Black Cat Blog

Thoughts, Stories, and Ideas

  • My Favorite Cartoon Character

    Daily writing prompt
    Who is your favorite cartoon character?
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    I don’t have a single cartoon character that is my favorite, rather I have several favorites. The one most worth mentioning is Wiley Coyote. I have always loved Wiley Coyote and it has to be because I admire his persistence in the face of extreme pain and setbacks. In the face of adversity, Wiley does not give up, he simply regroups and tries again. I think his biggest (and ironically very human) mistake is his steadfast, cognitively dissonant refusal to stop ordering from the ACME catalog. He seems to think that eventually he will get a reliable product from that mail order company.

    Wiley also made me laugh and I had a rough childhood so laughter was, and still is, one of the most important things to me. The antidepressants that I take clobber all feelings and it can be tough. I cannot easily laugh as a result but Wiley can still be depended on for a belly laugh. I want to see the new movie Wiley Coyote vs. Acme. I just cannot convince my fiancee to come with me. She tells me I have to see it on my own. 😆

    Usually I have to have some THC to get a good belly laugh. The nice thing about THC is that (for me at least) it seems to undo the effect of dulling the positive emotions that antidepressants can and often do. At least Wiley is still good for a healing natural laugh.

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  • A Book That Inspired Me To Travel.

    Daily writing prompt
    What’s a movie or book that inspired you to travel?
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    Jame’s Clavell’s Shogun series inspired me to travel. After reading about his take on ancient and modern Japan, I had to go. It just so happened a late friend of mine, Brian Jarrett, and I had some vacation time to burn so we spent New Year’s in Tokyo. Ah the perks of working in Information Technology for a global airline! So both of us went on a little journey together.

    After a New Year’s celebration which I shall bring up later, we did a brief tour by train of the country side. Japan’s rural areas and the Kanto Plain looked nothing like I had imagined – it looked so much better and larger than life. The beautiful and ornate homes outside of the city were stunning. We visited art galleries, tea shops, and ate some of the finest of hand-rolled sushi I had ever eaten. I also had some delicious tempura.

    Now back to New Year’s in Tokyo. For starters, Tokyo has nothing on Las Vegas for sensory overload. It is truly a city that never sleeps. Yet for the hustle and bustle, there is a beautiful kind of order out of the seeming chaos. Also, the politeness of the older generation is exquisite. I remember the stunning fireworks, the bright neon and LCD screens everywhere. I remember staying in one of Tokyo’s capsule hotels because it was the only thing we could afford and even that was luxurious.

    Oh and I should mention, the vacation really began when we boarded our ANA flight to Tokyo from Los Angeles. Since we wore our airline IT polos, the most awesome flight attendant said, “We’ve got a space for you in first class.” OMG! That was an experience. I had steak and shrimp, fine expensive red wines, cordials for dessert … the seat was in a mini-suit with a curtain and decked out entertainment system. Our seats turned into full on beds that included pajamas and robes.

    By the time we arrived in Tokyo in the morning after what was a very long flight, we were rested and ready to go whereas most of our fellow travelers were more bleary eyed and exhausted. On our return home, we got upgraded again. Totally lucked out!

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  • Dinner With a Fictional Character

    Daily writing prompt
    If you could have dinner with any fictional character, who would it be?
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    If I could have dinner with a fictional character, I would want to have a it with the infamous psychiatrist, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, from Silence Of The Lambs. Dr. Lecter has an intelligence that’s off the charts. He makes mensa look ordinary. I would want to learn more about his past, trauma, and political leanings. I’d like to have some very wide ranging discussions with him simply for his intelligence. Please pardon my digression here but the actor who played Dr. Lecter, Anthony Hopkins, is quite intelligent and educated in real life.

    I would like to understand his compulsion to kill and then cannibalize but not to publish a book or to further my own ends and means. It is genuine curiosity about what drives a man to do such things. I know one movie attempted to explain Dr. Lecter’s history but I want to sit down with him and ask him more questions about his family life. If World War II had not happened, would he have turned out differently? I also would be curious about his take on me. He’s far more intelligent and educated than any psychiatrist I have ever seen so I would really be interested in his insight, as twisted as that may seem.

    So this leads to the questions of what we would order at a restaurant for drinks and main course. I think we would most likely order steak. I do mine well done and I am certain Dr. Lecter would want his bloody rare. The one commonality we might share would be Chiante. Chiante, Sangiovese, and Pinot Noir, coincidentally, are my favorite wines. Desert might be a fine cheesecake with a top shelf brandy or something to that effect. Ah what fun this would be.

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