cat comeback

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I was sad because the National Film Board of Canada had made everybody pull their YouTube copies of "The Cat Came Back." Then I saw that you can watch it at their page, along with other animations. So if you've been missing it, there it is.
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birthday week

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Last week, Sarah turned five. So we were getting geared up for that. On Sunday, we threw her party at the Holyoke Children's Museum, which went very well. She had about a dozen guests in the Dalmatian room. Cake was had, juice (which we brought) and punch (left over from an event earlier in the week) was drunk. Kids played in the museum. Sarah got to run and climb in the big climber doodads with friends that she knew, and after we cleaned up, we were just in time for the last merry-go-round run of the day. While Sarah was riding -- with two of her friends, also a first -- I bought more tickets for future visits. I saw our friend Mary Kate there with her daughters Molly and Emily, waiting in line. I told them they were already having the last ride of the day, and she said they had already told her that, and the girls were so sad, they said they'd run one more. Yay! So I used three of the tickets so that Sarah and Elizabeth and Jamar could go again, and she got to ride with four of her friends.

Then, as usual, the strain of being good for so long wore her out, and she came home and acted up. Oh, well.

I was also kept busy somewhat with a little layout job from the library here, which will bring in a little money. I had a job interview scheduled today, but it was postponed when the company president had to do something else. So I went to downtown Northampton, had some tasty Pad Thai and then used up the rest of my meter time looking at stuff in a used CD/video store. The interview is rescheduled for tomorrow.

In between things, I am trying to practice some for the upcoming Mike Ford memorial at Boskone, where I'll be playing piano accompaniment in the Overture. I played it last year -- it was the hardest piece out of the four or five I was in -- and this year they've changed the key. It seems to be the overriding job that generously gives time to all the other things I get done. I'm still very under-rehearsed on it, and have just a couple of days left to work. The interview near-miss took care of today. The interview itself will probably take care of tomorrow.

So, off I go. I can practice a little before I go to bed.
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