The Cat Who Thought Too Much An Essay Into Felinity

11 MB·English

by  Robin D. Gill

essay into f lin
e
the cat
who
thought
much
too
paraverse press
r°t> mi
d.
Han-chan Dream
s
'
ThisbookwasbornnotsolongagobutveryfarawayasHan-
chan'sDream, andrenamed because, asunique a characteras
thiscatwas,Iwantedhisfelinitytobeclearfromthemaintitle.
Still,whenyoupegyournotestoacertainnameyearafteryear,
thatnameassumesarealityofitsown. Inmymind,thisbook
was,is,andwillalwaysbeHan-chan'sDream, atitleadopted
because observing themosthighly intelligentcatI everknew
deny animperfectrealitybyconvincinghimselfitwasonly a
baddreamfirstmade me deeply aware ofthe complexitythat
dreamingbringstoourconsciousaswellasunconsciouslives.
The picture holds my dream, not Han-chan's. I would stop
writinganddonothingbutflip-out-createhypershort2to100
frame animation - if the folk with money only had the
imaginationtoproducethehardwareandsoftwareforthequick
andeasyapplicationsneededtosparkagraphicrevolution. -rdg
CO
Everydaytheseinvisibledreamspass
us on thestreet, orrisefrom beneath
ourfeet, or look out upon usfrom
beneathabush. LorenEiseley TheNightCountry
PInvisible Dreams? Eiseley found an unfinished
field-mousenestinalargeflowerpotbyhisfront
door,notedthefieldnearbyhadbeendenudedfora
developmentprojectandimaginedamouserefugee
had triedto createherdream-burrow, albeitin an
unsuitable place. All animals pursue ideals; we
wouldmakeandlivethatofwhichwedream.Mostof
us,likeourgenes,ispotentialnotactual.Thegreater
partofourlives dwellswithin. Thisis astruefor
mice asmen. (*It sohappens Ihelped getNight
CountrytranslatedintoJapaneseandhadthehonorof
writingtheafterwordattherequestofthetranslators.)
PTheCatonanOpenBook. Acattriestogetinto
yourcraniumeitherbylyingexactlywhereyoursdid
beforeyougotup,oroccupyingthefocusofyour
attention,i.e.,projectedhead-space.Han-chan,whose
bram-heavy headwasnotdisproportionately large,
demonstratesthe latter, adog-eared(I am afraidI
failedto detail the page corners)Japanese-English
dictionarythatcompetedwithhimformyattention.
Theisbn#forthisbook, minushyphens,toassistwithwebsearchesis: 9780984092321
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The Cat Who Thought Too Much
CHAN
HAN-
an essay intofeUnity
by
robin d. gill
paraversepress
Copyrightedmaterial
LogophileLafcadioHearnoncewrote,
"Wordswilleventuallyha—vetheirrights
recognizedbythepeople." Ourradically
creativenonfictionsetsthemfreetoplayandgrow
inagardenoffancifulthoughtfarfromthewell-crafted,
beautifulbutemptyjournalism&utterlyboringpersonal
'reality'narrativestaughttoagenerationofUsanianwriters,
butclosetotheplayfulAubrey,Borges,Chesterton,Darwin(Erasmus),
Lucretius,Montaigne,Newcastle(Duchessof~),Ota,Plutarch,Rabelais,
(OSctteornpeu,ssTyw,aiDnr,yWKiilddne,ey.&..Bletuce..SpWotist;hoTnheewWoormkapnublWiisthheodutunadHeorlte)w,occoouvnetrisng
ourbooksishard,butthisshouldbeourthirteenth, perfectforthesubject,cats.
Asyouwillsee,itexpandsuponHearnbybringingFelinese,whichistosay
thecat'smeow(orniao,inJapanese)&tailintothepurviewofliterature.
©
2010
paraversepress
allrightsreserved
But,pleasequotefreely,solongasyoucite
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Asaleays,weinvitetheLC tohelpuscatalog,meanwhile
pleaseenjoyourPublisher'sCatalogmg-in-Publication:
TheCatWhoThoughtTooMuch
AnEssayIntoFelinity(akaHan-chan'sDream)
writtenandillustratedby
robind.gill
ISBN# 0-9840923-2-3(pbk)
13-digit:978-0-9840923-2-1
1.Cats-felixdomesticus. 2.Non-fictionliterature-essay. 3.Animalbehavior.
4.Animalintelligence. 5.Animalfeelings. 6.Animallanguage. 7.Animalstories.
8.Pets-cats. 9.Philosophy? 10.Art-(ifyousothink).11.Tanuki(raccoonfox).
I.gill,robind.(also,RobinGill, 1951—)
20101,January
PrintedbyLightningSource
intheUnitedStatesandUnitedKingdom.
AvailaDbilsterfirbuotmedAmbayzIonng,raBma,rBneaske&r&NobTalyelo&r,eeltsce..where.
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Contents
Preface: Onthetitlethatwasnottobe 000
WhyHan-chan'sDreamdidnotbecome!
Foreword: Howtowrite aboutacat. 009
Whycatscannotwalkinstraightlines,norIwriteinthem.
Theanimalthatkneadstheworld 017
Mirror,mirroronthewall,whoisthemostinfantileofall?
Do catslove? 029
Dobearspeeinthewoods? Afarfromsolitaryanimal.
HowHan-chan almostkilledaman 045
Or, mothersarebraveevenwhentheyaremale.
The sleepingcator,rather, cats! 059
Apictorialessayonwhatcatsdobest,oftentogether.
Theverythoughtofit. 081
Imaginationatwork,orshakingoffsnowbeforegoingout.
Conversingwith cats: easierinjapanese? 099
WhysometonguesgiveonealegupwithmasteringFelinese.
Smilingwith closedeyes 123
Theshyanimal, ornaturallyfarfromEcotopia
Han-chan's greatestbattle 137
Onthewayself-delusioncansaveyourlife.
Are catsthemostorleastfalse animal? 147
Differinginterpretationsofmultiplecontradictorymessages.
Growinguptorn andqueen 161
Thelonghardroadtosex,reproductionandcastration.
Do cats saveface? 175
WhatisitthatJapanesecall"What'sMichael(ing)"?
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Beauty: isitrelativeor ... isitthe cat? 185
Primates,horses,dogs...interspeciesface(&muscle)value
Han-chan's dream 203
Howcatsdealwithtragedy,ahypothesis.
Isthe catthebestmousetrap? 215
Don'tforgetmousingsnakes&snakingchickens!
Thebattlewiththeblueboss 225
Abravemothercat &atrulydevious,orwise,snake.
Seeing SnakesEverywhere 233
Bettingtoomuchor,whereparanoiameetsperception
Themoretheydie,thehighertheyfly 239
Howandwhycatsplaywiththeirprey
When catsbringusthings 259
TheLastYearKilledTwice,illustrated.
Alittleredmouse 271
Arewekeepingtherightpet?
The Third-generationTanuki 283
Cats,racoonfoxes&anewtheoryofdomestication.
Afterword 293
Findingfelinityinanunexpectedplace.
Bibliography 298
People index 300
Concepts index 302
Illustrationsindex 305
(More,incolor,atparaversedotorg)
OtherBooksPublishedToDate 306
BackCoverIllustration 310
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FORE WORD
"How, then, with me, writing of this
Leviathan? Unconsciously my chirography
expands into placard capitals. Give me a
condor's quill! Give me Vesuvius' crater
foraninkstand!" - HermanMelville 1851
MobyDick (ch.104, "TheFossilWhale")
Howtowriteaboutacat
With naturalgrace? HereI sitcussing up a storm, half-
happytobeoutinthecountrywherenoonecanhearme
andhalf-wishing someone could, imaginingacall tothe
police, my subsequentarrestandincarcerationgettingme
intothe "Newsofthe Weird." Awritertakentothefunny
farm after he was driven crazy by his computer would
embarrassthehelloutofthecorporationresponsibleforthe
maleficentsoftware. No, notme! I, whowrotemy first
sevenbooksinaforeignlanguage,Japanese,becauselong-
hand(oneletterperbox)feltmorecomfortablethantyping,
amfarfromgracefulpunchingkeysinmynativetongue.
And,afterninetyyearslivingwithcats-anaverageoffive
catsatatimeforeighteenyears-Iwonderifgraceiswhat
it's all about, anyway. The more I learn aboutindividual
cats,thelessinclinedIamtohazardadefinitionofcathood.
Whenitcomestopronouncinguponthenatureoffelinity,
youmightsaythecathasmytongue.AboldersoulthanI,
VickiHearne, saysshecantellus "whatitisaboutcats",
thankstoKoshka,whois"somewhatclumsy",atraitwhich
happilyallowsher"toworkoutfairlyeasilywhatheisup
to."Towit:
"Heislikeallcatsinhisrelationshiptostraight
lines. Ifhe is on the windowsill inthe living
roomandIputdownabowloffoodonthefloor
inthekitchen,heselectsaroutetothebowlthat
takes him overthe sofa andthe bookcase and
makes itlook like anaturalroute .... itis
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