Trick-or-Treat!

Father and Mother Edit never knew this, but... Queen Tuffet and I sometimes went trick-or-treating twice on Halloween when we were kids.

We were so excited to get some candy that at about 5:00 or so, we'd put on some stupid costume--rubber hairy hands or spider legs or an ugly mask--then go to the bottom of the hill and work our way up. Then, after dinner, we got into our real costumes and went trick-or-treating again.

The only problem with this was that the people on our side of the street didn't give out that great of candy, and we were always too chicken to go to the other side of the street and really make an afternoon of it. Plus we had to be fast because we didn't want Mother Edit to notice we were missing...

Come to think of it, I'm not entirely sure Queen Tuffet did this at all. I wonder if it was just me. Hmm.

The Cat's Meow

Last week I took Anya to get her claws trimmed. This is the sound she made all the way there (with various photos for added interest).

I Can Do It!

Today I decided that I really can set goals and stick to them. Want to know how I know?

When I was a baby, I was so helpless I couldn't even walk. That fact notwithstanding, I learned to crawl, and from there learned to stand, and finally learned to walk. Everyone was so proud of me, and you know what? I haven't given up walking since.

See? Setting and accomplishing life-long goals just comes naturally to me. I can do it!

The Correct Answer Is "C. A Bowling Ball"

What did Betty buy today?

A. Chocolate

B. A kitten

C. A bowling ball

D. A book

E. Sheet music

F. Dinner

G. Fins (for swimming)

H. Pens

I. All of the above

J. None of the above

K. a, d and f only

L. b, f and h only

M. d and e

N. c and g

Beethoven's Fifth: My Proudest Moment

duh duh duh DUN!

That was an exciting opening, don't you think?

I took a course in college on the Romantic symphony, which was a truly enjoyable class, and our teacher had us listen to recordings of certain pieces. Most of the recordings were performed by the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner. For those of you who don't know, the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique seeks to perform each work with as much historical accuracy as possible, including playing on period instruments and using a lower standard pitch than today's orchestras use.

The recordings are fantastic. Whenever I listen to music, I prefer the John Eliot Gardiner version to any other recording. Over the months of the class and beyond, my ears grew trained to those recordings. I didn't realize how accustomed I was to them—or that I could really tell that much of a difference—until one day a couple years later.

I was in a classic Classical mood, if that makes sense, and wanted to listen to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (because it's a classic, see?). I decided to mix things up a bit and listen to one of my old recordings instead of the Orchestre. I put the cd in my car's player and was reaching for my seatbelt when the first notes sounded (see the first line of this post).

"BLAGH!" I cried.

THE MUSIC WAS IN THE WRONG KEY!

I ejected the offending cd and put in my old favorite with Gardiner. Could my ears really detect the half-step (if that) variance in the two recordings of Beethoven's Fifth? I listened as the Orchestre began the first movement: it was definitely lower-pitched. I put in the other cd again. It sounded weird. Besides the pitch, the conductor took the movement slower than Gardiner, which was not nearly as exciting. I couldn't listen to it. It just wasn't right.

My ears amaze me sometimes. I had no idea I could hear that sort of thing, but it sure makes me proud. Good old ears.

A Full Moon

I sometimes wonder why there aren't more female werewolves. It seems like a monthly transformation into a vicious uncontrollable monster would more naturally align with the female sex, but female werewolves are so rarely seen.

Perhaps the closeness between women and werewolves is what attracts us to them*. Hm. Who knows.

*I was talking about Lupin there, not Jacob (though I've nothing against Jacob; he's a very nice boy).