No, not the real life crimey sort. The online gamey sort.

I’m modding a Pod People game, which I’m sure you’re tired of hearing about.

I’ve just subbed in to a Princess Bride game.

And my brother Joe and I are currently designing two games: One based on a gangland turf war, and one on terrorism.

We’re cheery people, ain’t we?

Thanks, everyone, for your kind comments on Isaac the cat’s death.

I feel like I let her down. She was sick before Steve died. She had stopped eating and it turned out one of her teeth had gotten so bad that she found it too painful to eat. That meant that her liver started failing, but we were too blind to see it.

We had just gotten her home on the Friday before he died, so on Monday I ended up having to take her right back to the vet to beg them to take care of her for a couple of weeks until she was, and I was, strong enough to survive.

She finally came home, stressed and anxious, but happy to be there. And she was thriving for a couple of weeks. Then I found the lump, the cancer on her jaw that might have been the reason for the dental problems in the first place. They could have done surgery, perhaps saved her, but her long stays at the vet had made her attitude so precarious I knew she wouldn’t stand for it. And I didn’t have the knack of handling her. I didn’t have Steve’s gentle patience. I get too upset, take it too personally.

It feels as if all of my flaws are on display in my life, as if every inability I have is finding some way to gain some final, tragic importance.

Next, we’ll discover my inability to enjoy “Twilight” has given a Tibetan yak farmer the grippe.

And yes, before you ask, I am being very self-pitying and I’m fully aware of it. Just–at least if you raise yaks–wash your hands. Take your vitamins. And duck, okay? Just duck.

I had to have Isaac put to sleep this afternoon. She was suffering from squamous cell carcinoma in her jaw and it finally made her unable or unwilling to eat.

It doesn’t get any easier. Saying goodbye should be something that I improve at with all the practice I’ve been getting.

If anyone is at all interested in playing an online strategy game, please give me a shout. I’m looking to replace a disappeared player and I’m having trouble finding a replacement. I’ll give you a cookie!

Edited to add: Time commitments: A couple of hours a week. Getting up to speed might take longer since the game has been running for a couple of weeks.

Here is the first thread, if anyone wants to take a look.

This is Popcorn and he’s modeling his new sweater. Details below.

I used a medium round loom with bulky weight Paton “Pooch” yarn in “Indian Summer.” It took one skein of 36 yards to make the sweater, plus another quarter of a skein with some worsted weight off-white yarn to make a cuffed collar that he couldn’t chew through in about two minutes. It’s imperfect, but really cheerful and Popcorn loves the attention.

Next up is a matching hat for his person.

Crochet kicked my ass when I tried it a decade ago, but I’m tackling knitting and I’M GOING TO WIN! RARR!

Yarn can smell fear.

The Indians, the candy, and the good news.

That is all.

At the end of April I had to go to a local high school to serve on a jury involving a drunk driving arrest. I was the alternate, which really just meant that I had to sit in the only chair on the stage that the whole audience could see and try in vain to fight off drowsiness.

It was a very boring trial.

I did get seven dollars for it, though.

I’ve been called back to jury duty, my previous alternate status notwithstanding. Apparently, people in my county are lawbreakin’ fools.

If I fall asleep during the trial, I hope someone pinches me. If I end up arrested for contempt, someone send me a cake. Don’t bother putting a file in it. It would make the cake taste all metallic.