Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Kittens in Yarn Week: Day 2


     My post yesterday on kitties and why they're so cute was really meant to be a one-time deal, sharing the recent Scientific American story on the topology of cuteness. But the reaction from readers was so intense — extraordinary, really — that I decided to continue the theme and make this into Kittens in Yarn Week.
     For those who missed yesterday, not only did I explore the spatial-dimensional qualities of what makes a creature adorable, based on the Golden Section of antiquity, but I further realized that, because the news of late is so grim, and we spend so much time in negativity, bickering over meaningless political differences, some relief is in order. Isn't it nice to just sit back and look at a cute kitty and smile?  In searching for more images of playful puddy-tats with balls of colorful yarn to run for the rest of this week—and there really aren't enough of them, online, so as soon as I can I'm going to hire a photographer, buy some kitties and get busy — I ran into this kitten and yarn joke on cat joke web site.
    Q: Did you hear about the cat that swallowed a ball of yarn?
    A: She had a litter of mittens.     
    Now I suppose that joke itself could be seen as a little mean — it could be very dangerous for a cat to swallow a ball of yarn. She could choke. So while I should point out that the joke is fictional, and thus no actual cat ingested any potentially fatal yarn, I think by passing along that joke, "edgy" though it be, I'm showing that, under this "Kittens in Yarn" business you'll be reading here for the next five days, I'm still the same old Neil Steinberg I've always been, just mellowed and gratified by yesterday's enormous upswell of readership, not to mention commencement of my support of the good folks at Chik-fil-A. (Which is why, as you read here yesterday, that's I've changed the blog's name — "Every g*ddamn day" was so harsh, so negative. Places like WBEZ were reluctant to mention it, and the name scared off potential advertisers. "Every gosh darn day" is just as effective, and has more the spirit of sharp yet forgiving humor I'm now striving for, with none of the off-putting allusions to the deity. Chik-fil-A in no way was responsible for the change; it was just something I happened to do at the same time their ads went up).
      Just so you know the schedule, tomorrow, for Day 3, I'll be serving up three special recipes for cat food, for those of us who just don't trust commercial cat food because of all the waste water created by cat food production. Thursday we'll look at the yarn side of the equation — I've found several veterinary studies that suggest certain colors and types of yarn are preferred by certain varieties of cats. Friday, I will review the top 10 web sites dedicated to showing photos of kittens in yarn. Saturday I look at the hidden history of posters featuring, not only kittens in yarn, but cats with bowls of spaghetti dumped over their heads, or cats hanging by their paws over a cord with inspirational sayings like, "Hang in there!" And Sunday, being the Lord's day, I'll examine whether kittens can be said to have souls — of course they do! — and why we can be certain, based on hard, Biblical evidence, that our cats and kittens will be purring beside the Pearly Gates, waiting for us when we get to heaven. I'll also share some of the outpouring of comments I've received from yesterday's posting.
     Thanks again for all your enthusiasm, welcome to my new readers of "Every gosh darn day," and I hope you enjoy Kittens in Yarn Week, and will stay on for next week, when I focus on UFOs, ESP and Other Amazing Real Phenomena. For next week's full schedule, just click here.






5 comments:

  1. Nicely done, Neil. Very fun. I'll just note that I think you could have left out the link on "post yesterday." The joke is kinda blown when you announce it's a joke right off the bat. (Not that it's not pretty evident to your loyal readers, anyway.) The consternation of perhaps wondering how one had missed that post would have added to the intended spirit of foolishness, IMHO. Also, you can put up all this Chick-fil-A stuff with no trademark issues? Regardless, I'm looking forward to the upcoming intriguing post blowing the lid off of the UFO cover-up conspiracy.

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    1. My thinking was that, being so soon, most people would skip it, or keep reading then return to it. I was careful in the wording that I'm not being supported by Chik-fil-A, but I'm supporting them. Anyway, it only has to be up for today.

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  2. Nice job. Neil can put Chick-fil-A logo in there. It falls under the exeception umbrella "fair use." "Fair use" is use of copyrighted material done "for a limited and 'transformative' purpose" including comment, criticism and parody. (However, if I had a sense of humor, I should have said "no.")

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  3. Yours was the only April fools trick I've come in contact this year. How odd. Ok, there was the Coors beer popsicles a friend posted..all very upset about it, and wondering "who are they going to market these to!" Funny. Cute kitties and Neil? No way. Happy weekend sir!

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