Thank you.

Dear Fritz -

I know this is sheer anthropomorphism , but it's helping me and you'll never know or understand anyway; the internet was only something you sat in front of, blocking the view.

I just wanted to say "thank you". You brought so much happiness to our little family unit, you could never possibly have comprehended how grateful I was for all the moments we spent together. Sadly however, there were just not to be very many of them.

I used to like squeezing your paws, though you weren't too keen on that. I liked how you'd greet me with a face-full of cat nose followed by a cheek rub, it was like a kiss hello (even though you were really just marking me as your property, but that's OK. Perhaps that's all a kiss really is. Some anthropologists and I, well, we don't know either). You were a source of love and amusement, purring and fun for all of us.

I had hoped to be sitting with you in the garden, dozing on the sofa with you, or just hanging around with you for years to come, to be 50 and stroking your ears, but I now know that you won't be coming home with a meow or just suddenly appearing on the sofa.

Goodbye, little friend. We miss you and will always think of you.

Books that Didn't Change My Life

All this "Books that Changed My Life" business made me think of the others that I'd read which are often touted as life changing, but just didn't do it for me. So, here are the books that didn't change my life, and the year that they didn't change it.

The Lord of the Rings - J R R Tolkien - age 13
I enjoyed it, but it was just an interesting story weighed down by, well, lore. It should have just been called Lore of the Rings.

The Stranger - Albert Camus - age 24
Mersault kills a guy, waits to be executed. I wasn't much of a Cure fan either. There are far better examples of absurdist fiction. In fact, it's not even the best Camus novel - that's The Plague.

Harry Potter - Joanne Rowling - age 27
I don't really see this as a book - more a list of things that happened with a lot of tacked-on exposition at the end to paper over the many cracks. The first volume killed all further desire to read any of later lists. Really, if you want some children's fantasy that isn't insulting and lazy, read Philip Pullman. "But it gets kids to read!" argue people. True, but it's a shame it's not as well-written as a cereal packet.

Atlas Shrugged etc - Ayn Rand - age 30
People who say that Rand changed their life are just saying "I don't see why I should help or not exploit people and a book gave me legitimacy."