Anybody who has ever had a cat knows you never use the word owns a cat, because it is the cat who does the owning. They tolerate us so long as we know our appointed roles in their lives. Tiger is our cat. I am the feeder. Jean is the mattress she sleeps on during the day. Andy is the playmate. When Tiger needs something done, she merely approaches the proper person, sits in her queen position, and waits.

Occasionally cats push the boundary a bit, and I have still not figured out if it is because they are innately dumb or deviously clever (although I tend toward the latter). For example, Tiger refuses to drink water except from a bathroom sink. To simplify our lives, we keep a water bowl full on the counter in both the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms. Usually she will jump up onto the counter (she is still amazingly agile for a 15-year old) and drink the water herself. But occasionally she will decide that standing water is just too old for her precious taste buds. Then she will perch in front of the bathroom door and wait until somebody sees her sitting there. When we see her, she will immediately enter the bathroom, assured we will follow her and replace the water.

So last night she was doing precisely that as I was passing the downstairs bathroom, so I entered the room and prepared to replace her water. But she just sat on the floor watching me.

“Don’t you want to drink?” I said. Drink is one of the few word she actually understands.

But no reaction, just stubbornly sitting there watching me. Shaking my head, I left and went upstairs. Suddenly she came bounding up the stairs and waited ahead of me at the door to the upstairs bathroom. For some reason only a feline could understand, she was in the mood for upstairs water rather than downstairs water!

Don’t even try to understand cats. You have a better chance of proving Fermat’s Last Theorem.

Some random thoughts...

▸ Here’s an example of why people with no knowledge of the past should never make comments on the present: it took this country a dozen years to escape the Great Depression. The current recession was probably the worst one since the Great Depression, yet many people in the country blame President Obama for not getting us out of it in 2 measly years! The words that immediately come to mind are narrow-minded and ignorant;

▸ The governor of NJ has announced that he plans to provide all residents of the state with property tax rebates next year. In past years, one of the main ways the state legislature provided those rebates was by not funding the state workers’ and teachers’ pension funds, illegally of course! Now those pension funds are in dire jeopardy, and the governor wants to cut back workers’ and teachers’ pensions as a result. He has already announced that he has no plan to provide funding next year, which is announcing to the entire state that he plans to take an illegal action. Yet he plans to find money for rebates? The words that immediately come to mind are amoral and insensitive;

▸ When the Republicans took control of the House of Representatives recently, their first piece of business was threatening to deny extended unemployment coverage unless the president agreed to preserving tax cuts for the very wealthy. It did not take them long to show their true priorities did it? The words that immediately come to mind are elitist and insensitive;

▸ To make their new entry into power even less impressive, the leader of the Republicans announced that their primary goal was to see that President Obama is not re-elected in 2012. Primary goal? More important than ending the war in the Middle East, repairing the economy and strengthening the country’s weak fiscal situation? If that is what he truly believes, then he is totally unfit to be running the country. The words that immediately come to mind are power-crazy and self-seeking;

▸ On a brighter note, the Academy Award nominations were announced today, and what is this!?! Not a single special effects thriller or juvenile comedy on the entire list? Absolutely shocking. Two movies I loved did make the Best Picture list, Toy Story 3 and The Social Network, and three movies I hope to see also made it, The King’s Speech, True Grit and Inception. I guess there is still a tiny bit of culture left in this poor country.

My Life and Times, part 6: My passion for books.

Life is all about passion. Now I realize some of you, upon seeing that word, immediately think of those scenes in movies where two people notice each other from across a room, make glowing eye contact, and then proceed to spend the rest of the movie trying to make babies while hoping desperately that they don’t make a baby.

That’s not the type of passion I mean. Passion is the difference between those people who are bored much of the time, having no activity which really gives their life any joy, and those people who are always filled with joy because they have a passion for something. Such as:

• a passion for art, either as an artist or a connoisseur of art;
• a passion for music, either as a listener or as a musician;
• a passion for science, either as a researcher or as a student of science;
• a passion for food, either as a chef or as a gourmet;
• a passion for sports, either as a participant or as a spectator;
• a passion for books, either as a writer or as a reader;

Or, in all the cases above, as a combination of active and passive participant in some endeavor. For me, it is books. I cannot possibly imagine either my past life or my current life without books, both reading them and writing them. Here are a few of my random memories involving reading or writing.

• Almost as soon as I discovered comic books at the age of 9 years old, I began writing and drawing my own comics. Fortunately, they were too bad to save and I no longer have them;
• As soon as I had a driver’s license, I would drive from Cliffside Park all the way to Hackensack which had the best bookstore in the area where I bought my earliest science fiction novels, such as Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy and Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars books (those of the ill-fated box I discussed previously);
• Almost as soon as I started reading Galaxy Magazine as a teenager, I started writing my own magazine entitled Nebula Magazine. How’s that for blatant plagiarism, haha?
• In the mid 1960s, I fell in love with “New Wave” science fiction, which combined the best of the past (sense of wonder, future speculations, taut plotting) with literary aspirations. Writers such as Roger Zelazny, Robert Silverberg and Samuel R. Delany were the people I admired most as a youth;
• When we moved to Whippany, I began traveling every week to the nearest mall having a bookstore. First it was Willowbrook in Wayne. Then Livingston Mall. Finally Rockaway Mall. My science fiction collection grew and grew;
• After discovering science fiction fandom, I started my own fanzine called Gradient which contained writing by me and my talented cousin Rita. It lasted on-and-off for twenty years, eventually giving way to my perzine (personal zine) Visions of Paradise which is now up to issue #160 and posted monthly;
• In college I decided that what I really wanted to do was write science fiction professionally. Upon graduation I devoted myself to that goal, spending six months writing my first novel. Two years later I attended Clarion West (a six-week speculative writers’ workshop), then spent every free minute for the next 15 years writing fiction, all to no avail;
• In the 1970s I discovered another group of science fiction writers as talented as the New Wavers of the 1960s: Michael Bishop, John Varley, C.J. Cherryh, George R.R. Martin. I aimed my own writing at their high level, which I did not realize until several decades later was way too high a level for my meager talents, and that I would have been better off emulating lesser journeymen writers instead;
• In the mid-1980s, tired of having no contact with fellow sf fans at all, I joined an amateur press association where I traded Visions of Paradise with dozens of other fans. That cut my writing time drastically, but the interaction with other people passionate about science fiction was a worthwhile trade-off;
• In the 1990s I gave up reading science fiction for over a year for various reasons, but during that year I discovered how truly exciting historical fiction could be, providing many of the same thrills as science fiction. Andrea Barrett’s stories about passionate scientists. Iain Pears’ thought-provoking historical mysteries. Elmer Kelton’s studies of frontiersmen;
• Considering how much I loved my students, I might never have retired were it not for the opportunity to write science fiction full-time. So long as I do not think about the Math Lab too frequently, I am very happy sitting at my computer most of the day.

Enough. By now you either stopped reading or are totally bored, lol.

I write best when I can flit from project to project for several reasons. One reason is that after I complete a draft of either a story or a nonfiction article, I like to think about it awhile before revising it. Another reason is that there are so many projects I want to finish that I enjoy keeping my hand in several of them simultaneously.

In the past week I have flitted between two nonfiction books–both first drafts–to a science fiction story in one of my two future history sequences (both of which are actually part of the same future timeline). I hope to finish that draft within a few days, then I’ll see where my whims take me next.

So rather than complete a project in four-to-six months, I am liable to go an entire year without finishing anything, then complete two-to-three projects in a matter of weeks.

MORE SNOW COMING TOMORROW?!?! At least that is the forecast so far, starting overnight, then turning into freezing rain during the morning and–-hopefully–-warming up and becoming all rain in the afternoon. If that last part happens, we’ll be all right, but up here on the hill there is always the possibility it will never get above freezing and we’ll be stuck with a thick coating of ice for several days.

As my friend Tom said to me at the YMCA this morning, I’m soooooo glad I do not have to drive to school every morning anymore!

Soon to be listening: I ordered two recent albums which I am excited about. Blackmore’s Night is a group featuring Richie Blackmore and his wife doing what can best be described as progressive-medieval-folk music. I ordered their live album Past Times With Good Company as an import from Germany, but since I ordered it through Amazon.com the price was no higher than if it was a domestic release.

My favorite current band is progressive-folk-rockers The Decemberists, both of whose last 2 albums were my albums-of-the-year, The Crane Wife (my favorite album of the 2000s) and Hazards of Love. Their soon-to-be-released followup The King is Dead is already getting rave reviews, so I ordered it from Amazon.com as well.

Currently reading. C.J. Cherryh is one of my very favorite writers, and I have not read her first collection of short fiction Visible Light in 25 years. So far, it is just as good as my memory of that first reading was.

Raise your hand if you’ve never googled your own name! I’ve done it, not only for myself but also for my friends. My name generally brings up several hits for my two published books, and occasionally one for my fanzines posted at efanzines.com.

But the most recent time I did it I got hits for an “account executive” in the NYC area who shares my name, and also a hit for the website http://www.robertsabella.com/testimonials.html. Obviously I was interested in reading the “testimonials” on that page, but I don’t know if I can reprint them here without incurring the wrath of the other “Robert Sabella” whose website it is. So, if you’re interested in learning who my alter ego is, go to that site and start reading the testimonials. I guarantee at some point you will start chuckling.

Movies: We get free Tuesday movies through our cable/internet service, but since we retired in June we have only gone to a half-dozen of them. That is mostly a reflection of how picky I am when it comes to movies. I would rather sit home and read a book than watch a mediocre movie, even for free! And there are lots of types of movies I dislike: special-effects extravaganzas, thrillers, movies about crime, juvenile comedies, horror movies, stupid remakes, love stories, war stories. So after eliminating all of Hollywood’s most common genres, what’s left? So here are the movies we actually saw in 2010:

• Toy Story 3: a fabulous movie, the best of the series;
• Secretariat: a very good movie, if a bit predictable since I remember the horse and knew exactly what the climax of the movie would be before it even began;
• Morning Glory: a fun comedy which made me decide that Harrison Ford would be the ideal actor to play the role of me in the “Math Lab” movie (which will never be made ☺);
• The Social Network: a great movie, worth all the acclaim and “best-of-the-year” selections it has been getting. I rate this movie a “must-see”;
• Tangled: one of the better Disney animations I have ever seen, comparable to Beauty and the Beast, which was my all-time favorite (all right, except for some of the ones I loved when I was very young, such as Lady and the Tramp and 101 Dalmations);
• Harry Potter and the Endless Sequel: Not having read the books (I read volume 1 and somehow never got around to the second book, the same as with Lord of the Rings which I began reading 45 years ago and still haven’t gotten back to it), I found the plot somewhat random without a lot of sense, but it was enjoyable so long as you do not think about it too much.

I really want to see The King’s Speech, but for some reason that has not reached the local theaters yet. Why not? Are there too many nonsensical movies taking screen space that they cannot find a slot for one of the few serious movies of the year (along with The Social Network)? And what does that say about the movie-going public?

Has anybody noticed today's date: 1/11/11? How's that for symmetry (and does anybody other than Kevin and me think that's really cool, lol?)

Last year at this time, I always anticipated snowstorms eagerly, anxious for a free day to sleep late and catch up on my grading/planning for school. But now that I am always free, a snowstorm is just an inconvenience. In the case of the 8-14" predicted for overnight tonight, it will likely cancel my luncheon date with Agnes tomorrow (although fortunately we have a “snow date” scheduled for Saturday). Not to mention all the cleanup the storm will require.

One of the joys of retirement so far is meeting with former students, either for lunches or just for conversations. It is actually better than having them show up unexpectedly at the Math Lab because then I always had interruptions, other students needing help, or classes to go to. Now we can spend 1-2 hours of uninterrupted conversation, which is nice. Of course, I do not know how long these meetings will last, but I am certainly enjoying them while I can.

Currently reading: Sailing From Byzantium is a fascinating book which I have dragged out far too long. Several months ago I read the first two sections about Constantinople’s dealings with western Europe (especially the Franks and Venetians) and the Islamic Empire, but know I am reading the final section about its dealings with the Slavs and Russians. This is the most interesting portion since I knew virtually nothing about the history of that region. I recommend this book highly.

We’ve been busy the past three days, so I have not gotten a heck of a lot of writing done. Thursday we went to the YMCA in the afternoon, then spent the evening shopping, along with a quick supper at Fuddrucker’s (one of the better fast-food places to eat).

Yesterday, after we cleared the driveway of 3-4" of snow which fell overnight and during the morning, we drove to Denville to visit Adrianne and her two youngsters Jack (age 2½) and Ava (8 mos). We stayed until about 5:30 pm, chatting and playing Jack’s Disney board games. It was a nice visit.

Today we went with Mark & Kate, Andy and Pat to The Rock to see Seton Hall play Syracuse. For the second consecutive year, Syracuse came into the game undefeated and ranked in the top 5 in the nation. However, Seton Hall’s best player Jeremy Hazell is out for the year with a broken wrist, so they have absolutely no good shooters. Still they played strong defense and only lost by 5 points, fighting right down to the wire.

After the game, went to Maggiano’s Italian restaurant for an early dinner. It is part of a chain with Macaroni Grill, but had much better Italian food. When you order one of their “classic pastas,” you get a second one of them free to take home. Since I ordered eggplant parmigiana, I also ordered gnocchi to bring home. Jean did not eat half of her huge chicken parmigiana, so we are set for dinner tomorrow. ☺

Here’s a posting which qualifies as either totally nerdy, or totally obsessive, or both! I decided to go through my recent records and journals and see which people I have had the most contact with since I retired last June. That contact could be visits, phone calls, chatting online, email, or as little as comments posted on my Facebook wall. The results are fairly interesting (I have also described each person as to how I know them):

Sneha Pendse / former student / 57 contacts
Jessica Shah / former student / 54
Sana Mohayya / former student / 43
Alan & Denise Gilbert / former neighbors / 36
Will Sabella / cousin / 34
Jessica Hum / former student / 32
Fei Fei Li / former student / 29
Brianne Jacob / fellow teacher / 21
Kevin Lin / former student / 19
Kathy Blechar / friend / 18
Leonard Yeap / former student / 17
John Purcell / fellow SF fan / 15
Tom Sadler / fellow SF fan / 14
Wenjing Zong / former student / 13
Pooja Shah / former student / 12

This is an interesting cross-section of people;
• one I have never actually met in person (John Purcell);
• one I have only ever met once (Tom Sadler);
• one person I grew up with (Will Sabella);
• one whose family lived with mine for about six months and have remained friendly since (Kathy Blechar);
• one who is a surrogate daughter and a part of my family (Fei Fei Li);
• 9 former students, which is scary since former students tend to drift away after they graduate from college and do not spend as much time online keeping in touch with people. Only 2 former students on the list are out of college--Fei Fei and Sneha.

Then I ranked the people on the list based on how long I have actually known each of them:

Will Sabella / 55 years
Kathy Blechar / 36 years
Alan & Denise Gilbert / 31 years
Tom Sadler / 19 years
Fei Fei Li / 16 years
Kevin Lin / 11 years
Sneha Pendse / 8 years
Wenjing Zong / 7 years
John Purcell / 5 years
Jessica Hum / 3 years
Brianne Jacob / 2 years
Sana Mohayya / 2 years
Jessica Shah / 2 years
Leonard Yeap / 1 year
Pooja Shah / 1 year

I find it interesting how few people I keep in regular contact with whom I have known more than 3 years--9 people. I assume if I compile a similar list in 5 years, the length of acquaintance should change drastically since I will not have any new students on the list (of which 5 of the most recent 6 people are). Will I even stay close to all my newest friends on this list for five years? ☹ Stay tuned to these pages to find out...

Things I’d Like to do in 2011 (which are not resolutions):

• write! I was slow to get rolling, but participating in “Write a Novel” month in November both got me into a pattern, and excited me because I finished an entire first draft and enjoyed every minute of it;

• read! I read 23 books and 12 prozines since I retired, which was pretty much an entire years’ worth of reading previously. This year I hope to read at that same pace for an entire year, which should be lots of fun;

• cook! I have mostly taken over all the cooking, and while most of my meals are routine, I do try to make one new thing each week. I hope to continue that pattern;

• Exercise regularly. We have been going to the YMCA three times per week, plus I do my stretching exercises regularly. What I have not been doing faithfully is taking walks, mostly because the temperature has been around or below freezing. Whenever the temperature is upper 30s or higher, I should try to walk more faithfully;

• There are several things I have not done enough since I retired, which I hope to do more of this upcoming year: practice guitar, study advanced mathematics and learn Chinese. I need to think about doing those things on a regular basis.

Things I’d like to see in 2011 (and probably won’t):

• Less greed and selfishness; the entire Tea Party movement is geared towards cutting the taxes of its adherents regardless of the ill effect on other people or the country as a whole;
• Legislators stop looking inward at what benefits themselves and begin looking outward at the needs of the majority of people whom they are supposedly serving;
• Congress stop holding the working class and unemployed hostage so they can provide benefits for the wealthy;
• The governor stop trying to create a caste system in which his rich allies are favored by the state government and public employees are treated like untouchables;
• Less hypocrisy by people who claim to have the common good in mind, when actually they only give a damn about their own selfish interests;
• People who know absolutely nothing about education, other than having sat in a classroom themselves, stop blaming teachers for all the ills of public education, when in fact they themselves do absolutely nothing to support their children’s education;
• Teachers stop being castigated as working too little and paid too much. Anybody who has a teacher in the family knows that is nothing but a damned lie;
• People finally take an interest in protecting the environment, instead of seeking ridiculous ways to claim that global warming is a hoax;
• Less stupidity! I fear for the future of a country whose citizens believe in so-called intelligent design and who might elect a president who believes she can see Russia from her house;
• Less bullying by the governor who seemingly believes he can treat the state’s residents as the weaker half of an abusive relationship, and that getting his own way is more important than doing the best thing for the state;
• The state legislature finally start paying their legal share of state workers’ pension funds, rather than stealing that money for political ends in spite of the state Supreme Court twice ordering them to fulfill their legal obligation;
• The state Supreme Court tell the state they cannot cheat all state workers out of their duly-owed pensions due to the greed of the legislature and the selfishness of many of the state’s citizens.

Things I’d like to see in 2011 (and hopefully will):

• My family continue to be happy, healthy and relatively comfortable;
• At least two novels completely written before the year ends;
• My former students continue on the track to good careers and happy lives;
• My former high school find a way to get rid of the incompetent people who are ruining both the school and several programs;
• Peace on Earth and good will to all people.