possibly pointless blabbering

Typing With Wet Paws: No Closed Doors Edition

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Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. We have a very important topic this week, and that is that Mama Anna cannot close doors when I am on the wrong side of them.

In case you are wondering, the wrong side means that I would not be on the same side of the door as Mama Anna. I am her girl. She is my mama. That means I need to be with her. Preferably on her, but near is still good. That did not happen this week, on Wednesday.

I will say up front that I am semi-okay with Mama Anna having to take her calls with Aunt Melva on the landing if the other hoomans are home and there is really no other place to have a private conversation. I don’t like it like it, but I can deal, and they usually keep it to about an hour. That was not the case this Wednesday.

Wednesdays are the days Mama Anna talks with Aunt Mary. I should say Mama Anna and I talk to Aunt Mary. They do that on Mama Anna’s tablet, usually, and Mama Anna turns the tablet so Aunt Mary can see me. When the camera is on me, Aunt Mary talks directly to me, and Mama Anna translates for me into hooman talk to Aunt Mary. It is a system that works. It does not work, however, when Mama Anna is on the other side of the door and I cannot be there. I can hear Aunt Mary but I am not near Mama Anna or the camera, and I made my opinions on that known.

By that, I mean crying. I mean scratching at the door. I mean swiping a long white cat arm under the door crack and shoving my face in the door when Mama Anna opened it a tiny smidge so that I could see she was okay. By my estimation, about thirty percent of that call was Mama Anna trying to calm me. All the other hoomans were home and so the landing was the only place Mama Anna could go in order to have a semiprivate conversation. Next time, she will remember that semi part, because it includes me.

Current plan is that the next time this happens, (this is Aunt Linda’s idea) Mama Anna should close the air lock (stairway door) and let me come on the landing with her. Mama Anna is concerned about me learning what stairs are (I have never been on stairs before) but Aunt Linda says that I will probably be too concerned with staying with Mama Anna to care about stairs. Especially if Mama Anna brings my fleecy cave out there with us. There may also be a baby gate involved, even though I can 100% jump higher than baby gates are. Maybe she should bring treats or toys. What do you think?

Typing With Wet Paws: Welcome, 2024 Edition

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Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is the very first Typing With Wet Paws of 2024. So far, so good. Well, there was the time Mama Anna faceplanted on the hardwood and did the same thing to her left foot that she did when she tripped over my food dish frame. She’s okay, but she says this does not count for starting as one means to go on, whatever that means. Anyway, here we are.

We haven’t had any snow yet. There may be some on Sunday. Mama Anna has not had the apartment to herself (ahem, ourselves) since before Christmas. Today is the first day it’s just us during the day, and I have to say its kind of nice. Mama Anna is working on her own blog for next week. She is also getting her planners in order and everybody is in organization mode. As you might imagine, this is both frustrating (nobody said the hoomans could change things) and exciting (so many smells! So much exploration!) As long as I can still park myself in Mama Anna’s sock drawer while she is working, I am good with whatever they do.

The holidays were pretty good around here. I got more gushy food than usual. No people food, but that’s okay. , The only people food I am allowed to have is people tuna. Mama D, my first hoomom, said I could also have people chicken, but so far, I haven’t wanted anything to do with that particular delicacy since I came to this family. Either Mama D was playing these guys, or people chicken is a me and Mama D thing. Either way, I’m not telling. But yeah, gushy food, and enough presents that Papa and Mama Anna decided it’s best to spread them out for a while. I am good with that. Especially because I got two, yes, two scratchy things. In case you are new, scratchy things are cardboard things that go on the floor and I can scratch. I also like sitting on them. Do not hang them from the doorknob, even though that is an option, because I am not inot all that. Floor or nothing, baby.

Mama Anna is still thinking about her reading goal for this year. I don’t have much news to report on that front though she mostly wants to focus on vintage historical romance, and modern historicals with similar vibes. The big plus for me, though is that Mama Anna has rediscovered how comfy it is to read when cozied up on a big pile of pillows, which means that is prime time for me to climb on top of her and make with the purrs. I call that a win-win situation.

Also, there is the backpack. I will have to ask a hooman to take a picture of it. Mama Anna thinks it is for her to carry stuff around while she needs to use the walker (not the Walking Dead kind, thankfully) but there is a problem. The problem is that it is mine. I love it. It is one of my many beds. She does not understand this. How much plainer can it be? It is me sized and me shaped, an if somebody were to leave the big part’s zipper unzipped while it is on the bed instead of hanging it up promptly upon returning home, I could probably get inside the big part. You know what happens if I do, right? I call it death in the shadows. POUNCE! On what, you might ask? On everything, obviously. I am a predator, after all. A cuddly, cuddly predator.

How’s your 2024 so far?

Typing With Wet Paws: Welcome, December Edition

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Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. Mama Anna says it is also proof of life. That means that we are here and we are okay. Kind of like purring. I am very good at purring.

Apart from the fact that I did not get any people food (unless we count the times I stuck my ace into servings of baked potato soup or macaroni and cheese; Mama Anna tells me to get my face right out of those. They are not for kitties.) Thanksgiving was pretty good. Papa made a pork tenderloin, and Mama Anna stayed up to hit some super doorbusters on Black, White and Orange Friday. Surprising nobody, those super doorbusters were mostly about stationery.

This was not one of them, but I am including it because A) it is now time to turn over the autumn planner/journal decorations to Christmas and winter, and B) you are looking at her new blogging notebook. Notebooks, actually, because there is one for her blogs and one for my blogs, and then there is another for her media consumption journal. I should remind her to make a spread for her Spotify Wrapped this year. She did not listen to a lot of music overall which was one of her “hmm, smells like depression” flags. I am happy to say that she is over that no music thing now and discovering lots of new stuff. Apparently, her top genre of the year was something called “Neo Mellow.” Neither one of us knew that was a thing, but apparently so.

If you think another one of the super doorbusters she attacked was Sims 4 related, you are right. She is super into Sims. Reading and TV are still getting there, but music and gaming are good, and yes, there is some writing. Mama Anna is giving serious consideration to how she might get My Outcast Heart and Orphans in the Storm back out there in 2024, as well as what she and Aunt Melva have planned for the second two books of the Love by the Book series. If you loved Meg and Dominic from Chasing Prince Charming, and wondering what their friends and family are up to, 2024 should be your year.

She has also dusted off A Heart Most Errant (if you like both medieval romance and postapocalyptic romance, this one is for you.) and is looking at expanding it so that it can be longer than novella length and ready to go back out on submission rounds when it is bigger and better. Maybe then she will be able to figure out what that guy named Guy should be doing if he gets to be the hero in a second book.

Also important is that I have discovered how to use a heating pad. I don’t only know how to sit on it when it is already on. I figured out that there is a way I can smack the controls with my paw to make it go from off to warm. I say it’s perfect time for that now that we are in this particular season. We have had dustings of snow. Nothing has stuck so far, but that is not far off. Mama Anna has set up her reading nook with soft pillows, fuzzy blankets, space for a hot drink and easy access to journal stuff. As long as I have access to her lap, she will be warm whether the heating pad is on or not.

How is December treating you so far?

2023; The Worst Reading Year of My Adult Life

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2023 has been the worst reading year of my adult life. That surprises me. Not that I am experiencing it but that I am experiencing it now, that we are three years securely ensconced in a comfy apartment, with no lack of books to read, both paper and electronic. I have multiple devices on which to read e-books, and to have audio books read to me. I am in walking distance of at least two libraries, and a short bus ride away from more. Even with all of that…no.

Photo by John Ray Ebora on Pexels.com

The first thing that I can think of is that my books, the ones I owned before our vagabond time began, are still safely in storage. It is most assuredly time to dig them out and set them up in the bookcases I have had since I was a literal baby. That will require some finagling and probably an entire day of playing storage Tetris. Books have always been the first things I packed before a move, and usually the first thing I would unpack, or one of the first. things probably will be different when I am able to touch my books again, but I do have newer to me books, acquired since we moved in here, that are still mine and I can still touch and still…no.

The first thing that came back on this healing journey, was stationery/journaling, and oh boy did it ever. I n a much bigger way than I had ever expected, so I would not be surprised if this ntime next year (or some other year) I might crank reading up to eleven and turn into some sort of book locust. I like that image. The lack of interest in reading waved a big ol’ red depression flag, which pointed me toward the awesome therapist I see now. Our big goal is to get me back writing, and one of the steps along that path is getting back to reading.

Not going to pretend there aren’t reverses and stumbling blocks. My current plan is to stick with books I either know I love (rereads) and the occasional whatever catches my fancy at the time. Getting back to some sort of reading tracker -a basic one at first, as much as I love the gorgeous, intricate kind I have seen from favorite influencers- is also on the table.

So, what are my reading goals for 2024? I like the “drop and give me 52” idea My reading tracker (handwritten) says I have read twenty-nine books so far, and Goodreads says thirty-two. Definitely a discrepancy there, so let’s go with the higher number. I want to complete 2023’s fifty-two and then start another for 2024. It’s okay if 2023’s goal finishes in 2024. In fact, I expect that it will. The reading bar is low for this year, sure. That happens sometimes. For the rest of the year, my focus when it comes to reading is finding stuff I want to read, then reading that.

How’s the reading year looking for you?

as always, Anna

Typing With Wet Paws: Now It’s November Edition

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Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. It is November now, which means superpowers are in full swing. I made sure to wake my parents early this morning to announce that the weather was especially November-y. Mama Anna appreciated it. Papa did not. Whatever, it was playtime.

photo by Mama Anna

This week, I am happy to report that Mama Anna is working on the writing that she means to be working on, and that includes a rough draft of her own blog, about how 2023 has been the worst reading year of her entire life. Don’t worry, it’s not a sad blog. I have sat on the notebook she wrote the first draft in, and it’s really comfy, so it should be a good blog.

Mama Anna is indeed working on the reading thing. Right now, she is listening to an audiobook while she is helping me write this post. She has a paper book going as well, and I think she got an eBook from the library, but hasn’t started reading it yet. Give her time. It is November, after all, and the perfect time of year to cuddle on her mountain of spooky pillows, under a fuzzy blanket, with an even fuzzier purr-sonal assistant at the ready.

This week, we are watching Fear The Walking Dead, and Frasier, and Mama Anna is planning out a good way to binge both seasons of Yellowjackets. Purr-sonally, I prefer things like “Koi in their Winter Pond,” or birdfeeder footage, but this stuff is good, too. Cats hunting, people hunting, does it really matter? As long as I get my belly rubs, the answer is no.

Now that it is nice and cool outside, and the heater is on, I am much more cuddly than I am in the summer. Since Aunt Linda generally goes to bed first, I like to very smoothly slip into her bed when she gets all settled and demand belly rubs. Sometimes she can still watch her tiny glowy box, and during some of those times, I can watch her screen, too. I have no idea what the hoomans in her glowy box are saying because she uses headphones. \]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

(I typed that last part myself, with my own paws.)

”””””””””””””””’

(also that line)

In short, I walk on the keyboard a lot. If we had a parrot in this house (We don’t. It’s a bird. I am a cat. Which is a predator to birds. Bad combination, most likely.) they would have learned “get off the keyboard” super duper fast. Mama Anna says it a lot. I still think she needs a bigger desk so I can have my own seat. For now, I hunker down in her open sock drawer until it is time to walk across the keyboard to demand cuddles and hugs and pets and playtime. The parrot would also have earned “cats don’t drink tea.” I don’t know that I believe that one. From the way Mama Anna drinks it, it must taste super good. It smells good, and it’s warm. What’s not to love?

That’s about it for this week. Mama Anna wants to play Sims, and that is one of my favorite glowy box shows. I think she should make our family in the game, complete with a Sim version of me. She has done that before, but doesn’t have a version right now. About time to fix that, right? I better get on that.

Thre Quarters of the Way Through September

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No idea what I want to write here, so I am going to babble today. We are now three quarters of the way through September, and I can very much feel my superpowers coming back. This should apply to blogging, so we will see. Though Storm has joined the chat, doing her thing where she walks across my keyboard to let me know Enough Glowy Box Time, and is about a minute away from putting her head atop ttttttttttttttttttttt –yeah, that part was her. As I was saying, her next step is to put her head on my right hand so I can’t use my mouse.

Photo by Alina Vilchenko on Pexels.com

We are also doing stock photo for this post because the whole point of the post is to post, and we always like the visuals. Also I have to figure out what’s up with Amazon photos and my phone but that’s easily sorted.

So. Anyway. I am alive. Melva and I are sending Drama King out on submission. Yesterday brought a no thank you, which eh, okay, it happens. We are seriously considering going the indie route with these completed Love By The Book books, which means looking into formatting and cover art and all that good stuff. We will know one way or the other by the start of the new year.

Looking forward to October, we have some important anniversaries coming. Including my birthday, there are three. October means the anniversary of when we moved into our current apartment. It’s cozy, but it works for us, and right now, I am taking a lot of pleasure in finally settling in and putting down roots. I have bene more excited than a sane person should be about over the door coat hooks. I have some of our fans slated for their winter slumber in storage. A nearby laundromat does bulk laundry which means we can get all of the sheets, blankets, towels etc, done at once and be ready for the cooler weather. If we want to get fancy, they pick up and deliver. Cardboard boxes, no; real storage type furniture, yes. Ideally, this would involve rescuing some of my existing furniture from Stuff Jail (aka storage) but then again, that depends on how much furniture Tetris we feel like playing.

Reading has been, in a word, poopy, but i am working on that. Rereads count, as do audiobooks, and if there was a way to make Goodreads count the creepypastas I have been listening to by the truckload, I would be way ahead of my goal. Will I make my goal for this year> Maybe. Maybe not. We’ll see. Either way is okay.

TV is doing slightly better. I loved the first season of The Walking Dead: Dead City, and, only two episodes into Daryl Dixon, it is also the love. I did not expect nuns, but I am getting strong medieval vibes, which I count as good. Frasier‘s reboot is not far away. I look forward to that like a big bowl of macaroni and cheese on a chilly autumn night. This does of course remind me of t he writers and actors strike, which I do hope can reach resolution.

That’s about it for right now. Writing talk will come later, as will pictures taken y my own self. For right now, this is fine. I made a post. Here it is. What’s up with you?

As always, Anna

Typing With WetPaws: Welcome Back, Super Powers Edition

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Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. It has been a while, but that awful summertime is over, and Super Powers are returning. Happy New Year to all our Jewish and Messianic friends. The picture above these words was taken by Aunt Linda, as I was taking a much-needed nap in her window. Some of the fans are off now, and Mama Anna is even wearing a sweatshirt as she helps me write this. There are noises from the humans about a Big Wash, which means ALL of the bedding, including blankets. I know what this means. This means it is time to be cozy and cuddly and snuggly. I am all about all of that.

Another thing that lends itself to cozy and comfy is that Mama Anna is listening to something I find very interesting these days: creepypasta. I do not mean things like spaghetti with spiders in it, but a certain kind of story she listens to on You Tube. It’s usually first person, kind of scary, but she doesn’t find it scary; she finds it interesting, and even listens to it to help her sleep. Yes, she will be bringing this up with the special talking people vet. her favorite kinds of stories so far are those about things that happen in the deep woods, and also where the narrator works at a place with some strange rules to them. Maybe she will try to write one for one of her blogs.

Now that summer is basically over, and will be officially over next week, Mama Anna is feeling much more herself. That means much more like writing. She is still working on the reading thing, which she will also mention to the talking people vet but is pretty sure that will come in time. Probably also with a nice autumnal candle.

Photo by thevibrantmachine on Pexels.com

Some scents that she likes for this time of year are: cinnamon, clove, woodsmoke, tobacco, leather, wine, pumpkin, apple, coffee, fallen leaves, and that sort of thing. Aunt Linda wants to go to Yankee Candle, which Mama Anna is all for, even better if they can meet up with some friends who also like going to candle places. I mean the factory, but maybe Aunt Linda only means the small stores in the mall. That one is good, too. Mama Anna is also playing around with making her own candles with wax melts and wicks, but she is starting on that journey, so buying candles is still a good idea.

I, of course, am not allowed to investigate candles, no matter what fragrance they have. Something about fire. Blankets are much more fun, as they are fuzzy and soft, like me, and good for napping. I am extremely good at napping. When Mama Anna is at her keyboard, i am usually sleeping in her sock drawer right next to her desk. I let her know I want in my drawer by scratching the drawer below it. Mama Anna says that sets a precedent, but Papa says I’m cute, and this was a curb dresser, so it’s okay. It’s a good thing he’s cute.

Mama Anna’s schedule says it is now naptime, so I had better sign off now, as I am nap commissioner. I will let her update you all on writing and stuff in her own blogs. What are you currently reading?

Headbonks!

Typing With Wet Paws: Almost Out of August Edition

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Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. I will lead with the most exciting thing first. The hoomans are trying another new kind of litterbox for me. Never mind why. I guess robots have a learning curve. I will let you know how it goes.

photo by Mama Anna

There is also a new development with the me-patterned tropical shirt, and that is that we may have a front stoop bandit in our neighborhood. Last week, Neighbors got an email that a package had been delivered, but the thing was, there was no package. Last night, Aunt Linda also got an email that a package (the shirt) had been delivered but guess what – no shirt. Yeah. That is not okay. Aunt Linda is the one in charge of this sort of thing but she is feeling kind of meh today so she will look into that later.

Mama Anna thinks this is her mouse and mousepad, but it really is mine.

Mama Anna has more pink things for her desk. In case you are wondering, she is definitely getting ready for the superpowers to come back. I am pretty sure that I will still have to remind her when enough is enough and walk across the keyboard. Mama Anna calls that Kitten on the Keys. Usually, all that happens when I do that is that Mama Anna tells me, “Off the keyboard,” and maybe she helps me in the right direction. This time, she had more to say, because right after I walked on her keyboard, she got a message from Facebook that she was banned from a group for violating community standards. She tells me she doesn’t want to know what I said. She’s probably smart about that. They let her back in later, so how much harm could I have done, anyway? It’s cool.

Speaking of which, the weather is getting cooler here. Sometimes Papa has the fan on but it is too much for Mama Anna, so then she puts on a sweatshirt, but then that is too much so she takes it off. Blankets on. Blankets off. Papa usually wraps himself in a blanket burrito, and there is another fan that is only on him. mama Anna usually cuddles me, listens to soothing voices read scary stories, and falls asleep that way

Mama Anna is reading more, which is a good thing, and she has some things she wants to talk about with the special talking people vet next week. I am sure she will fill me in on everything that goes on there. I am cute and nosy, so probably yes.

What’s up for your weekend?

Typing With Wet Paws: Post-Papa’s Birthday Edition

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Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. this was an interesting week over here, and of course one week closer to fall, when Mama Anna’s superpowers come back. Tuesday was Papa’s birthday. He wanted cannoli for his cake (or ake substitute) and well remembers last time, when Aunt Linda contended she did not get her fair share of cannolis. Should I tell her that the bakery sells them all the time? She could get more. I don’t get any because I am a cat. I get crunchies and gushy food. Much better. Mama Anna had to show Papa a picture of what his birthday present will be, because it did not arrive in time. Aunt Linda had somehow not noted that it was shipping from overseas, but that is okay because it will be worth the wait.

I don’t know how to share the picture, so I will tell you what the present is. It is a tropical shirt with lots of flowers and pineapples and leaves, and best of all…ME. Naturally, it was hard for Mama Anna to pick from the pictures she took of me, because they are all good. With material like this, how could she get any duds, am I right? You know it.

could this work as my Halloween costume?

Anyway, Aunt Linda had a clear favorite picture, so they went with that one, and Papa LOVES the idea. He says he’s going to wear that shirt everywhere, all year long, and he even wants to more of them with different pictures. Some of them will be of Big Sister Skye, but that’s okay. I think it would be cool to hang out with her in a shirt pattern. Everybody wants something with both of our pictures on it together. Maybe even pajama pants. My only concern with clothing that has my picture on it is, how are my sheds going to show?

Since human eyes are not as awesome as cat eyes in seeing detail, I should tell you that the print on the belly band in the picture above is from Mama Anna’s new “Neapolitan” Archer and Olive n notebook, but we properly refer to it by its right name, Calico. It has black pages, white pages, and kraft pages, which is close enough to orange. She says it is in honor of me. I appreciate the recognition. Mama Anna thinks she will probably use that as her first bullet journal of 2024.

Speaking of her planning, she found out that she does indeed already have the A5 calendar filler for next year’s catchall planner, so that fits right in with no-spend, which is pretty cool. This has been more of a well filling week than a writing week, but she is okay with that. Also, she smells like people vet again. She said it was something called a “physical” and the people vet wants to check on a couple of things to make sure everything is working as it should. I, of course, will be on hand to provide cuddles afterward. She might even be able to talk to a special talking kind of people vet to see if I can get a letter saying I am an essential worker in the industry of keeping Mama Anna operating at best capacity.

Right now, she is listening to one of her all-time favorite books, On the Jellicoe Road, on Audible. As usual, part of her is thinking about how elements of this would work in historical romance (there is romance, but it’s not the focus, and there are two timelines, one in the past, but only a generation ago from the present story.) It also gives her the taste for a historical romance set in Australia, because it’s a setting she likes a lot, but doesn’t see very often these days. Do you know of any? Leave titles, authors, and/or links in the comments.

Typing With Wet Paws: Awesomely August Edition

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Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. The weather has been much better over here, because summer is almost over. Mama Anna is of course very happy about this. She hasn’t been able to do a lot of August journal setup because of reasons, but she is looking forward to that in the coming week. She has to see the people vet again on Wednesday. I will expect cuddles after. For both of us.

Mama Anna and Aunt Linda went to the library and got a bunch of books. Pre-autumn is awesome for curling up under a blankey with a book and the hooman rubbing my belly. Right now, it is a rainy day. Papa is listening to the radio on his glowy box. He likes news and that sort of thing, while Mama Anna is more geared towards getting her fiction on, in both the reading and writing arenas.

The picture that was supposed to go here still hasn’t shown up on the glowy box, but it is in Mama Anna’s phone. She will figure it out later, because she got some super cute shots of me. Okay, all of my pictures are super cute, because, well, me.

Anyway, it’s definitely pre-fall around here, and not only because of the weather. Not going to lie, but that is nice. Papa has been a blanket burrito at night, and Mama Anna can get under her weighted blanket again, which is really nice. I can get on top of the weighted blanket when it is on top of her, which makes it even weightier, aka better. When it was still hot all the time, Mama Anna often lay down with an ice bottle (the opposite of a hot water bottle) and I found a new way to cuddle even with the heat. I hopped on top of the ice bottle, so it was cooling us both. Win.

Another thing that is awesome about the weather getting cooler is tea. Mama Anna loves tea. She says kitties don’t drink tea. I am not so sure about that, but she is the mama, and she has the thumbs, so I guess she knows a few things. Not everything, though. She is not a cat.

How is your August looking?