Recent Comments

1. over 4 years ago on Phoebe and Her Unicorn

   As far as the question of ‘dark’ being, or not being, evil, I will just repeat a saying that came to me a long time ago:

   ‘It is better to blow out one candle than to curse the light.’

2. over 4 years ago on Phoebe and Her Unicorn

   This resonates. Some years ago I had two friends with the same name. One had been a regular member of an organization I was in but gradually came less often. The other joined later, and when the first did come to a meeting I got to introduce them. I used hand gestures to indicate which I was referring to as I said

   Jane? Jane.

   Jane? Jane.

   ;-}}

3. almost 5 years ago on Phoebe and Her Unicorn

   I’d like Phoebe to follow this up by saying “You know, on second thought I think that’s a really good idea! We should both do that. Thanks Data-ko.”

4. almost 5 years ago on Phoebe and Her Unicorn

   Breaking Cat News is one of my favorites, but this particular strip is gold! (no, platinum!) {is there something better than platinum? That would be what this is!}

   bravo! brava! bravx?! {all… whatever}

5. almost 6 years ago on Phoebe and Her Unicorn

   You may be on to something there. When I read the question I immediately heard Gilbert Gottfried’s voice in my head. Generally, I can’t stand his voice, but maybe he exists because LSH will need a voice actor. After all, everything in this world exists for a reason… except cats.

6. almost 7 years ago on Breaking Cat News

   Now, 11 years later, Maho is still with me, and I have ‘solved’ his name problem. (I named the kittens after anime characters, when I had no way of knowing if they were boys or girls. Maho, a large black and white tomcat, has a name used usually for girls and written with kanji that are read as ‘True Sail’ – I imagine the white glint of the sun from a small sailboat just off shore. A very pretty name, but not so good for a tomcat with a wide head and heavy shoulders.

   But Japanese has thousands of kanji and far fewer syllables, so I went hunting through my kanji dictionary for meanings that go with ‘ma’ or ‘ho’ – and found ‘ma’ which is usually part of words having to do with magic, witchcraft, demons, or things fantastic. By itself it can mean demon or devil. Then I found ‘ho’ which is a suffix and can mean that the person is an assistant or apprentice to another person. And voila! We have Maho, the apprentice demon! Who really could survive on his own in Michigan (he has brought me gifts of dead pigeons at least twice) but who also, knowing there’s food in his dish, will come to me and beg till I get up, walk with him to the kitchen, and show him the food. That means ‘Mommy approves’, I have given him the food and it’s ‘all right’.

   He doesn’t care that ‘mommy’ is a old guy with a gray beard.And if I’m asleep or not home, he won’t starve. (He’s not an idiot.)

7. almost 7 years ago on Breaking Cat News

   I don’t know how much this would help, but I don’t think it could hurt. If you take some old clothes (NOT freshly washed) or anything that has human smell on it and leave it around near where you’re feeding them they will associate food with the smell of humans. They should at least become a little more approachable.

   I have personal experience where it worked very well, but I started when the kittens were in the first days of their ‘conquering the world’ phase. I came home to find my front yard “infested” with an army of kittens. That house had an enclosed porch, with the space under the porch also enclosed. I did not know that a feral cat had chosen to have her kittens there until they started exploring. I made a cat-door in the porch door and put food and water on the porch. (I took an old sweatshirt of mine and laid it on the floor and then put the food and water dishes on it.) The mother was eating the food right away and the kittens were eating it too once they got older. (There were 7 at the start but one stopped growing after a few weeks and then stopped coming around. The other six grew to be healthy adults.)

   I made a serious error though: I didn’t keep track of how fast they were growing which I discovered by observing sexual activity on my porch. :0I borrowed a live trap and got 5 of them to the vet to be fixed and to get their shots before they started scattering to other neighborhoods, but one took off before I got him or her fixed. In the end, two of them were living with me, three were living other places around the neighborhood, and one was unfixed and ‘somewhere around’.

8. over 7 years ago on Breaking Cat News

   I think that’s the news desk, so the floor is probably carpeted and the glass probably won’t break. If you’re walking around the house barefoot the wet spot will feel cold. Then your first thought will be “Oh no! Did someone have an ‘accident?’” And when it’s just water, you’ll be relieved. BUT… when you step on an ice cube barefoot you know right off that the wet spot is water. (Strangely, that won’t be what you’re thinking about.) ;-}}

9. almost 8 years ago on Phoebe and Her Unicorn

   Phoebe’s reaction is quite reasonable, especially since she’s 9. Regardless, Dakota’s expression in the last panel is perfect. (Now I’m wondering: Has Dakota ever been in a strip before and not spoken even once?)

10. almost 8 years ago on Phoebe and Her Unicorn

    That’s right. Sunday strips aren’t part of the daily continuity. ;-}}