StrangeRanger

A Dinosaur Haiku

Been teaching a lesson or two on Haiku in the ol' classroom.  I'm being mean, too.  I'm enforcing the 5-7-5 syllable count.  Got some good efforts along with the expected attempt at a love (sorry, "Luv") haiku.  One kid was really honest: 

My teacher is mean

He's a big, stinky butthead

I hate these haiku

You've gotta respect the honesty, and hey, the syllable count is right.  The best one, though, came from one of my ESL kids.  Took me completely by surprise, not because the kid is anything but bright, but because of the topic.  Right out of left field, and absolutely wonderful.  The title is simple:

T-Rex Days:

Today I ate meat

Tomorrow, I'll eat more meat

Next day, I'm extinct

Now THAT'S a good poem.  A+.  At least.

Iterations of Schrodinger's Cat

Many, Many thanks to the Carnival of the Cats, Host #96, Meryl Yourish, and the good feline at Catymology for directing me to The Not-Quite Interactive Schrodinger's Cat.  Not a bad explanation, and a fun little one-off demo involving a bowling bag.  The greatest service, though, is the direction to the best explanation EVER of the Schrodinger's Cat paradox.  Not only did I get the basic idea, I laughed so hard I coughed up my adnoids...

A Working Cat

Y'know, I've been party to many many strident arguments about the relative superiority of cats as pets vs dogs as pets.  I fall firmly into the feline camp (hey, I know the audience for this particular post).  Dog-lovers *always* bring up the point that dogs can actually be working pets, as well as companion animals, and due to the efficiency of the modern pest-control industry, cats no longer have any actual work to do in the household.   

Bah!  I say.  Maddie is a prime example of a working pet.  Long are her hours, meager is her pay, and few are her complaints.  This cat is bursting at the furry seams with the Protestant Work Ethic that Made This Country Great. 

I present the following pictures as prime examples.  First, she helps with folding laundry:

And she helps with putting laundry away:

And she makes sure that doors are shut when they need to be:

Furthermore, even if she was a complete wastrel and layabout, she'd have a home here, because she loves us, and we love her.  'Nuff said.

Know when to lower your voice...

Have you ever noticed that when some folks are sitting in a restaurant or other public place, and they are chatting on their cell phone, they speak MUCH louder than they would if their partner were there with them?  Case in point...LadyRanger and I were sitting in our neighborhood, um, bistro, yeah, enjoying a bagel and a cuppa.  Nice guy about our age, Irish Fisherman's sweater, sitting about 8 feet from us.  Talking on his cell.  Really TALKING ON HIS CELL.  Having at least half of an interesting conversation:

"Y'know, you've been through a lot lately.  You lost that tooth."

"....."

"When the body is under stress it responds by trying to eliminate toxins, so I'm not surprised you've been vomiting."

"..... ..... ..... ..... .....!"

"Yeah, I used to do that too, but then I got arrested twice."

"..... ..... ..... ....."

"Yeah, he's a good guy.  He'll give you some prednisone."

Anyway, hard to keep a straight face through most of this.  Prednisone?!?  I think this is by far the most intriguing overheard conversation I've been in on.  LadyRanger says it reminds her of the old Alfred Hitchcock Elevator story... Hitchcock would be alone with Friend X on an elevator.  The car would stop at a floor and as the doors opened would exclaim "And there was blood!  Blood everywhere!"  He'd fall silent as the people shuffled onto the car, leaving them to their imaginations...

I wonder if some performance artist hasn't snagged the cell-phone idea yet.  Carry around a dead phone, talking some outrageous trash into it in public, trying to provoke a response... Sit down next to the guy in the restaurant who's abusing his cell privileges, and pretend to call 911, and start describing the caller.  See how long it takes him to notice.  Or have half of a disturbing call:  "Dude, don't put it under your chin.  Easier to miss that way and just mess up your face.  Put it in your mouth."  pause "No dude, I'm not saying anything one way or another.  This is your call." 

Start something up!  Get out there and be Wired and Unruly!

Jekyll and Hyde

It's funny how one creature can embody what we think of as such opposing traits...Maddie can go from 0 to 60 in about the twitch of a whisker... The wonderful thing is that she's as engaging and winning and lovable at play as she is at rest.

Here she is in full-footloose-bozo mode with a catnip squirrel

And here's Maddie having a rest in her throne by the fire

Wonderful, having such a creature around...

Playing with the Christmas Presents

A few days into the New Year, and we're still playing with our Christmas Presents.  Here's Maddie playing with a little feather-tail mouse I put on a string:

Here's another shot from the same session:

And, of course I'm sure you can tell, I've been playing with the new Kodak Z740 Digital Camera.  Merry Christmas to me!  Maddie is going to be one of the most photographed creatures on the planet.

Maddie's enjoying the holidays

A Happy New Year to all from the crew here at StrangeRanger!

Maddie, the most popular creature here at Chez-Ranger, has been enjoying the holiday season (save for the travelling part...darn cat-carrier...).  Here are some photo-highlights:

Christmas night

New Year's Eve festivities

And helping us pack up the ornaments on New Year's day

We hope everyone has a wonderful new year, full of joy, prosperity, and cats.