Critter thanks you! He seems to be astounding in just about every way. I’m vonvinced every decent human being should should have a cat.

Thank you! He is loved, and probably spoiled. As am I now.

That makes three of us so far! I think this is how to start a cult. Regardless, Critter appreciates your devotion.

Thank you! As much as we took him in, he took us in just as hard. He just needed a house to build his small colony.

Thanks for the excellent tip! My wife has had cats before, one notable long haired, and was familiar with the necessity, but not clear on frequency or suggestion of professional assistance. We’ve been using pet wipes in the few times we found a necessity. He keeps himself really clean, which I find admirable as a mildly OCD clean freak myself.

Thanks! You’re not kidding. Not to sound sappy, but in my late 40s now, I’ve been hitting that midlife existential crisis button hard for several years. Thinking about success, legacy, mortality. Devil’s plaything thoughts from lack of living. Since Critter showed up, I can’t recall having those thoughts.

He gives the best cuddles already, so I can’t wait for weighted blanket level snugs from a monster kitty!

I had hoped to net a groundhog with the rule, but Critter will suffice 🙂

Thanks for all the RL advice! We’re a child-free couple (I have an estranged one from a previous nightmare), so we’re probably already oversensitive to all of his needs. Being my first pet, and a kitten at that, learning how activeness can escalate from 0-10 immediately has been a experience. Yesterday, he was just chillin’ and I was convinced there was something wrong. He reminded me that I was being oversensitive by pouncing on my arm and playfully gnawing the heck out of it.

Vet thinks he may have some Norwegian Forest Cat in him. Stray, so who knows.

Wildlife love our backyard. We’ve had a family of groundhogs, skunks, raccoons, oppossums, gorgeous arrays of birds, specifically geese… lots of geese.

I adore these animals for no good reason, so much so I donned the house in cameras to catch their goings-on. It’s essentially a 24/7 parade of cute.

So my dumb rule. If any of them ever want to willingly enter our home AND allow us to bathe them, they can stay.

Not only did Critter essentially invite himself in, he also allowed us to give him a Dawn dishsoap bath in our bathtub (figuring if Dawn is safe for ducks, this lil fella would be fine). Not only did he allow this, he didn’t make a sound, fight back, or anything. Just a peaceful little wet mess of fur (with gigantic paws). Wrapped him up in a towel (tossed in the dryer for maximum warmth) and sat on the deck under the afternoon sun when he dried/rested. Even with the rule, we decided on a 2 week trial. That lasted less than a day.

Nothing exciting, but the probability of it all atop the impact his limited time with us has had. Just a lovely critter.

Armchair psychologist here also trying to figure himself out before the inevitable end.

I don’t think this is as much of an uncontrollable craze as it is hyper-awareness of your passive actions/thoughts. Imagine the opposite of complete, nothing to react to, ignorance x 10. I’m a perfectionist and a problem solver. I have to earn leisure through productivity. I constantly desire more of everything. I’m over-observant with grainy photographic memory. AND I’m hyper-aware of everything all the time. It may be my brain’s desire to consume or collect information, even if it’s trivial or irrelevant. This includes the passively hyper-focused observation of others.

You do it with dudes as well. Pets, cars, mailboxes. You get the idea. The only reason women stand out to you is likely because that’s just what you’re interested in. There was some faux research done a million years ago about how frequently men think about sex, and it was just short of nearly all the time. Since then debunked, but I still think it’s impossible for researchers to access the human subconscious, or our background processes. But like you said, you’re a heterosexual guy. It’s what we do. I too look at everyone I cross. Some stick with me, some generate uncontrollable thoughts or controllable urges.

I haven’t a clue what our current purpose is beyond the parasitization of Earth, but I imagine like all other living, breathing mammalia and friends, we were built for procreation, so it’s also only natural your brain is hot for the ladies. You’re just oversensitive to your thoughts, and then obsess over the thoughts, and then wind up here seeking advice. Or wait, is that me?

Kids (1995)

Similar to Requiem, a one-time-only must-watch.

Requiem for a Dream. You’re absolutely correct, a one-time-only must-watch. I always enjoyed re-watching films with friends, but this one is a no go. One thousand years ago, I added the DVD release to my collection on release. Where I grew up, our movie theater only carried ultra-mainstream titles, so when films like Requiem released to theaters, it was either a 2+ hour trek to the nearest metropolitan area or just wait for it to release on DVD. I could be misremembering, but I believe the DVD case was one of those awful cardboard cases with the plastic clip. Anyway, it was mixed in with the rest of the DVD collection I proudly displayed in my living room (we all did this). At least until I had to refuse requested viewing by different guests not once, but twice. Fortunately, somewhere around that same time, I pumped the brakes on tangible media, and started gathering digital rips. Packed all that valueless stuff up, and shoved it up in the attic.

I’ve always been anti-fascist. Now, according to President Lumpy DicknBalls, I’m a terrorist because I’m not a fascist.

Unpopular opinion (or fuck, maybe popular), permanent reassignment of the term “retard” to MAGA republicans. Get on it Marian-Webster.

When did we say he wasn’t? Just because his camp isn’t speaking the obvious doesn’t mean it isn’t abundantly true. I’ll never understand how human shit piles seem to live forever, while death creeps up on the few remaining decent people in the world. Guy I work with who would literally go out of his way to help ANYONE with ANYTHING. Even helped me swap my car’s alternator in the work parking lot one afternoon (we work in IT). Lived with cancer for 9 years, died last month at 59. Meanwhile, the Pedo Party 70+ crowd dismantles the world, laughing all the way to the bank, raping kids.

Ha! Where I work, you can almost place an exact date on the promotion based on what they’re driving. I bought my first new car in over 20 years back in 2024. People at work and in general immediately asking about my “raise.”

When I tell them it was a necessary purchase after my 2008 Mazda with 257k miles decided to no longer be a car, they grin. When I continue telling them the investment was much more stomachable because I was able to use 3/4 of the $60k inheritance my parent’s left me upon my mother’s recent death (all they had to their name was our childhood house, which my brother and I sold, paid debts from, and split the remaining balance), the air leaves the Earth.

Unfortunately, we’re a private university, so yes.

To a degree, kinda. Primarily responsible for technology onboarding and training as well as consulting. Subject to whatever the suits want pushed on employees. Been doing it for so long, I can’t think of any other work fitting to my current lifestyle (work to live) to know any better. Pays the midlife hell bills, leaving enough for leisure.

Made me gag. Well done!