clicked on a banner on top of my yahoomail a little while ago (something I do about as often as I run for Public Office) & was taken to the Friskies website, which is offering the following contest. it seems to be targetting a sad, delusional subset of humanity that wonders about things like: Would my kitties be happier if they had their own room? with little hammocks they could sleep in? with their names painted on them so they don't fight over whose hammock is whose?
a sad delusional subset of humanity to which, alas, I am a part of:
Friskies Cat Habitat Contest
Were looking for a cat frisky enough to win our grand prize a $10,000 Friskies Dream Team makeover of their favorite room, along with a lifetime supply of Friskies and $10,000 cash. Plus, five first-prize winners each will receive $10,000 to pay for their own room makeovers. Let us know why your cat should be called Americas Friskiest!
For your entry, youll need:
Essay. Write a short essay (100 words, maximum) from your cats point of view, describing just why he or she really is Americas friskiest. Also describe design elements your cat would like in the redesigned room, including areas for playing, eating and sleeping.
Two photos. One should show you and your cat playing in the room to be redesigned (no bathrooms, kitchens or unfinished basements). The second should show a clear, complete view of the room itself.
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Questions: What if your cat just isn't frisky enough, darn it? Should you ashcan the little blob & start shopping around for something with a bit more pepper?
Not really a question, but: There are millions & millions of people who won't bother to have a picture taken of themselves playing with their kitties of varying degrees of friskiness in a room they would like to transform. &, at the same time there are thousands that WILL, & are doing it RIGHT THIS SECOND. Think about it.
a sad delusional subset of humanity to which, alas, I am a part of:
Friskies Cat Habitat Contest
Were looking for a cat frisky enough to win our grand prize a $10,000 Friskies Dream Team makeover of their favorite room, along with a lifetime supply of Friskies and $10,000 cash. Plus, five first-prize winners each will receive $10,000 to pay for their own room makeovers. Let us know why your cat should be called Americas Friskiest!
For your entry, youll need:
Essay. Write a short essay (100 words, maximum) from your cats point of view, describing just why he or she really is Americas friskiest. Also describe design elements your cat would like in the redesigned room, including areas for playing, eating and sleeping.
Two photos. One should show you and your cat playing in the room to be redesigned (no bathrooms, kitchens or unfinished basements). The second should show a clear, complete view of the room itself.
banner
Questions: What if your cat just isn't frisky enough, darn it? Should you ashcan the little blob & start shopping around for something with a bit more pepper?
Not really a question, but: There are millions & millions of people who won't bother to have a picture taken of themselves playing with their kitties of varying degrees of friskiness in a room they would like to transform. &, at the same time there are thousands that WILL, & are doing it RIGHT THIS SECOND. Think about it.
Do you like Gaiman's stories?
[Edited on May 16, 2003]
Many years ago, I took some of these things that use to pile spontaneously in corners of every family house: things you would never ever think about disposing of, but you don't want to see around all the time, 'cause they don't are really of any use to you, see? Among them was a collection of postcards sent to my grandparents during all of the first half of the 20th century, and all my favoritest favorites among my childhood books -the ones I intended to leave to my own children, when i finally will got some (I have to grow up first, I'm yet far too young for that)..... I'd put all that carefully in cardboard boxes, and thought of a place where they would be totally safe. I finally put the boxes in my cellar, the most secure place I could think of: large, clean, well-ventilated, securely closed... nothing could happen to this stuff in such a place. Then, unknown to me, some neighbors did masonry works that ended with bricking up the cellar's vents... years went by... without air-holes any more, the cellar went increasingly wet... damp started flowing continuously from the ceiling... and one day I stepped down there and found the cardboard boxes had almost melt, and strange things (lichens? algae?) had grown from what was stored in them.
A Buddhist master would probably be able to build up an apologue out of this story, in order to teach us all prisoners of Illusion not to indulge in earthly attachments.
A children psychologist would suggest that it will be a good thing, for my children to come, not to have the litterary tastes another person's laid to them, and being instead offered the oportunity to build up their own...
Being neither of the above, I will allow you to draw from this story the morality that will please you most (if you think a morality is needed, of course).
Oh. Gaiman. I read only some of the comics he wrote the scenario of, and I liked all of them. I did read Good Omens as well, and plan to read Neverwhere as soon as possible.