DRUNKS AND DOLLS

 While it is indisputably a cat butt in that shot, it is a cat butt attached to a mousing cat. She doesn't like being on the counter, but as that is part of the mouseway, I put her up there to see if she could either find or intimidate them. She was quite interested for awhile, but no mousies came out, so we went back to our regular treats and catnip routine.

I did put out traps that look like big roach motels, and I haven't seen any mice, but I don't think the problem is solved.



In the meantime, Miep continues to slowly improve. She actually did something like cuddling last night, lying besides me and purring which is big for her.

The Johnny Macks' drunk squad kept me awake last night, even though I didn't go to bed until  12:30. I called the bar four separate times before they either closed the bar, drank themselves into a quieter stupor, or I just passed out. Not a happy night. Serious jerks. They're at it already, however, it is only 10:40. I don't complain until midnight.

Finally (!) saw Louise today to get back to work on Monsterwood. We worked steadily for about three hours without putting pen to paper, as it were, just hammering out ideas. Hard work and unsettling because we have not resolved some important questions. But such is the nature of creative work. Process process process. You don't always know when or why or even if something is going to finally work.

I decided to walk over to the B line in front of the Museum of Natural History instead of taking the 1 to the A/C to the F. As a rule, the farther uptown  you get on, the more likely you are to find a seat, especially at rush hour, which was getting to be.

There's a weird Goodwill on the way over and I stopped in. There really wasn't much there ... the store is not much bigger than a corner bodega. I bought some books, always lots of books on the Upper West Side, right? The most recent Carl Hiassen (not that one is different from another) and the Booker Prize winner from 2009 (Alice Munro short stories ) in hard cover. Right. I need more books, more things to read around the house.

On the way past the window, I saw this awful doll. Seriously, one of the ugliest dolls I have ever seen. This one looks as if it would kill you in the night.