton

Hamilton has the dubious honor of suffering America’s first big sex scandal, getting caught up with the con-couple James and Maria Reynolds. She posed as a damsel in distress, a lady suffering ignominious financial embarrassment. Being fond of very pretty women, Hamilton was happy to be her saviour, and he did not mind receiving her appreciation.

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In recollecting events, Hamilton admitted that the more he learned about the sleazy James Reynolds, the more he thought of ending the affair. He was in the midst of preparing his great Report On Manufactures, yet he was also in the grip of a dark sexual compulsion, and Maria Reynolds knew how to hold him fast in her toils by feigning love. “All the appearances of violent attachments and of agonizing distress at the idea of a relinquishment were played off with a most imposing art,” he wrote. “This, though it did not make me entirely the dupe of the plot, yet kept me in a state of irresolution. My sensibility, perhaps my vanity, admitted the possibility of a real fondness and led me to adopt the plan of a gradual discontinuance rather than of a sudden interruption….” As often is the case with addictions, the fanciful notion of a “gradual discontinuance” only provided a comforting pretext for more sustained indulgence.

-- Ron Chernow, “Alexander Hamilton”

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The scandal bruised his Olympian reputation, and was no doubt a matter of great personal embarrassment. He loved his wife. It did not really hurt his career. The rise of Thomas Jefferson to the presidency and his fondness for dueling were more the cause of his undoing.

Hot Books

Here is another depressing indication of all the life that is being lived around you as you waste away moping in your loneliness.

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Two Belgian university professors decided to apply their knowledge of toxicology screenings to the 10 most borrowed books at the Antwerp library. Each book underwent bacteriology and toxicology tests, and the findings reveal that library books are even more germ-covered than you expected.

While the experts found that all 10 books contained traces of cocaine–enough so that people who touched the books wouldn’t feel the effects, but might test positive for the drug–they also found something pretty gross: Fifty Shades of Grey, your weird aunt’s favorite mainstream erotic series, tested positive for traces of the herpes virus.

The professors assured everyone that concentrations of the virus were so minimal that there is no public health risk and it would be impossible for people to contract it by touching the book. Still, something to keep in mind next time you consider taking trashy erotica out of the public library.

-- ONTD

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