The Michael Swayne Story V: King of his Castle

The big news of the day is that I have a new family member. Yesterday I was asked to go under the deck and find Omega. Instead of Omega, there was a different black cat under there. This cat is half the size of Omega, and has a white spot on his belly about the size of a U.S. quarter. I tried to scare him off yesterday, but then he came back and my brother and Dad fed him some scraps from dinner. Then this morning I went to feed Itsy Bitsy and Omega their breakfast. As soon as I opened the front door, the cat came right up to me and started rubbing up against my legs. I reached down, picked him up, and brought him in so Dad and my brother could see what their feeding this cat has done.

Dad asked if I wanted him to hit the cat in the head with a hammer. I said no. I also said that if anything were to happen to the cat (like it mysteriously disappear) it had better happen before I think of a name for the cat. It turned out that I didn't have to think of a name for him. Dad and my brother named the cat "you". At first I was sickened at the thought of a cat being called "you". There was no creativity included. I speak three languages, and they come up with "you". I suggested calling him 玉 (yu4- jade) or 魚 (yu2- fish) or even 雨 (yu1- rain). Fish would have been ironic, since he's a cat. The others wouldn't fit as well. But then my brother says that the cat will be called "U". I told him that it is a little to close to the Korean pop singer IU, but he decided on U. Now that I think more on it, U is a neat name for him.

So, U is now part of our family. Itsy Bitsy doesn't like him, but I think it's because she's jealous. She is no longer the baby. She hisses at him every time he comes near. And Omega is indifferent toward U. I wouldn't expect anything other than indifference from Omega. Omega is the kind of cat that only shows feelings toward someone if they serve a purpose for him. Well, for people other than me that is. He loves me to death. Everyone else, well to him they could fall off the earth.

U is the kind of cat that loves to be right up in your face. He's a lot like how Shadow was before he died. Maybe U is one of Shadow's nine lives. I told Dad that, and suggested that U should really be called Phantom or Apparition. It would also be appropriate as he is always trying to kill us by making us trip over him.

I played some more of Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings today. I only have one more hunt to do before I start on the story missions for Chapter 5. And I saved the most difficult for last. I have yet to defeat Hashmal. The Ultima battle was surprisingly easy this time around. I didn't do anything different, so I guess I just got lucky. I didn't save any of the experience from all the times I lost to Ultima. Anyway, I feel glad that Ultima is now an ally instead of a deadly enemy.

The plan for this evening is to work on my short animated film. I guess I will talk a little about it. It is about sneezing. That's about it. It will still take quite a while to complete. I just have what will be happening in my head. And other than a quick go around with what the animation software can do, I have not done anything with it.

Right now, the only thing distracting me from really getting down to working with the film is that I am re-watching How I Met Your Mother. I started watching the show a few seasons in, so it is nice to go and watch it from the beginning. But I need to buckle down and get my money's worth with all this software I bought for my computer.

I think I may ask for a ride to some shopping tomorrow. I want to get the cats a collar. I also want to see about a new messenger bag. And a new helmet. I know I said I wanted to wait until after my birthday, but I don't know how much longer my bag has left. Things keep falling out the bottom of it. The clips that are supposed to keep it closed are tearing off. I will do some online research just in case I am able to go tomorrow.

Well that's about all for now. I hope to see you around the forums, and until then...

Later!

Michael