In Which I Decide To Confuse Everyone By Changing My Cat's Names

Nope, I'm not kidding.

 Don't give me that look.

I have good reasons. It started with the urge. My dad's cat (mother of my cats) had kittens! Again (yes, this is a habit).

I'm sure I don't have to tell you how cute they are. And so tiny! They can fit into the palm of your hand. Len and I fell into  fits of "Ohhhhh, sooooo cute! Ohhhhhh, sooo soft! Soooooo tiny! Ohhhhhhh!" You get the picture.

I phoned home and gushed on about cuteness and softness and tinyness to my mother's dismay.

Mom: You guys know they won't stay kittens forever.

Sam: Yes. But they're so cute! And if we got them we could name them 'Louis' and 'Lestat'!

Mom: You already have cats.

Sam: But we could name them Louis and Lestat!

Mom: Why don't you just keep the cats at your dad's house?

Sam (pondering): Okay. But can we at least rename our cats?

Mom (laughing): What happens in six months when you get tired of Interview and regret naming them after the characters?

Sam: NEVER!

Because, although I admit I may get tired of the Vampire Chronicles, I will never get tired of the characters. They will be my life long friends. Who live inside of books.

So now Jinx is Lestat and Forest is Louis!

Just look at the similarities:

Brooding eyes, just like Louis

Blue eyes, just like Lestat

See? Lestat has blond hair and blue eyes. Cat Lestat, check (blond hair translates into white fur). Lestat is arrogant and a tad spoiled. Cat Lestat, check. Same goes for Louis/ cat Louis. No kidding. Just look at the pictures again.

On the Subject of Pronunciation:

How do you pronounce the name Louis?

See this video. Cracks me up every time.

How do you pronounce Lestat's name?

Here's what Laura Troise (with various contributions by numerous others) says (article from Anne Rice FAQ):

"There are three schools of thought on this:
Less-tat (rhymes with 'hat')
Luh-stat (also rhymes with 'hat')
Luh-staht (ah sounding like the 'o' in 'dot' or 'hot')"

While reading the novel aloud my mother and I used the third prounciation. Anne Rice uses the same prounciation. But in the film they tended to use the first form of prounciation. I was personally appalled. Less-tat just doesn't sound as vampire-y. When adressing my cat please use the Anne Rice way.

What happens if I adress your cat as 'Less-tat'?

You get sprayed (this also apiles for you adressing cat by old names).

Don't let this be you!

Thank you for reading and coping with my obsession!

From Bloodsucking to Fiddle De De

I just got this in the mail:

So far this book is amazing. Very candid. Anne Rice, in her own words talks about everything from first publication to the process of turning her novel into a movie.

She writes the kind of novels that make you really feel like writing but at the same time never, ever writing again because you know you can't possibly compare. Expect a biography of her life posted on this blog soon.

I also got this:

Oh. My. This book is breathtaking. I started reading it with my mom the other day and it has the same hold on me that one of personal favorites, Tuck Everlasting, did. Margaret Mitchell is the kind of writer whose work seeps into your soul, it drenches you in it's story and characters. Profound. Adictive.

I'm actually very talented when it comes to transitioning from this:

To this:

I love them both dearly. And I'll be posting reviews soon.

Archeology Essay

Perhaps what sparked my interest in archeology is because it is the study of past civilizations, therefore being the story of our past. And being an aspiring novelist, stories are the things that I generally live for. The story of our past......it's a complex and unexplored terrain that we must learn from if we ever plan on attending to our future. To able to unearth our own past as humans, as inhabitants of this earth.....to able to explore it and study and learn from the great rises and falls of our own species. An honor. To discover the footprints that man left behind, the tiny clues, carefully persevered bodies and secrets that past civilizations buried deep. The greatest story yet. The history of our world.

The word archeology derives from the Greek, fittingly translating into 'the study of what is ancient'. Very few artifacts of past civilizations actually endure the grueling test of time. Unless properly preserved, artifacts are likely to decay, be destroyed or simply fade as the centuries fly by. This makes an archaeologists mission in piecing together the great mystery of the past even harder. From the tiny clues that they are able to obtain they must attempt to learn more and dig deeper (no pun intended) into the tangle of what is left of the past. But how does an archaeologist proceed to uncovering theses artifacts? What is process that must be undertaken?

The archaeologist is first employed by either a museum, university, government or a private company before they are assigned an area. There are many steps an archaeologist must carefully follow in order to conduct a proper and legal archaeological expedition.

Area Research

Before an archaeologist can begin surveying an area they must first study the site's history and background. The archaeologist's team must learn of the people who'd once lived there and what kind of artifacts they might have left behind to better prepare them for the expedition.

Survey

An archaeologist's team survey's the area for any promising signs of artifacts. Sometimes, an archaeological team may chose to perform an aerial survey by tying cameras to airplanes or balloons (let's not forget the occasional kite) to get a birds eye view of the area. Other archaeologist's may chose to conduct a geopyshical survey, which in some cases can be an extremely effective way to see beneath the surface of the ground. Using a magnetometer to detect changes in the Earth's magnetic field, caused by iron artifacts and stone structures. Others still may chose to simply use a metal detector to sniff out metal artifacts under the surface.

Excavation

The site is now carefully uncovered, layer by layer. Archaeologist's ofter use shovels, hand picks, trowels, small brushes and dental picks to do the job. A essential part of the excavation process is recording. Every step of the expedition must be carefully written down or photographed. Larger finds must be photographed and mapped before being completely uncovered. Once uncovered, artifacts are bagged and labeled. The label must include the name of the archaeologist who discovered it as well as the site number.

Artifact Processing

Artifacts are taken to a museum to be cleaned and cataloged.

Analysis

The archaeologist's must study the artifacts and then attempt to figure out how they were used and time period they're from. The archaeologist must decipher as much data from the artifact as possible and then write a concluding report of all the information they were able to obtain from the artifact.

Curating

The artifacts are then expertly stored safely away by the museum workers so that they are available for future study.


The whole process seems thrilling to me. Being out there digging up the remains of our past and piecing them together for so that we may study them, learn from them so that we can avoid repeating our mistakes. We must do the best the we can for our world in the little time that we will be allowed to occupy it. We must leave behind artifacts for future civilizations so that they might learn from our mistakes. So that we can move on to make a better world but never, never forget our past. Time will keep moving forward, til we are all but ghosts of the past. Washed away by eternity. But never forgotten.