The Martian Cat Problem

"It is healthier to see the good points of others than to analyze our own bad ones." - Francoise Sagan

My first week of work is over and I have to say it was an exciting one to say the least. I came in right before a trial and the entire week was spent at trial while I tried to catch up on the issues and share my feedback on how things were going. It is like skipping the practice and getting right to the game. That is the fun part. I have so much I want to say and have so much I want to complain about. It is just a bad idea to explain why it was such a strange crazy circus and win or lose just a process that was unlike I could imagine. I do think this was an exception to the rule and most hearings won't have these type of distractions. Was that vague enough?

Ericka got me into Paulo Nutini and I started listening to one of his cds. He has this new shoes song that is somewhat catchy. It made me think I need new shoes for work. I will just add it to my list of things I'll need when I start to have a positive income stream.


Tuesday was another long day at trial. We are still in our South Austin office, but plan to move in a week to the Hayes County office. I'm close to Ericka's work so I dropped by after work so we could have dinner. I first went to Walmart to get a suit. Yes a walmart suit...but I can still pull it off. For dinner Ericka took me to Red Lobster, she can be very thoughtful. Here is a fun fact she taught me: there are only 2 Red Lobster's in Austin.

Thursday was the last day of trial. The work we put in Wednesday night really paid off. After work we had dinner at Roy's to celebrate the trial being over. This was the type of place I don't think I'd be able to go if not for work. I had a very good dinner and some very tasteful expensive wine. I don't have a sophisticated pallet yet, so I know I can't fully appreciate good wine, but I hope to one day. What I did have was this great pineapple dessert and dessert wine. It was chilled Dolce I think was what it was called. It totally made me understand the concept of dessert wine. I liked it a lot.

I heard that "There was a letter to the editor in this mornings Express about how Pooch Cafe was propagating the myth that if you touch a baby bird the mother will reject it etc... You should've read this thing..it was all scientific and stuff..the person was really worried about people PC enforcing the myth "

I found the article in the pdf version of the Express. I thought everyone felt like me that Pet People should start day at Pooch Cafe. But I was wrong, I found out in Comics news and updates.

"That is to say that love and hate for the comics is very much an individual decision. One I like you may hate, and vice versa. For example, I think "Pearls Before Swine" is one of the funniest strips to come along since Dilbert. The crocs relentless pursuit of the zebra is laugh-out-loud funny. In our house, "Pearls" readings aloud are not uncommon. Yet we have heard from many who think it isn't funny, is too violent and inappropriate for children.

Never has this dichotomy been more true than with the current comic we are testing. It is called "Maintaining" and it involves the experiences of a young biracial man, Marcus. His Dad is black; his Mom is white. Its creator, Nate Creekmore, is of the same roots. To recap, "Maintaining" is the third test comic we have run in recent months. It is scheduled to remain in the paper through the end of the month. We invited comments and to date we have received about 900. They are split almost exactly 50-50 for and against. We've never seen such a divided vote for a comic. The first test comic, "Pooch Cafe" was widely disliked. The second, "The Secret Mind of Edison Lee" was widely praised. "

I include the first part because I had heard good things about "Pearls Before Swine" and thought maybe I should check it out.

I am the biggest fan of blogs and my friends starting blogs. Not all of them keep up with them, but I'm happy when more people start one up. So Mark decided it was time join the blogging world and has created The Martian Cat Problem. Interestingly, unlike my blog, cats are off limits at his site. I look forward to hearing his social and political commentary.

In honor of The Martian Cat Problem not being remotely at all about cats I have included the following YouTube Video. I get a lot of forwards from family and I delete 90 percent of them without even looking, I mean I'm really against the use of chain letters and propaganda forwards. I present "The Mean Kitty Song." Enjoy this one.

a day of glory