The Story of Jeff the Cat: Act 1

You don't see what Jeff the Cat has seen and stay right in the head. That was the first I knew about him.

That and his name. The name they'd given him at the orphanage should have clued us in from the beginning. Toughy. Tough little guy, with a mouth full of teeth and who wanted to box. We called him Jeffrey George Taylor. Jeff for the dozen or so Jeff's we knew at the time. George Taylor for Cheston's heroic turn in "Planet of the Apes".

He wasn't quiet like other cats, this Jeffrey George Talyor. He talked. A lot. But it was always as if he was covering for something with the chatter, as if he talked enough, loud enough, we'd all stay away and he'd get what he wanted. But who knew what the hell that was?

Things I did know: he was a tough kid. Not afraid to pop claws on you at what was taken as the slightest insult (Am I a clown to you? I could swear I heard him say...). Sometimes, just for a laugh, he'd wait until 4:00 AM and then wrap himself around your foot as it hung off the bed, all fangs and claws, then run like hell when you woke up swinging. You could hear the little bastard running the whole way down the hallway.

His mother was overprotective, and stood between that kid and death a million times over, to be sure. And its not clear that maybe she should have got out of the way and let that kid take his lumps, for all the heartbreak he would cause her. It didn't matter if he was playing with matches, destroying a 12-pack of Charmin or shredding the dustcovers on $40 hardcovers. Forget about the biting and clawing. She was always ready to forgive and forget, even after he gave her the cat-scratch fever. And not the fun, Nugent-related kind.

We knew better than to guess he'd stop with claws, and so we looked at one another... what do you do with a problem like Jeffrey? Now this kid is sending his own mother to the hospital.

So we took away the claws.

I know that in the Golden State, some peace-niks decided this was cruelty to animals. In our world, it was take 'em out or the kid gets the slammer. Maybe the needle. So we did what we could and he came off it none the worse for wear.

It was an odd day when a new kid moved to the neighborhood. Ten times Jeff's weight, teeth that could crush him... but it was a single, bassy "woof" that settled things the first day Mel arrived. We saw Jeff turn tail and run in a way we'd never seen before, and that was good for a laugh. Sure, within a year, Jeff would be curling up next to Mel for warmth on the dog bed in the living room, and eventually Jeff would begin hunting Mel and pouncing on him when the mood struck him, but by and large, Jeff knew... do not push the big, orange one.

(coming soon: Act II)

Dog-Related Frustration

Scout has, thus far, been a pretty good dog as dogs go. But... she does act out, and she has caused us our fair share of destruction to personal property.

Like all dogs her age, she wants to chew and play with things. And she's got a toy box full of toys that she scatters all over the house. And because its part of the game, we pick them up and put them back in the box.

There are plush squeaky toys, rubber balls, nylon bones, skins of former toys of Mel's (that Lucy was never interested in), rope toys, etc... And she plays with them all.

We realized she was interested in shoes early on, something Lucy and Mel never gave two figs about, so we've learned quickly to keep shoes out of reach. But that doesn't mean I haven't forgotten from time to time and left shoes out when I've gone to bed. This has cost me laces off two pair of shoes and the life of two pairs of sandals. Both sandals went this week.

And then the other day, she discovered Jamie's magazines. This alarmed me, because for weeks, Scout has had free-reign of the first floor, day and night. I hadn't put the kennel up, but we haven't required she sleep in the kennel. And we've left her out when we've left for dinner, movies, work, etc... But magazines are paper. And I happen to keep a lot of folded and stapled paper products around the house, not entirely dissimilar to Jamie's magazines.

I spoke to her about the magazine incident, and hoped for the best.

This evening we went out to N. Austin to my folk's place for dinner. For some reason Scout escalated the interest in magazines, and several were on the floor in shreds. Along with three fairly premium-priced comics in shreds, several non-premium comics had been chewed on, and about another dozen or so were scattered around the house for good measure. And a couple of DVD's.

Sadly, it looks like Scout is going to have to start spending time in the kennel again when we leave.

I am aware that she could use more exercise, but she was run today, and played with repeatedly today. She's lacked not at all for attention or fun.

I just have no idea why, suddenly, she's decided to go after things that have been there all along. And while I do feel like as she's gotten more comfortable here, she's become a bit more bold with being pushy, I'm not sure what suddenly triggered her to change her attention to items she'd never seemingly noticed before. At least they're just books that can maybe eventually be replaced. I'm much more concerned about what she might decide to go after next.

As I mentioned, she's back in the kennel tonight, and she'll no longer have run of the house when we're not home or awake. Not for quite a while.

Even sadder, she doesn't understand she broke a trust. She just knows she's sleeping in that cage again. And I doubt she understands what the yelling and waving of books at her was all about.

For me, its not so much about the comics. I just really feel like we've been moving backward in the last week or so, and I need to figure out why, and what we can do to move forward again.

And poor Lucy. She is very bent out of shape about the yelling. And I almost have no doubt she watched Scout from the other room, as Scout dragged books all around the house, thinking "Oh, geez... are YOU going to catch it..."

Longhorns (Football) Season Opens

Texas Fight!

Texas had its season opener against punching bag team University of Louisiana-Munroe. Texas won. By a lot. I missed the game as I was at a lovely wedding, but all of us with smartphones were sneaking looks at scores during the reception.



COWS SHOUT ABOUT WINNING!!!!

Anyway, we're off and running with another season of Texas Longhorn Football!

Sounds like OU had a spot of trouble when BYU took Sam Bradford down a bit hard on a tackle and injured his shoulder (a sprained AC joint?) Anyway, they start the season with an L, which I really wasn't expecting. It's going to be a crazy season.

OSU played really hard against the Georgia 'Dawgs and earned a win starting in the second quarter.

Baylor won, and the clips I saw looked really good.

I can't start raving about the Mighty Longhorns yet, as I've only seen highlights. But I did see Shipley had something like 180 yards and Chiles got a touchdown in his new role as, I believe, running back.

It could be a very good, Big 12-winning, sort of season.

They said it couldn't happen...

They said it SHOULDN'T happen...

But last evening, we met up for dinner with Leaguers Lauren and Steven, Jason and Matt, Jamie, and... of course... Randy and Emily Tjahjono.


A note to Leaguers. Emily does not have the soul of evil brewing inside her eyes. That's the flash.

The League was tickled pink to have Leaguers come together over Tex-Mex. Today we're going to grab some breakfast, and then maybe go look at some comics.

Scorsese and Comics

Scorsese Thursday

So this evening we went to Frank and Angie's for pizza, and Jamie ordered the Scorsese. It's an obscene amount of pepperoni, a meat which I don't eat much anymore. My stomach is killing me.

Also, am watching "Casino", maybe my favorite Scorsese movie. And not just because its got James Woods playing a hapless dope in bad suits. Just a super-tight movie I can't see any other director pulling off. And I can tolerate Sharon Stone for the duration. It's sort of a minor miracle.

Austin Books Sale

So... I read the Superman comics. I'm a fan. And found myself having to check myself last night at the big comic sale at Austin Books, as I rolled my eyes at an "Amazing Spider-Man" collector who would not get out of my way so I could gain access to the specially priced Jimmy Olsen showcase back issues.

When you realize the crazy voice in your head is making fun of a Spider-Man collector because he's not demonstrating your refined and nichey tastes and is putting together a, let's admit it, sort of obvious collection... when its fairly clear that the zen-dimwit adventures of Jimmy Olsen are a more satisfying reading experience... well, you've officially gone nuts and deserve what ever happens to you.

That said, I did find some great Jimmy Olsen comics on sale, from around the mid-50's in numbering, which I figure puts them at around 1961 or so. Most of the comics I picked up were in nice condition, which is a rarity when it comes to Jimmy Olsens.

I also found an issue of DC Comics Presents that I'd been seeking out for four years. It's issue #87, featuring the first appearance of Superboy Prime, now one of the big-gun villains in the DCU (recently transmorgified as a transparent stand-in for internet dwelling whiney fanboys. A villain only a comic nerd could love.).

Now, if I can find the Swamp Thing/ Superman issue of DC Comics Presents, I'll have found all the issues of that series I sort of considered "must-have's". That doesn't mean I'm done with DC Comics Presents, but it'll be less of a "must seek out" sort of collecting.

Now, I COULD just buy comics online. That would be easy. Its just not much fun. I much, much prefer to pursue the "hunt and seek" model. It makes the discovery part of the fun, and makes ownership of said item have value beyond collector pricing or even the content of the story. When you dive into a bin and come up with a comic you weren't even aware existed, that's a pretty good find. And much, much different from Googling "Jimmy Olsen #54" or whatever and using your PayPal account.

Targeted Advertising

Amazon is aware of literally hundreds of purchases I've made from their store. They are aware of hundreds of my ratings on different items which I own, hae read, watched, or listened to.

And yet...



It's like dating someone for years, and then for Christmas they get you a NASCAR jacket.

Austin Books Sale

I thought I'd mention this for Austin-area Leaguers:

Austin Books is having its annual Labor Day blow-out.

This sale is actually a pretty big deal. The good folks at AB will have all kinds of graphic novels, comics, etc... on deep discount.

As a Superman and Jimmy Olsen back-issue collector, I'm hoping that I can find some stuff on discount in their Showcase comics selection. Last year I actually found a couple of great items, so with any luck...

I also occasionally pick up Flash comics, DC Comics Presents, and a few other things if they catch my eye. So, yeah! It's Nerd Christmas.

I did pick up a trade or graphic novel or two last year as well, but I can't recall exactly what.

The sale runs from tomorrow night until Monday.

If anyone wants to go tomorrow or on Saturday, let me know!