Narbonic/Skin Horse Indoor Reading Promo
Shaenon: Indoors? Reading? Need piles of comics? For the length of all shelter-in-place advisories, all Narbonic and Skin Horse books you order from the Couscous Store will arrive signed and sketched by me. Stay safe, stay sane, read fun stuff.
As you can see, sheltering in place is going great here in Berkeley. Jeff lives on a farm in Wisconsin, so as I squat in piles of cat hair with a kid climbing my shoulders, I picture him romping through rolling hills and orchards of cheese trees, the nearest human being safely miles away. Run free, the Jeff of my imagination!
Channing: Real Jeff is mostly crabby because he can’t go into the city and eat buffet Chinese. Jeff of Shaenon’s imagination is probably a lot healthier. Oh, and the levels of cat hair are probably about comparable.
We used to have a cat who would do just that—only at night when we were trying to sleep. Climb on our heads, shove her nose into our ears, and purr loud. She wouldn’t come near us any other time except feeding time.
I, too, have piles of cat hair. I live in the middle of nowhere. My nearest neighbour isn’t quite miles away, but it’s a good long ways.
Unlike Jeff, I don’t crave Chinese food. I am, however, a rather permanent fixture at the local Bob Evans restaurant, and I’m probably just as crabby as Jeff that I can’t go in there and eat.
Although I am saving lots of money by not eating out all the time.
We used to have a cat (not the one mentioned above), that shed so much there were piles of cat hair around my house—which she never visited.
Takeout is pretty much my mainstay, as I have to keep my mother fed. But a couple of the restaurants I frequent are “temporarily closed,” and a couple of others aren’t taking walk-in orders for takeout, which is how I usually do it. I stopped at an Outback Steakhouse the other day and found they were only taking orders over the Internet—okay for you guys, maybe, but not my thing.
Of course I can cook—if I can get the ingredients.
Yes, getting the ingredients for cooking is a challenge, now.
Also, a lot of restaurants are actually not all that well-set-up for taking internet orders, especially if you want to make any customizations.
As I have five ferrets and two cats, I have a Serious Pet-hair Problem in my apartment (the snakes and bearded dragons don’t shed the same sort of stuff, and the desert tortoises live outside so they’re okay.) I can sympathize. My 14-pound cat Grimalkin has a little ritual every night where he walks up the length of my body and settles himself on my chest, purring like a thunderstorm with his nose about two inches from my own. This is his signal for me to pet him until he is appeased and I, his Hoomon, am then allowed to go to sleep.
Having a little sister myself, I can confirm that Robin’s pose is a completely natural position for a toddler to be in.
We have a Doberman who apparently missed the memo that short-haired dogs aren’t supposed to shed.
Short haired dogs she’d more annoyingly. It pokes you and weaves into the upholstery. Still remember working for a groomer and having a beagle owner come in and think that shaving the dog would make it stop shedding.
The long haired ones jus make dust puppies.
2 Bernese, 1 Rottweiler, 1 long hair cat – yup, we’ve got hair.
I’m beginning to realise that my usual lifestyle works pretty well here in locked-down London. It turns out I wasn’t simply being antisocial, I was actually ahead of the curve.
The image of a free-range Jeff gambolling through green pastures filled with wildflowers (and possibly ring-tailed lemurs), will now stay with me until my medication wears off.
Everyone please stay safe and stay well.
Yes, social distancing and self isolation are right in my wheelhouse, though I do find myself reaching out much more than I ever did.
Ah, the picturesque Cheddar trees, dotting the rolling hills that surround the Abbe Suisse, near Sault Ste Brie. Such a majestic sight.
Presque la Montagne des Bonbons de Roche je crois.
Social distancing is pretty much what I practice all the time. Only a few things in the local “stay at home” orders stop me from doing anything. I can see about visiting the bookstores when I visit the grocery stores. And I’m not sure I’m permitted to go down to the post office and pick up mail from our P. O. boxes, but, out of courtesy, I won’t go down every day for a while.
One thing is a royal pain. I’ve got my tax refund check, the old paper kind—but the local bank branch I deal with closed, and another one (close to said post office) was only open in the drive-thru. And Friday, when I tried to get a deposit slip, the cars were four deep at each entrance. (Payday, maybe?) I’ll try again, but, hey, if I’d’a known when I filed…
Robert, a lot of banks, including mine, let you deposit checks online by taking a photo of it. You might want to look into that. Condolences if your’s does not.
I put enough dog hair in the trash can today to make our own cat.
I hope y’all are holding together okay.
There is no amount of dog hair in the world that could make a cat. You could make a dog out of it, but a cat would reject it immediately.
Aaah. Whar a lovely family.