Author: marylowd

If your cat messes with your computer, try covering it with plastic sheeting…

Then your cat will be too busy enjoying hiding under the plastic to mess with your computer.

Unlike all my previous Shelties, Avery LOVES balloons. She likes chasing and punching them with her nose, and if they pop sometimes, the noise doesn’t bother her.

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This was my morning: watching fluffy white clouds drift over the fluffy white waves, under the awe-inspiring curve of a rainbow, all from the soothing warmth of a hot tub, as cool breezes played in the air. Continue reading “Heading Home after a Perfect Morning at the Beach”

I’m up to the 13th October Daye book, and there are all these octopus people and the main character’s closest relationship is with a cat fairy, and she hates water but keeps getting stuck in it…

And if you’ve read my books, you may be seeing some overlapping themes… Continue reading “Why You Might Like My Books If You Like (or Wrote) the October Daye Series”

My profound revelation of the evening: playing Diablo is sooooo much easier than running a magazine.

Also: easier than parenting.

Basically, playing Diablo is good, and I will do more of it now.

I’m watching Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, and of course, the music is off the charts amazing. But also… my god… listening to Taylor Swift talk about being afraid the label wouldn’t want her album… being afraid other musicians wouldn’t want to work with her… Continue reading “Watching Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions”

What Hazel wants most in the world is to murder human hands. Unfortunately for her, she also doesn’t wish to displease her humans. She is a sweet cat.

So every day, she begs me, meowing so pretty, “Please, may today be the day? May I destroy your hand?” Continue reading “The Deep Nature of Our Younger Bengals”

Two of the biggest skills I’ve had to work with Elder Child on for getting their homework assignments done are, “Yes, that thing you just said out loud is good enough, WRITE IT DOWN,” and “No, DO NOT DELETE that thing you just wrote down.”

This lesson also applies to writers.

You know how dogs just really need to be praised and told they’re good dogs? Like just for being dogs?

I think people need to be told that more too. This is why Mr. Rogers was so important. Continue reading “Diablo and Mr. Rogers”

I’ve been watching the BBC show “Ghosts,” and it’s absolutely charming. It has a kind of similar off-beat, quirky humor to “What We Do in the Shadows,” except about ghosts instead of vampires.

Highly, highly recommended. Continue reading “Offbeat Ghosts and Vampires”

My mom bought a this fake tree after figuring out I was allergic to Christmas trees. (They’re filled with mold.) My dad objected strenuously to us switching to a fake tree. But I finally stopped spending the whole of December sick, turning into lingering bronchitis through the spring.

One year, we visited Jewish friends for a couple days around Christmas, and my eternal winter cold lifted. My mom put that puzzle piece together with the fact that I always perked up on Christmas Eve at Grandma’s house — which had a fake tree. Continue reading “Fake Christmas Trees”