Even in Kyoto

Bullet points for now [status, work]

2026-05-22T13:56:01Z

Just emerging from a fairly intense 2-day sustainability pedagogy workshop; it was hugely helpful in multiple different ways. Hoping to write a lot more about that soon (heh).

About to head off to Pittsford, NY this afternoon, for a regatta tomorrow morning! This is always a fun one, hooray. I'm carpooling there with a teammate who shares my love of the Wegmans hummus, so you know we'll be stopping in this evening. At the Big Wegmans, naturally.

BUT - it does mean a whole lot of people time over the past week, which limits time for getting caught up on blog posts and time for thinking and writing. There will hopefully be more time and space for that next week.

It's tricky to pace myself. Right now I'm also training up a new set of campus animal care students, which is fun but time-consuming.

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I want to plant the dahlias [gardening, status]

2026-05-20T11:44:17Z

Maybe I'll get to it this evening? This is a very busy week due to academic workshops that I've already complained about.

Yesterday evening was walking over to the local elementary school to vote in favor of funding schools and libraries (yes, both measures passed because people in this town at least recognize those are good things).

The main academic workshop today and tomorrow will be cool, because it's about weaving sustainability matters into the courses we teach. That means it's a good excuse to talk with colleagues about this vitally important subject.

I'll put the Dark Dahlia back where it has gone before, but I'm undecided on a newer one I bought at the grocery co-op 2 weeks ago, so I need to discuss it with S.

I also need to install the soaker hose pretty soon here.

Maybe this evening, or if not, probably on Sunday.

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The Bash Bish 400k [bicycling, randonneuring, brevets]

2026-05-18T19:03:21Z

On the recent 300k 2 weekends ago, the ferns consisted of actively unfurling fiddleheads, past the stage where someone might harvest some to eat, but not quite ready for full-blown photosynthesis.

This past weekend on the 400k, the ferns were fully unfurled, tips standing straight upright, not yet so heavy they start to slump over.

The other most noticeable difference was that the insects and other ectotherms are out. There were some amazing frog choruses on parts of the 300k, but not so many insects. On the second big loop down into Connecticut this time, I rode my bike through an area where it wasn't just tent caterpillars trying to cross the road, but millipedes. So many millipedes, dark brown, wrigging along. At several points, flying insects booped me on the nose. At the very end, I pulled two large deer ticks off my shin! There was a butterfly, there were crickets, there were grasshoppers. The frog choruses are still going, but perhaps they're slightly more subdued now compared to that first frenzy of spring?

( Read more... )

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This, that, the other [status, bicycling, rowing, work]

2026-05-15T19:17:24Z

1. I got to row my single this morning. Swoon! It was GREAT. I mean, the rowing probably wasn't perfect, but having the chance to get out there was so helpful right now.

2. I am going to undertake another overly ambitious brevet tomorrow. I am rather nervous about it but am going to try and set aside my fears to just go for it. It's going to make Sunday's graduation ceremony interesting, as I graduate college for the 9th time (lol).

3. I'm a little annoyed at work right now, but hear me out on why. This week is Senior Week, so I got all my grades turned in and harassed all the bicycling students to get their bicycles returned (they *mostly* did, I just have to go retrieve one bike off a rack, and I'll have to order new bike lock keys for 3 locks, lolsigh). Anyway, next week there are two conflicting/overlapping faculty workshops, and that's the thing I'm most annoyed at. Yes, faculty development workshops are a good idea, but why, college, do you keep stealing my precious summer research days?? Why??

I'll get over it, but I have to whine at least a little.

4. In part due to item #3 I've been working pretty hard to get things done in the interstitial spaces. I have had two projects going over the past year that involve measuring ant heads, and thank goodness, today I got the last ant heads done for one of the two projects. Too bad it's the easier of the two! But incremental forward progress is still forward progress, as I tell my research students.

Anyway, on that note, I'd better get back to preparations for tomorrow's bike ride...The best attitude to adopt, of course, is the Zen attitude of living in the moment, accepting whatever winds up happening. Easier said than done sometimes.

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Catio: George is still winning [cats]

2026-05-14T18:04:53Z

So first off, S is back in town!! Yay!

What that means is he is getting a lot of quality time with the cats while I'm off rowing or at work or or or...and S must come up with his own cat management strategies in order to get his work done.

I dutifully apprised S of the catio situation, and in fact he found the video of George's attempted ninja escape rightfully hilarious.

The thing is that Martha has been exceptionally well-behaved when it comes to catio etiquette, and she asks so nicely if she can go out that it's hard to say no. So, how to manage one well-behaved cat and one miscreant? My method had been to open up the catio for Martha, but then close the door at the top of the basement steps. That way, Martha can come back inside the basement when she feels like it, but George cannae go out.

S says he had trouble with George darting down the basement steps when S opened the door, so he came up with a different workaround: use the basement window as a one-way catio valve. Leave the window hanging down but unlatched when Martha is on the catio, then she can push back in when she's ready to come inside.

...anyway, I knew nothing of the one-way valve setup when I arrived home last night. All I know is, I arrived home to see George out enjoying himself on the catio. Lucky George!

It seems necessity is very much the mother of invention, heh. He must have figured out how to push the window open far enough to squeeze out.

Also, somehow or another, a brick that I had used to temporarily seal one of the catio gaps also fell down*, so soon thereafter George was no longer on the catio either. When S went out to see what was up, suspecting a full escape, he encountered George out in front of the house, lolling in the grass, as George does. When George saw S, he trotted right back over to the gap in the catio and popped back inside.

We tried to have our supper out on the catio, keeping the cats company, which they greatly enjoyed, but then it got just a little too rainy and was time to come back indoors. We eventually lured the cats back in with bribes - their favorite freeze-dried salmon treats. But, geez.

Later in the evening, George came along and curled up on my chest for a snooze, prompting me to also have a little nap before heading to bed. This is the first time George has ever curled up on my chest! Emma used to do that far more often. It is irresistibly cute.

*Are we surprised? No, we are not surprised in the slightest.

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Plots and schemes and itineraries

2026-05-13T16:53:16Z

Oh my lordness, give your travel agent an extravagant tip. Especially if your travel agent is YOU!

Trips this summer:

Bike to Montreal!!!! We'll go armed with a list of campsites and other potential stopovers, because there are Many Unknowns. Gotta figure out how to get bikes home from Montreal (train bike boxes probably), where to stay in Montreal, how many amazing things to see and eat whilst there.

Arizona Summer of Ants. Outbound, I'll make fun stops in Colorado. I'll probably repeat my return itinerary from 2024, which was shorter and less beautiful, but which will get ants back faster. July will be Busy.

August is Germany for a conference. Need to learn about places to sleep in Frankfurt, and to book a train ticket from Frankfurt to Freiburg.

I'm ignoring that I am going to Rowing Camp the last weekend in August, though that will deserve some attention eventually.

Perhaps my summer motto should be, "Have bedroll, will travel." Well, that and some good coffee.

Looking at it all, I am actually going to NOT try and sign up for Organized Summer Rowing. Just Disorganized Summer Rowing for me, because I won't be around enough to be Organized.

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Wherein certain longstanding complaints are longstanding [bicycling]

2026-05-13T14:44:10Z

There have been some rather blunt reminders recently as to why I've backed off on involvement with certain forms of bike advocacy in the area.

For one example, today was supposed to be Bike to Work Day, except it's scheduled as a Press Op, and boy do I ever feel like a Token whenever I've tried to show up for it. It starts at 8:30 am, when many people need to already be at work, and it involves traveling on a dusted-off bike within a fleet of Bike Police some short distance over to a podium where some words can get said about things but little actually ever changes on the ground.

And due to the rainy forecast, it got postponed to next Friday anyway.

Yes, I biked to work, like I do every day. I am celebrating with a cup of tea at my desk.

For a second example, there are some people in this area who are working pretty hard to forge broader connections and community among bicyclists. Then there are people who refuse to do anything other than the very particular way they've determined is the Only Way things can get done. You can make a wild guess about the primary demographic that behaves in that manner, and your guess is very likely correct, because this has been a longstanding Known Issue within cycling advocacy, and was in fact part of the reason why our Arizona advocacy organization got started - there was an opportunity to create something more inclusive, and people did.

There are times when it sucks to live in a place and have to think, things could be so much better here, but this obstinacy is getting in the way.

But on the other hand, the bike valet is a thing I can do and help out with. So I'll keep doing that.

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The Bike Valet [bicycling]

2026-05-11T15:50:26Z

What a weekend!

I don't remember how much I've blogged about this particular project, but over the weekend a couple other people and I finally put on the Bike Valet for our city's big annual spring festival, Tulip Fest. The bike valet built off of what other people got started last fall for a community street fair. It has felt like a somewhat odd "in" for me for bike advocacy, but in the long run, that's fine.

Step 1 for the bike valet was talking with the right people who organize Tulip Fest to get on their radar. Helpfully, they were able to supply perimeter fencing for us, whew! Step 2 was gathering up the supplies, including that sign-painting party about a month ago. Getting the supplies over to the site is its own adventure. I've been helping the rowing club haul supplies to and from this festival every year since moving out here, because the festival is located in a park where car access and parking are complicated. Hauling things on a bike trailer, NOT so complicated!

The bike valet supplies were a fairly big load, however:

( the ins, outs, ups, and downs... )

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Impossible working conditions [cats, work]

2026-05-07T19:51:35Z

The cats have been "helping" me get things done today.

Martha was fascinated by the spinning bike wheel as I trued it:

Meanwhile...

Are you familiar with the acronym PEBKAC?

It stands for "Problem Exists Between Keyboard and Computer." It's generally used to refer to situations where the issue isn't so much the computer itself as it is the user of said computer.

Anyway, George is rather PEBKAC.

Here's his recent favorite snuggle spot:

He is easily offended if I dare to do anything other than just sit there, providing warmth and a nice snuggle spot.

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Graaaaaaaades...(said like Braaaaaains) [status, work]

2026-05-07T16:06:43Z

Gave my students their final exam yesterday. I always include two "treat" questions on the final. The first asks them to identify and talk about one of the physiologically "exceptional" animals we've learned about over the course of the semester. I always enjoy hearing about which animals stand out the most to the students. I highlight a lot, ranging from the fact that bears don't experience muscle atrophy during hibernation, to the fact that tuna breathe using a method known as ram ventilation. Anyway, I always enjoy seeing which animals stand out for any particular group of students.

The second question asks them to identify three things that they think will stick with them from the course, 6 months from now. The things aren't limited to concepts, so it's also fun to see what everyone has to say.

These questions are actually a super important part of the course; inasmuch as we are learning lots of concepts and information, learning is also inherently relational. The personal connection to the ideas is what helps keep everyone engaged.

Anyway, I am really proud of myself because I managed to slog through the exam grading right after I finished giving the exam. Part of my motivation was wanting to be able to work from home today, which is what I'm now doing.

That said, I am also intentionally not working very hard today. Instead I am drinking extra coffee, doing some prep work for the bike valet this weekend, and catching up on various other odds and ends at home. Because frankly, by the end of the semester I'm running on fumes, and I know I need the time to regroup and recover.

I'll be back at work again tomorrow, because I'm not completely done yet. I have a student who needs to finish up a research paper, animals to continue taking care of, and some other stragglers, too.

And it's just about time to start getting ready for the summer. Another busy one, at that.

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Some blooms [gardening]

2026-05-05T21:06:31Z

These are mostly from campus, but also my garden.

The internet tells me this is a Japanese Kwanzan Double Blossom Cherry. Anyway, here it is shortly before blooming:

And then bloom'd:

This year I was also really struck by the beauty of this stand of trees, which I believe are all crabapples:

There are a couple of redbuds tucked behind the crabapples, which I also really enjoy this time of year.

Meanwhile, in the garden, the Useless Rhubarbs are going wild.

If they could talk, I'm sure they'd say, "The better to propagate, my dear." But c'mon, rhubarbs, you have one job, and that job is to make delicious juicy stalks! Harumph.

Meanwhile, the rest of the bed is full of strawberry flowers, which will more happily turn into delicious strawberries at some point.

To celebrate this season of flowers, I'm having a beverage made with Creme de Violette. And also with some of the gin that a cousin gave to me like 5 or 6 years ago. And with one of the precious Meyer lemons my sister sent to me. My stockpile is dwindling but I'll enjoy every last one of 'em!

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George and Martha Go Outside [cats]

2026-05-05T19:30:19Z

The cats were asking so nicely yesterday if they could please please go outside, pretty please it's nice out and there are Birds to consider murdering*, so I relented.

I made George wear a purple vest in the hopes it would deter him from jumping around too much.

Here is a photo of George that illustrates how his brain is reduced to a single neuron whenever he goes outside:

He wanted All the Attention.

Plus lots of flopping around.

Martha is a bit more circumspect outside.

You can just tell that her brain can handle the overstimulation of it all, but it IS a lot to contemplate.

She did get interested in investigating whether a cat could jump from the lip of this wine barrel planter up onto the window ledge on the porch, but eventually decided against making an actual attempt.

George, however, is a different story, best told through this short video:
https://youtube.com/shorts/LK2SVg1ECeA?si=hS7nH3kiEZzxdo70

It looked like a rough landing for him but he isn't showing signs of major distress.

After this episode I brought him back indoors. We definitely need to create better climbing structures for him inside of the catio. Ahh, life with cats.

*The goal is to NOT have the cats ever murder the birds, to clarify.

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This time around I did have some Thoughts [bicycling]

2026-05-04T12:06:15Z

I might not get to articulate things for another day or two, however, because it's Finals Season and I'm playing catch-up on everything. To wit, the house did not get vacuumed this week but we're just going to live with it.

Anyway - 300k done, in 16 hours.

Just prior I finally read the Renee Hearse treatise on supple tires, and now I want to experiment on that front.

I am also thinking I need to change up Froinlavin's gearing, but I don't pay too much attention to gearing so I have some work to do there.

I have a lot of bike maintenance I need to catch up on in the near future.

The short version of the 300k: We started in Westfield, MA, dipped down into Connecticut, then turned noses north and rode up into southern Vermont, then back south to Westfield. It was a Phenology ride: Connecticut was in full bloom - dogwoods, lilacs, redbuds, still some cherries, some daffodils, tulips, phlox, everything in all those beautiful shades of bloom and green.

There were places in Massachusetts captured right at that stage where the fiddleheads were just barely beginning to leaf out. Fairy tale landscape and I regret I didn't pause for one particularly beautiful moment to take a photo but the image will live on in my head.

The hillsides in Vermont were still the gray of late winter/early spring, certain things just barely starting to leaf out.

Parts of the ride were somewhat surprisingly remote, but I guess that's a good thing to have learned about the northern Berkshires.

My hip and back are still pretty creaky today.

I missed my chance to look at the Housatonic Tunnel!! I need to learn more about that.

I think I lost my cycling gloves at the finish line, sigh. I need to modify the next pair so they are less Stealth and more Obviously Mine.

Route URL, photos to follow later: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/380962991

Better go to work now...

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Going in circles again [bicycling]

2026-05-01T16:15:12Z

Saturday's plan: first loop down to Connecticut, then loop back up through Massachusetts to Vermont.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54901197

With so many other things buzzing around in my head lately, I think I'll be glad for a day where I have One Job.

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Stuff, things, stuff, things, and snack prices [status, projects, stuff, things]

2026-04-30T15:37:49Z

I've decided that it should be an annual tradition for me to gather up all my research ducklings for an end-of-year lab celebration. Conveniently, we have a day dedicated to research presentations, so we're going to just use one of the hours for our celebration.

In an ideal world I would have the bandwidth to make the festive drinks and snacks myself. Looking at my calendar for this week, I had to unfortunately conclude that I would need to resign myself to going to a conventional grocery store to obtain premade festive drinks and snacks.

Dear reader, the sticker shock. My usual grocery shopping habits involve purchasing ingredients in bulk from the grocery co-op. The co-op actually works really hard to keep prices down, with an awareness that everybody needs to eat and not everybody is rolling in the dough. Also, bulk raw ingredients and locally-sourced produce are inherently going to be less expensive than anything created and marketed by a middleman.

Somehow I was most amazed by the prices for a bag of chips, easily pushing upwards of $5-6/bag now. All told I still went ahead with my purchase of festive snacks and drinks, but, wow. Guess I'd better not develop a chip-eating habit anytime soon. More than anything, the unevenness of the price hikes fascinates me.

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Right now I'm in the midst of a supply ordering frenzy at work, and a supply ordering frenzy for miscellanea for the rowing club. It's a hectic double-whammy. You might be surprised to learn that rowing our carbon-fiber and fiberglass rowing shells out on a river full of fishing boats and logs results in damage to said vessels. At present it seems the rate of damage is outpacing the rate at which we can carry out repairs, particularly in cases where we have to order specialty replacement parts, sigh.

The ordering frenzy at work is always stressful. I have to sort out which of the various expensive instruments I might possibly be able to afford to replace, then go through whatever rigamarole is involved in getting a quote, sending it to the right person, et cetera et cetera. Right now I'm at the stage of just replacing all the consumables in need of replacement, which I need to do before I will have a sense of what else I can afford.

I'm also going to need to do additional parts management for my Bicycling class fleet, as mentioned previously. For that aspect I don't yet know whether I will be able to pay for things through work, or whether I need to set up a side hustle. The parts aren't going to be insanely expensive, but on the other hand, just on principle I don't really want to join the legion of teachers who pay for supplies out-of-pocket.

Oh, and then there's thinking about what field supplies we might want and need for the summer.

Yeah. Whee.

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Who knew? [random]

2026-04-28T20:44:35Z

Most of today has been devoted to proctoring a lab practical exam, which is rather tedious but necessary. So while I sit around, I've been working on tackling a handful of orders for miscellaneous items. For instance, I noticed some of the tape supplies at the boathouse have been running low, so I searched around for some duct tape on McMaster-Carr's website.

And lo, that's how I learned that Nuclear-Grade Duct Tape is a Thing that Exists:

https://www.mcmaster.com/products/duct-tape/nuclear-grade-duct-tape~~/

It makes sense, yes, but STILL. Nuclear-Grade Duct Tape.

I mean, it's almost tempting to buy some just so I can periodically say, "Do I need to pull out the Nuclear-Grade Duct Tape for that??"

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Bicycling news [bicycling]

2026-04-27T21:52:22Z

1. The spokes on Frodo's rear wheel almost reached the point of being dangerously loose. I'm going to have to spend some quality time with the truing stand now, sigh. At least I caught it in time? Maybe?

2. I tried riding Princess TinyBike to the Empire State Museum this past Saturday, but the dyno hub is making some really horrible shrieking noises that make me think some saltwater managed to work its way into the exceptionally well-sealed cartridge bearings, sigh. You might be amazed/horrified by how far the saltwater from winter riding can work itself into things. It's really bad, really.

3. Today during Bicycling class (~10 students total):
-Bent gear in the middle of a cassette (??!!)
-Pedal fell off - no idea how that worked loose, it re-threaded back on just fine, at least (whew, not stripped).
-A second bike whereupon the rear wheel ate the derailleur, like it does.

...I definitely need to come up with a fundraising/funding scheme for general management of the Bicycling fleet. Also, the helmet-wearing resistance of this cohort is obnoxiously bad.
Was sunny and warm better than last Monday's snow flurries? Or just different?

4. Planning for a Bike Valet at Albany's annual Tulip Fest is well underway. I hope some other people sign up to help run the valet with me? I need to ply people with food and drinks, but not alcohol, at least not directly at the event itself.

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Well THAT hasn't happened in a while... [status, work]

2026-04-27T16:10:26Z

I opened up my lunchbox to eat my lunch, and discovered that I'd forgotten to eat my breakfast.

That DOES help to explain why I felt a bit off-kilter during lecture this morning.

Right now it seems like there are a lot of people trying to invent extra problems that definitely do not need to be solved by me in the next 10 minutes, but nonetheless sharing them with me anyway. Unless it's the birth of a baby or a heart attack, I'm telling people that the thing would be totally great to bring up at one of the multiple preordained times for discussing such things.

I am not sure that my delivery of this message includes the appropriate bedside manner, perhaps due to the lack of sufficient calories arriving to my prefrontal cortex.

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Addendum: The violets are blooming [food, gardening]

2026-04-26T23:37:52Z

The old couple who owned this house for decades planted flowers everywhere. Those are their snowdrops that come up first thing in spring. (pictured earlier this year)

They also planted grape hyacinths through the lawn:

The hyacinths last up until the guy hired by the landlord comes by and starts the annual lawnmowing.

Useless Rhubarb update:

I have two varieties of tulips:

Some are Teeny Tiny Tulips, you can see a teeny tiny white flower from one of them in the above photo.

I don't think I'm going to get many flowers from the larger tulips this year. Plus, the bunny rabbits do love to snip off the flowers. If I had bunny rabbit teeth, I'd probably enjoy snipping off the tulip flowers, too. I don't know what kind of soil amendments the tulips like.

Next to the Teeny Tiny Tulips are some blooming violets. The side yard lawn has a number of violets embedded in it, too.

The violets all made me think about the Creme de Violette liqueur I obtained several years ago, so I also mixed up an Aviation cocktail for myself this afternoon.

Gin is strong, and I think that's why I wound up spilling chopped garlic all over the kitchen floor while cooking today's soup. On the other hand, cooking while tipsy is pleasant.

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Sunday Sunday Sunday [status, projects, food]

2026-04-26T23:17:47Z

This morning I was disappointed to learn that the word SHART is not in the Scrabble Dictionary. In case you wondered.

I still managed to win the weekly Scrabble game, so I wasn't that disappointed.

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When I was cleaning out the freezer the other day, I noticed that there was a bag of frozen strawberries in there, dating back to 2022. Also a bag of frozen rhubarb.

So there is now some strawberry-rhubarb cobbler.

I also made a batch of tomato-lentil soup, and more cherry-almond scones, to serve as breakfasts for the week.

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The middle of the day got allocated to a trip to the hardware store in Troy, followed by more boat work. Because I am substitute coaching tomorrow morning, I tried to keep a brisk pace for the ride.

I need to figure out where I can buy some peel ply, that stuff looks super useful for my life. Just saying.

Most of my spray paint work was fine, except for one section where I applied too much at once, and caused drips. But I have time, because we haven't yet ordered the replacement skeg for the boat. It's going to be one of those projects that gets worked on for 5 minutes here, 5 minutes there. Lots and lots of sanding. Good thing I'm good at sanding by now!

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I let the cats have some supervised catio time this afternoon, because the weather was so nice. George, of course, LOVED it, and now that the cats are back inside they've been crying and crying to go out again.

-

Time to go eat some of that cobbler, then maybe have a quiet evening. Ha.

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Stuff and Things and Projects and Projects [rowing, projects]

2026-04-26T00:25:56Z

I thought I had signed up to go rowing this morning, but then I had one of those mornings where I had insomnia through the night up until the hour before the alarm went off. When I went to check what the consequences would be of dropping out, I discovered I hadn't signed up after all! Whew, off the hook!

But was I able to fall asleep again after that? No, of course not.

So I got up to start working on the hundred things that were on my mind waking me up all night. Namely, dealing with all sorts of Stuff and Things and Projects.

In that regard, I did a bunch of work rearranging various bits of rowing stuff. Well, to begin with, I finally ordered and received another batch of rare earth magnets, so I could finish the project of gluing magnets onto rowing trophy plaques, as seen here, with George for scale (and for aesthetic reasons, naturally):

The plaques got loaded into the pictured yellow-lidded storage bin, carted over to the boathouse, and installed. I'm so DONE with the plaques that I didn't even take an updated photo of the trophy wall.

( more on the boathouse adventures... )

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In lieu of words, how about just pictures? [status, cats, work, rowing, projects]

2026-04-23T20:38:30Z

1. Tuesday lab crayfish! So fun.

( clicky for that, and more... )

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pauses to inhale [status, work]

2026-04-22T20:47:48Z

Last lab of the semester yesterday. The students enjoyed the crayfish tremendously, a reminder of why I go to such great lengths.

I tend to experience insomnia in the spring, which I suspect is mostly due to allergies. When it struck this morning, I went ahead and got up to go to the optional Wednesday strength training practice with rowing teammates. After all, exercise can really help with anxiety.

There are just a lot of loose ends to tie up: Getting us in lecture to where we'll actually finish out our course topics for the semester; ordering supplies needed; fixing a bike from the Bicycling class so a student can get back out on it; watering the ants and checking the crickets; meeting with research students; setting up the lab for the lab practical next Tuesday; et cetera.

High-octane life can't go on indefinitely.

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When Sundays go slightly sideways [status, housekeepery, projects]

2026-04-20T17:34:30Z

Well, first off, the cats woke me up super early. Thanks, cats. But on the other hand, I DID want extra time in the morning so I could zip over to the grocery co-op, so I managed as much.

The bonus vacuuming activity of the week involved vacuuming out our tatami mat futon bedframe. I'll spare you the details, but will say the end result was highly satisfactory. Along with that I changed out the flannel sheets for regular cotton bedsheets, just in time for another little cool spell.

I also managed to get the second coat of paint onto the current batch of oars on the front porch. That went very well, reinforcing my sense that I'm finally getting the hang of this whole oar painting business.

But then I ran out of time and energy to work on the sanding prep for the next two sets of oars in the basement.

Instead, I did some dishwashing and prepped a big batch of a pumpkin-cauliflower-coconut curry, and I ordered a couple of the items on the "to order" list for the rowing club.

These are all things that seemed to take far longer than they should have.

Oh, and graded some quizzes. I still have slightly more of a grading backlog than I'd like, but I'm whittling the pile down bit by bit.

I don't feel like I should feel this tired on a Monday, but on the other hand I could point to a half-dozen reasons why I AM this tired on a Monday (*glances at cats*).

But it would take time to dwell on that, and there's grading to finish.

Even though I won't let him go outside, George has been super snuggly. Martha has her moments, too.

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Cat news [cats]

2026-04-19T10:19:13Z

Because Cat News is the Best News.

Here's a carpenter bee that got stuck on the front porch on Thursday:

The cats were quite interested in it.

I released the bee back outside shortly after this video, and it flew off.

Part of the reason George is keen for Catio time is that he loves hunting and chasing things out there. Here he is with his favorite stick:

This video can give you a sense about how much he LOVES to chase this stick, except imagine this video is about 10 times as long and the chasing and pouncing are even more ferociously cute:

In fact, he loves his stick so much that when I tossed it into the basement to try and get him to go back indoors, he jumped back through the catio door into the basement, and, well, see for yourself:

Hilariously, if I keep George out of the catio and just let Martha out, she loves the exact same stick game. I think they like being able to chase and pounce on the grass since it's softer than many of our indoor surfaces.

Meanwhile, here's the part of the catio where George has been making his more recent escapes:

I tried wedging those pieces of wood between the pole and the side of the house, but (a) they're going to fall out, and (b) George just climbed up onto that window ledge on the side of the porch and then climbed over all my handiwork.

So that whole corner is just going to need to get redone, but that isn't something I'm going to manage to get to right now. But clearly it's something that needs to get done, based on how much the cats appreciate their outdoors time.

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