I’m always a bit surprised when I get on here and see exactly how long it’s been since my last post. It never feels that long. And yet, I see it has been since Halloween. I would have at least thought I’d have written something back when Do Not Pet the King launched, but no. Oh well.
As you might expect, things have been busy here lately. Well, that’s not really true. Things are busy here always. The speed of life seems to pick up the older my kids get. I assume it will slow down once they move out. Certainly once we retire. I don’t think I’ve ever heard retirees being like, oh, I’m so busy.
If you are retired, let me know how the pacing of life feels. Asking for a friend.
I have turned my attention back to Bookland and have begun writing book three. It’s interesting because there are some scenes that have been in my mind since the very beginning and some that are still popping in there as I write it. My hope is to have it completed well before the end of the year, but you all have heard that before.
I take comfort in the knowledge that a longer release time between books, if nothing else, should reassure everyone that my books are one percent written by me, a human, and not AI. If AI was writing for me, I’d be pumping them out way faster. But I assure you, AI will never write my books for me. What’s next, having AI go on vacations for me? Eat my cake for me? Take naps for me?
No. It will not. I am proud to say that I will continue to take naps with my own ability. And I do not like to brag, but I take the best naps. Cozy, warm, lengthy, pleasant…as a matter of fact, I’d like one right now. But I will refrain. Maybe. Unless one of the cats shows up and suggests that we might enjoy a nap together. I always want the cats to have everything they want, so I wouldn’t refuse them.
One of my greatest nap secrets lies in video games. I don’t mean falling asleep while playing video games, although I will confess that I have done that before. But I have found that one of the best sort of naps is when I turn on Horizons Zero Dawn ambience on YouTube and then doze off on the couch. It’s very soothing.
It does not have to be Horizons Zero Dawn, though. Horizons Forbidden West works just as well. I have tested it. For science.
Our youngest cat, Sushi, is also very keen on science. She has been doing experiments with her water dish. It’s a big jug that autofills itself as they drink, and Sushi has found that she can stick one paw underneath it and pull it around the house, carefully studying the glugging sound it makes as she triggers more water to fall.
It also adds interest for the rest of us. You never know where the water dish will be, so you have to stay on your toes around here, or else you will trip over the water dish, spilling cat water all over the floor.
I am sorry to say that I have lost Cat Water Dish more times than I’d like to admit. I have suggested to Sushi that perhaps she could move it back where it was originally after she’s done with her science, but she does not listen to me.
I wish I could speak the cat’s language, just for a minute or two, so I could explain everything—put the water dish back when you’re done, claw trimming will not, in fact, kill you, please don’t barf on the rug, etc.
Now, I can’t speak cat language, but I believe our older cat, Mochi, can speak human. I know because she meows at me very clearly when wanting food, or to go outside and hunt lizards on the patio, or to turn on my heated blanket for her, or to take her home and do not take her to the evil vet ever, ever again. It’s not exactly English, but I always know what she means. She’s very vocal.
If you have not read Do Not Pet the King yet, do be sure to give it a try. It is great for cat lovers, dog lovers, HOA haters, and more! And you never know…perhaps you will discover another secret of a really good nap. Imagine slowly drifting off while reading Do Not Pet the King with your very own cat napping on your belly!*
*This recommendation in no way indicates that Do Not Pet the King is boring. It is not!