Let's be honest, cat content just makes us smile. And it's silly. And my god do we need to smile and be silly right now (had wax removed from my ears a few weeks ago so the experiment will have to wait...).
I subscribe to the Browser so read that earlier and nodded in recognition- my ex-boyfriend and I discovered our cat loved earwax 25 years ago (she was impervious to catmint, though - turns out it is not, err, catnip to all cats). My dogs seem to like waxy earplugs, too, and would eat them if I let them. What I’d really like to know, though, is why both cats and dogs get what is often called the zoomies or the mads, the funny 5 minutes. Haven’t seen a good feature on this phenomenon.
You’ve probably seen it, but ICYMI, I recommend Holly Lawfodd-Smith long piece on Contrapoints in Quilette.
I did think about trying that with my cats, but I'm at work and I will have forgotten all about it by the time I get home, which is probably for the best. Unrelatedly, I have been obsessed with that Dame Edna / Camilla bit this week, which I just think is PERFECT. Man was a genius, of sorts.
Had two wonderful cats, RIP angels. One of them would bite my finger if it had earwax on it. By coincidence, I last night had a dream about her getting closer and closer to my ear in order to bite it off. These were the gentlest of souls - cozy lapcats that lived to 18, but they were heat-seeking missiles when it came to my ears.
Not sure about dogs ignoring earwax. Mine is always sniffing other dogs’ ears, and they reciprocate. However I’m not going to see what she thinks of my earwax, which anyway smells of roses.
Yes, something Ellen Barry is trying to dig out/imply about the relationship between Dr Herman and Dr van der Kolk I think? related somehow to her horrible injury, that he was exploiting it/her for his book. Interesting juxtaposition/lacuna here:
“All the noise around trauma is all about white men,” remarked Mary Gorman, a psychiatric nurse specialist. “It’s like she’s the forgotten stepchild.”
Dr. van der Kolk
(I loved his comment about the false memory/Satanic panic period: "Almost all of us bit the dust in the memory wars")
Some NYT writers are so good at nuance and the unsaid though! I def. think very subtle irony is very much an American thing, probably because (unlike Brits) they can sound legit sincere without breaking character.
Truly, the only thing stopping me from putting my finger in my ear and getting my cat to sniff it is the fact that I'm reading your newsletter while commuting
Can’t believe I’ve been labouring to produce #longform all this time when clearly what people want is cat/earwax content. What a wasted life.
Let's be honest, cat content just makes us smile. And it's silly. And my god do we need to smile and be silly right now (had wax removed from my ears a few weeks ago so the experiment will have to wait...).
Swedish translation: Greg is called a “Hapsburg giant”. https://twitter.com/SkarsJoy/status/1650698500965793792?s=20
Thank you!
I subscribe to the Browser so read that earlier and nodded in recognition- my ex-boyfriend and I discovered our cat loved earwax 25 years ago (she was impervious to catmint, though - turns out it is not, err, catnip to all cats). My dogs seem to like waxy earplugs, too, and would eat them if I let them. What I’d really like to know, though, is why both cats and dogs get what is often called the zoomies or the mads, the funny 5 minutes. Haven’t seen a good feature on this phenomenon.
You’ve probably seen it, but ICYMI, I recommend Holly Lawfodd-Smith long piece on Contrapoints in Quilette.
I did think about trying that with my cats, but I'm at work and I will have forgotten all about it by the time I get home, which is probably for the best. Unrelatedly, I have been obsessed with that Dame Edna / Camilla bit this week, which I just think is PERFECT. Man was a genius, of sorts.
Had two wonderful cats, RIP angels. One of them would bite my finger if it had earwax on it. By coincidence, I last night had a dream about her getting closer and closer to my ear in order to bite it off. These were the gentlest of souls - cozy lapcats that lived to 18, but they were heat-seeking missiles when it came to my ears.
My cat Haggis sniffed my finger a couple of times with perhaps *slightly* more interest than he sniffs an unwaxed finger, then went back to sleep.
Sorry, my ears are too clean.
Empirical study: two cats, v different temperaments, both love earwax. Done in the name of science of course. Yet another cat mystery
Probably Habsburg as in the 17th century palatinate. Me neither till I read Clare Jackson’s illuminating history of the Stuarts et al in Devil Land
Not sure about dogs ignoring earwax. Mine is always sniffing other dogs’ ears, and they reciprocate. However I’m not going to see what she thinks of my earwax, which anyway smells of roses.
Yes, something Ellen Barry is trying to dig out/imply about the relationship between Dr Herman and Dr van der Kolk I think? related somehow to her horrible injury, that he was exploiting it/her for his book. Interesting juxtaposition/lacuna here:
“All the noise around trauma is all about white men,” remarked Mary Gorman, a psychiatric nurse specialist. “It’s like she’s the forgotten stepchild.”
Dr. van der Kolk
(I loved his comment about the false memory/Satanic panic period: "Almost all of us bit the dust in the memory wars")
Some NYT writers are so good at nuance and the unsaid though! I def. think very subtle irony is very much an American thing, probably because (unlike Brits) they can sound legit sincere without breaking character.
Don’t judge me too hard. He does eat flies after all.
Truly, the only thing stopping me from putting my finger in my ear and getting my cat to sniff it is the fact that I'm reading your newsletter while commuting
NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND is brilliant. Thanks for pointing me towards it!
Pop ‘Closed Captions’ on this: https://youtu.be/bx5YL6Gac4c
Just waiting here for the Swedish translation...