Need cat advice, for a friend.

Okay. She has a cat named Jareth. He's fixed, maybe about a year and a half old? Undersized.

He used to be madly in love with her roommate, but recently, he's been weird. He'll alternate between friendly and homicidal - not playfighting, either, actually trying to attack her, and hissing and growling. We've got no idea what's wrong. His diet *seems* to be normal - purina, with a few treats. He will eat mice, but only when they don't stop him first. Roommate doesn't seem to be provoking Jareth, either - he'll just attack her.

Darkly (my friend) is worried it may actually be something neurological. He used to run into walls all the time as a kitten, and he still does sometimes. I have *absolutely* no idea, so I thought I'd see if anybody has any clues. She is, of course, taking him to the vet - but knowing what might be the problem could speed up the healing process here.

Neopets is running a bit of an April Fools' joke...

Which is a pity, since I rather *like* some of the pets they are playing around with.

An article on the April Fools' Day parade, held every year...

http://nytimes.com/2005/04/01/nyregion/01fools.html

( Article inside! )

I agree with thornleaf

This is a truly bizarre twist of fate. I can't actually *say* anything, since I shouldn't be making fun of dying popes, but... wow.

Several boring, mundane things.

1. Went to the bookstore. The new Donna Andrews book (Owl's Well that Ends Well) is out.
2. They have a whole area devoted to Sandra Boynton right now - stuffed animals, books, everything. Including a large-sized copy of The Going to Bed Book. Might pick it up, Ana's is getting a bit threadbare.
3. I miss Daddy. Jenn, call later?

We've all seen apod's "Water on Mars"

Very cute.

I prefer the subtlety of epod_feed, though. You have to go to the page and click the links.

Oh, I forgot what *else* I found at the bookstore.

A novel about a synesthesiate. However you spell that. It's a teen/ya book, and the story wasn't as great as it could be, but since it's the only book of that sort I've ever seen, and since I imagine that kids who know enough to know most people *aren't* like them also know enough to think it's wrong, it's not that bad.

(I prefered the latest Artemis Fowl, though, as well as browsing the picture books. What can I say, I'm a picture book lover!)

Oh, don't you love it.

This twit of a girl posted asking if people had ever switched prices on books in order to steal from a used book store.

And one person replied that she had never thought of that, but it's not really stealing since you're giving them some money, and anyway, it's not like used books give any profit to the author.

And then had the nerve to get huffy when informed that, actually, it is stealing, because (as she put it) "I HAVE NEVER DONE THAT!!!!111". So what? You're still stupid if you don't recognize that it's stealing, and you still need those stupid ideas drummed out of your head now that they've been placed there.