jaysaint Getting it all down on paper…

Kitty Update:

The new cat has been in the apartment since about 9 last night. He and Zoe have yet to meet, but I’m mightily encouraged by how neither of them seems to be the least bit stressed out about the other. There hasn’t even been any sniffing under the door. And they’ve both just been happily napping and getting petted in intervals.

Damon picked up some Bach Rescue Remedy and we’ve been putting it in their water. Now, I’ve heard of this stuff for a long time. But I admit that I’ve been skeptical that it would have that much impact. But it’s got to be having some sort of effect because these cats are spooky laid back right now. In just an hour or so we’ll meet and then I could be eating my words, but I’m feeling like this could really work.

Rachel is on her way to us right now and should be here in about an hour, and then we’ll open the door and let them meet at their leisure.

Damon’s completely in love with this guy and wants very much for him to be “his” cat since Zoe is pretty much fixed on me. Damon even spent the night in the guest room with him because he didn’t want him to be scared or loney. Silly, and yet my heart was just melting.

Milo and/or Miles has now emerged as name possibilities. I like “o” and Damon likes “es.”

I’m bundled up on the couch channel surfing. I’ve pulled the plug on all planned activities for the day, including work. I’m most bummed about missing the concert we have tickets for. My friend Mary is singing English chorale music with the Manhattan Ensemble Chorus and they seem amazing.

I did manage to get something done today, which was to give my closet a good clean out. Damon’s going to be very excited when he sees the pile of clothes I have ready to go. Now I wish I had my Atlanta girlfriends here for a clothes swap because there’s some very nice stuff that I’ve worn enough times to make me want to wear something else. I bought about $200 worth of clothes online over the past few days to get me on the right foot for the Redbook gig.

And one thing that I still plan on doing tonight is picking up our new kitty to see how that goes. I’m still leaning toward Frank, but could change my mind when I see him more. Damon still likes Earnest, as does pretty much every person we ask, so I may be compelled to give in. I’m sure the poor guy is going to be so happy to get out of that apartment that he’ll gladly let us call him any old thing.

You know what I like to do when I’m sick? Play computer games. I’m deeply engaged in Neverwinter Nights today.

Sick. Blah. I’m not totally down for the count, but I’m down enough to sit on the couch, eat soup and shiver. Damon is being a lovely caretaker, as usual. He’s made two trips to the bodega tonight to find stuff to make me feel better.

Tomorrow night we’re once again taking a second crack at adopting a second cat. Remember the upstairs neighbor who got dragged out by the FBI? Well he had two cats. We met them, and the one was just too high strung to try to match her up with Zoe. But Kristen and Michael (who were trying to find them new homes) understandably didn’t want to split them up. That was almost a month ago. They think they’ve found a home for the tiny girl cat. Which means the big furry fatty is all ours if we can make him make Zoe love him. He’s just under 18 pounds with long black and white hair. And — get this — he’s a Hemmingway! That’s right! Six toes per foot! I don’t have photos of him yet, but am working on names. Up for consideration right now: Frank, Howard, Earnest. Feel free to cast your vote.

Every day I’m a little more checked out of AOL, as is currently made clear by my updating LJ — which I’ve never done from work before. To top it off, I’m actually working from home today. The cable guy is coming to install my new job present to myself — cable tv. We’ve gone 15 months without cable tv (which means no tv at all because we dont’ get reception) and high speed internet, but that ends today. The truth is that it hasn’t been so bad, but it will still be nice to be able to watch Animal Planet.

So I’m watching ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ as I type. I’m watching is at super low volume and keeping sort of distracted because that’s just about as much of this as I can take. I know how this story ends, and I know how it gets there and I don’t think I can watch it at full force. Last night we watched ‘The Laramie Project’ which is one of my favorite plays. But there’s a theme here and I’ll be more than ready to watch some ‘Little House on the Prairie’ once this one is over.

I’m lolling around tonight in a post-Costco glow. Charles and I went out and joined yesterday. We even got two memberships for the price of one because we were both wearing left hand rings and the woman assumed we were married. Adn that was just the beginning of the joy. We shopped like we were stocking a bomb shelter. The highlight for me was 3 half gallons of organic milk for $7.50. One half gallon is $4.50 at the market around the corner, so this is a big score. I also benefit from shopping with Charles. It was that I would Costco shop in DC and then lose half my perishables to spoilage when Damon and I couldn’t bring ourselves to eat six pounds of apples in a few days. But now I have a partner and he and I went halves on many things.

After we got home I whipped up a Cincinnati chili feast and James and Charles came over for dinner. It was roundly praised and Damon has actually brought up his love for my chili a few times today. As a vegetarian feeding tvp to a meat eater, I’m flush with victory.

So today I’m eating and lounging, lounging and eating. Damon’s watching a movie called “The Pawnbroker” which stars Rod Steiger. It looks utterly boring, so I’m just tuning it out and waiting for it to end. Oh, which it just did. Thank goodness. It was full of aggressive 1970s horn music and I’ve heard more than enough of that. Now I’ve made the mistake of asking a small question about it and Damon is telling me the entire plot as I type. At least he’s easier to listen to than the horns.

Tomorrow my whole team is going to the Star Jones shoot and I am not. My boss is starting to cut me out of stuff since I’m leaving. I’m happy to hand off as much work as possible as quickly as possible. I’m not getting a break between jobs so I might as well get in some goofing off where I can. The only sad thing about tomorrow is that I can’t just duck out when they leave at 1. Primarily because I should stick around and hold down the fort. But also because Damon and I are going to a book discussion and signing at 7 downtown, so there’s no point in going home before.

James Frey, author of ‘A Million Little Pieces,’ is who were going to see. We’ve both read it within the last few weeks and it is harrowing. I’m eager to get a look at this guy and hear what he has to say now.

I’ve moved on to reading ‘Horse Heaven’ by Jane Smiley. I picked that up when we went and saw her give a reading a few months ago.