Date: Thu, 12 Jan 2006 01:34:27 -0500
From: Ted White <twhite8 at cox.net>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Elspeth's cat . . .
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

Elspeth Kovar wrote:

>  At 01:37 AM 1/11/2006, Ted White wrote:
>
> > Elspeth Kovar wrote:
> >
> >> Folks,
> >>
> >> One of my cats had been on an iron lung AND dialysis and, while
> >> she was doing well, all things considered, subsequently died. It
> >> was rough all around and I really do appreciate the kind
> >> condolences and apologize if I took them poorly.
> >>
> >> The thing is, I just looked down at her and asked her how she
> >> felt about her trials, tribulations, and death. To which she
> >> replied, "Myap". That could mean any number of things but given
> >> her position I expect that this time it means that she waiting
> >> for me to stand up for any reason so that she can steal my chair.
> >> Both she and I seem to have missed all this excitement.
> >
> > I feel you must've left out at least a sentence and maybe a
> > paragraph between those two paragraphs. In the first you say your
> > cat has died. In the second you discuss the fact that "she" is
> > currently alive. What is entirely missing is the transition from
> > one dead cat to another living cat. You know what you're talking
> > about, but an uninformed reader might get a jolt.
>
>  There was no transition thus no transitional sentence or paragraph:
>  it's the same cat.
>
>  I got a jolt as well when I learned all those things about my cat by
>  reading the minutes of two meetings. I believe that one was shortly
>  after Capclave and the death of my cat was reported at a December
>  meeting along with the fact that my father-in-law, my ex-husband's
>  father, had broken his neck in a car accident. His neck is still
>  broken and I'm very worried about him and the family especially since
>  I can't go visit because of the divorce.
>
>  But my cat is very much alive. Both of them are, in fact, but the
>  one who was ill is doing so much better that she's back to being a
>  pest, which she hasn't been in a very long time. The second one is
>  simply a pest. I wouldn't have them any other way.
>
>  The announcement that she was "on an iron lung AND dialysis" caught
>  me by surprise. Both of those are very expensive. Both are very
>  uncomfortable. Either one would so decrease her quality of life that
>  I'd let her go. And doing well when on both an iron lung AND
>  dialysis? (The capitalized 'and' is the way it's in the Journal,
>  presumable reflecting the intonation of the person giving making the
>  announcement.)
>
>  And a cat? On - or in - an iron lung?
>
>  I got a severe case of laughter and then giggles.
>
>  Then I came across the next reference to my cat (I actually have two
>  but only one has been ill) at which point I lost it again, and that's
>  when I asked her what she thought of all of this. "Myap" was the
>  best I could do to transliterate her reply. And suddenly the
>  expressions of concern made sense and I thought that I should
>  explain.
>
>  While explaining I should have realized that anyone reading 'my cat
>  died' would be paying attention to that rather than the absurdity of
>  the treatment. It would have been much better to start "I just
>  learned that . . . " and I do apologize for the jolt that it must
>  have given you.
>
>  I hope that I'll be somewhat forgiven due to the fact that whenever I
>  think about those announcements, especially the first one, I still
>  start to giggle out loud. Which, of course, puzzles the cats.

Okay.  I understand now.  I completely misread your original first
paragraph, and reading it now with hindsight I can see that.
Apologies.  "Reports of my cat's demise are exagerated...."

--Ted White