The cats weren’t really posing together when I had my camera available, but I figured we were overdue for some solo shots (complete with commentary).
Solo Pics
One Shot, Two Shot, Old Shot, New Shot
Great news: I got my second Pfizer shot this weekend! As such, I figured now would be a good time to address anyone who hasn’t gotten vaccinated yet and tell them how easy it is. For starters, by this point in the process vax centers are all over the place, and many of them easily findable on sites like Vaccines.gov which search by zip code to find options near you. I was able to find one maybe ten minutes from my house, and once I had my consent form and registration filled out, it took probably less than twenty minutes — fifteen of which were the wait time after to make sure I had no adverse reaction.
While I can’t speak for the J&J or Moderna vaccines, I can say that my experience with Pfizer has been fairly light on side effects. After the first shot, I was unusually tired that afternoon and my arm was a bit sore the day after; so far, the second shot has had a bit more immediate soreness, but less fatigue. In both cases, I’d say it went pretty well.
If you’d like to watch a humorous rendition of how the vaccine actually works and why it’s important, check out Google Translate Explains the COVID-19 Vaccine. Note: while the human side of the video is reliably informative, heed the warning at the beginning and do not refer to Google Translate for scientific or medical advice. Please.
Look At The Pretties
Yeah… it’s been a busy week, so you’re getting more cat pictures. But hey, June and Zuko being civil with each other is always worth commemorating!
Two by Two
Good thing we have an even number of cats. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to pair off like this.
Thomas Sanders… and Friends!
Yep, Thomas Sanders has a second channel. I meant to mention it in the previous post about him, but that was long enough on its own, so I figured I’d just split them into two separate weeks instead. There’s certainly no shortage of content!
Thomas Sanders and Friends is where Thomas posts most of his unscripted content, which is usually — and I’m sure this is a shock — in collaboration with his awesome friends. There’s also compilations of his TikTok shorts, so if you want some fast-paced goofy humor, check out that playlist here.
They play a variety of games on this channel, from Voices of Unreason, where they make up voices for fans’ artwork, to Twister With A Twist, to Real or Fake? with both anime and superheroes. Alright, technically some of those were released on the first channel before this one was made, but any further content along the same lines would be released on this second channel, so I’m counting it.
They also have some other miscellaneous adventures (see the playlist: Awkward Adventures), like Thomas learning to make pasta, going without added sugar for a month, and trying out sensory deprivation tanks (with friends participating, of course, especially on that last one).
All in all, it’s a lot of fun, and between the two channels there should be something for everyone!
More Meow Pics
Yep, cat photos! This time, primarily featuring June (but also Diane).
Consequence of Time
Everyone knows that the American colonies won our independence from Britain through a revolutionary war, rebelling against unfair taxation and lack of representation in Parliament. However, we were, once, loyal subjects of the crown. Little shows this contrast more clearly than comparing two historical documents, “The Mayflower Compact” and Thomas Paine’s “The Crisis-X: On The King Of England’s Speech,” both in large part about the King of England, but with a century and a half between them.
The first document, even though it’s merely a colonial declaration of forming a “Civil Body Politic,” takes the time to almost reverently introduce the King’s titles: “…our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc.” It likewise signs off with the date, not only as the year Anno Domini 1620, but also as “in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth.” To use someone’s personal timeline as an official unit of reference is a significant matter of respect.
Furthermore, the document continually states the colonists’ loyalties to England, outright referring to themselves as “loyal subjects,” and reaffirming this in their mission statement, which states that they act not only “for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith” but also “[the advancement of the] Honor of our King and Country.” Even writing those reasons adjacent to one another implies a level of equivalency, as though King and Country are innately divine.
In contrast, the excerpt from “The Crisis-X: On The King Of England’s Speech” is downright scathing, condemning King George for “with the most sullen insolence [refusing] to answer, and even to hear the humblest of all petitions,” as well as for enabling and even encouraging the misdeeds of his officers, and most of all for the outrage that the king “should now, with an affected air of pity, turn the tables from himself, and charge to another the wickedness that is his own.” As you can see, where “The Mayflower Compact” carried an air of devotion towards England, “The Crisis-X: On The King of England’s Speech” utilized the flip side of emotionally charged language, with words such as “abuse,” “savage cruelties,” and “scandalous plundering” to drive home Mr. Paine’s contempt for King George and his behavior. He even goes so far as to insinuate that the king has “invoked every aid of hell in his behalf,” a sharp contrast to the perceived holy righteousness of King James in the first document.
From commendation to condemnation, it is truly remarkable how much a collective opinion can change over the course of 156 years.
Thomas Sanders
Back in late December when I was gushing about MALINDA, I mentioned that the prince in her music video “Don’t Make Me” is played by Thomas Sanders, “who’s also awesome and should probably get a post of his own at some point.” Well, it took four months to come back around to that little promise, but here we are!
Thomas Sanders is an adorkable YouTube creator (and also formerly Vine, RIP) with an eclectic repertoire of content. I can’t recall which particular song introduced me to his work, but it was definitely his music I found first. That facet of his art is a mix between parodies and mash-ups, like the incredible Friends On The Other Side – Disney Villains Mash-Up, and original songs, my favorite of which is probably Recipe For Me.
Granted, there are a few other songs that would be contenders for that title if they weren’t part of a different talking point: Sanders Sides, an ongoing series featuring… well, Thomas talking to himself, if we’re being honest. But that’s an oversimplification — what Thomas has done is taken different aspects of his personality and turned them into distinctive characters of their own, namely Logic, Morality, the Prince (who represents Creativity), and Anxiety. These characters and Thomas himself then debate various topics together. For instance, A New Year of Lying To Myself has the whole gang questioning the practicality of New Year’s resolutions… in song! If you’re looking for a sampler, that’s the episode you want– it’s got all five of them, and it’s early enough to avoid spoilers, since Sanders Sides has actual inter-episode continuity and dynamic character arcs over the course of the series. (Fair warning, the comments sections are a minefield of spoilers, so you might want to avoid them on the first watch.) You can also, obviously, just start at the beginning of the playlist, which I’ll link to here. Make sure to stick around for the end cards!
I think Sanders Sides is intriguing in large part because it’s a brilliant balance of goofy, quippy fun and meaningful messages. Among other things, several episodes provide tips for managing anxiety, there’s an entire video dedicated to dealing with intrusive thoughts (which is understandably darker than the others, just a warning), and others with discourse on everything from originality as a creator to the balance between the mind and the heart. It’s touching and thought-provoking, but with the right amount of humor to still be lighthearted, and a pace that somehow blends the two perfectly.
The Fountain Of Youth
After reading “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” by Nathaniel Hawthorn, I wrote this opinion piece on whether or not I thought the “Elixir of Life” from the Fountain of Youth was worth drinking. As a note, this post contains some spoilers for the short story in question, and I definitely adopted far more of its formal vernacular than strictly necessary.
In “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment,” we see four elderly characters sample the Elixir of Life, granting them, if only briefly, a return to the height of their youth. While this may seem like the ultimate gift, I would argue that the Elixir of Life, is, in fact, more a curse than a blessing.
I freely admit, some of my stance on the Elixir comes from my broader opinion on eternal life, which is that it would be a rather unpleasant experience. The fact of immortality is that you will, inevitably, watch the world pass by, as everything changes and everyone else lives and dies as is natural, while you merely linger. It seems to me there can be few existences more painful than outliving everyone you might ever love, or alternatively, condemning them to the same eternal lingering as your own.
There is also, however, something to be said for the means of immortality. To be blessed or cursed with it, depending on your standpoint, only once, to hold true for eternity… that would be one thing. But the temporary nature of the Elixir’s effects in “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” suggest that one must constantly be consuming it if they wish to maintain that coveted youth. So allow me this query: if one must constantly be retrieving water from the Fountain to stay young; if one’s singular focus, as the ending of the tale implied it might become for the doctor’s friends, is to maintain that youth… is that a life worth living? It seems to me that a life spent intent only on prolonging itself is a life that is no longer truly being lived, a life that has been drained of its value by its all-consuming need to persist. Dr. Heideggar’s friends forgot, it would seem, that a thing is not beautiful because it lasts, but because of the mark it makes in the time that it is given.
Granted, some things are meant to last. For instance, the wisdom we gain from experience, which the four test subjects were shown to have lost when they drank the Elixir. They thought it ridiculous, “the idea that… they should ever go astray again,” and yet they immediately did so, as apparently youth of figure brought with it youth of mind. This, to me, seems like the greatest nail in the coffin — would a drinker of the Elixir, addicted to its effect as the characters became, not simply become caught in an endless, vicious cycle of making the same mistakes over and over again? What a torment that would be, truly.
Yes, it seems to me that the Elixir of Life would not be wise to consume — after all, it is not the length of a life that defines it, but its quality.
Red Oak
We recently went on a trip to a neat little nature spot in the west Chicago suburbs called Red Oak Nature Center. Easy to miss, but well worth checking out. Anyhow, I thought I’d share some pictures from that excursion; I can only presume it’s even prettier in the summer and autumn!
I managed to photograph several geese, but not the hawk we saw while walking one of the trails. I did get pictures of the small cave near the riverbank, though! It’s called Devil’s Cave (or Cave of the Spirit), and there’s a really neat legend behind that. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the foresight to photograph the placard. Oh well. You’ll just have to check it out yourselves!
As a bonus, the nature center itself had some absolutely stunning flowers in a pot near the doors!
