Odds and ends
Yesterday I went out for my weekly errands (walking), and of course it started to rain heavily and hail shortly before I began my walk home. Went to the local Zellers, and arrived 20 minutes before the store closed forever (it's becoming a Wal-Mart). Kind of depressing to see a big vibrant store reduced to a couple of tables of junk. It was pouring when I left the bulk food store, and there was a very friendly chocolate lab tied up under the overhang. She was really happy to see me and nuzzled against me, but most chocolate labs look pretty much alike and I figured she was just a very nice dog. She was scared of the storm, and I knew that even with my umbrella I'd get utterly soaked, so I sat down on the ground beside her to comfort her and wait out the rain. Eventually her human returned....and it turns out that the dog was my next-door neighbour's (the nosy one. Her name's Phyllis, BTW), which was why she was so friendly. And the woman walking her lives several houses down from me, but I didn't recognize her. My ability to recognize faces is very poor, which is extremely embarrassing, because I can only recognize a few neighbours and every so often I run into ones who recognize me but I don't know them.
Today I talked to a lady who lives down the street. Some weeks ago she told me that a neighbour had just left an anonymous letter in her mailbox complaining that her dog barks too much (as far as I can tell, he doesn't), and she was pretty upset about it. Today she said she received another anonymous letter yesterday about the same thing. So I told her about how someone narked on us to the city a couple of years ago about our weeds, and that a neighbour told me about the 'anonymous' complaint about our grass length a couple of weeks ago. The hilarious thing is, she guessed who it was (Phyllis), because apparently Phyllis' reputation for nosiness is well-known. She also mentioned some other people in the neighbourhood who've been dinged by by-law officers for minor infractions. I guess I feel better knowing that we haven't been singled out, but it's a bit upsetting knowing there are several busybodies in the neighbourhood who are getting others in shit for minor stuff (and of course are all too cowardly to claim responsibility). This neighbour has apparently lived on the street for 30 years, and says things didn't used to be this way.
I'm more than a little worried about Mama Feral. I haven't seen her in quite a few weeks, not since she was still pregnant, and haven't seen any kittens. That isn't to say they aren't coming around -- I don't keep watch on the yard all the time, obviously -- but I definitely would have expected to see her around occasionally and some kittens by now.
I had an epiphany today about the disconnect between Rogues fans and Francis Manapul, one which possibly explains his baffling comments in interviews. I believe he thinks that we're attached to the Weather Wizard, not Mark Mardon (or alternately, to the Top rather than Roscoe Dillon). That's why he's puzzled/frustrated that we're annoyed about him changing the characters so drastically: as far as he's concerned, all we care about is Weather Wizard, and now he's better. That's why he described these changes as an "emotional progression" when he really just scrapped some of the originals and came up with new characters to fit the titles. That's why he harped on the name change of the Top to the allegedly-better Turbine, rather than addressing my frustration at having Roscoe Dillon replaced. He doesn't realize that what Rogues fans love is Mark Mardon and Roscoe Dillon.
This actually makes me feel slightly better, in the sense that I think I understand him better and this makes his reaction seem less dickish. But if I'm right, it's still depressing that he doesn't understand how the unhappy fans feel, and he doesn't think the characters are particularly important. To him, they're apparently just roles ("the Weather Wizard", "the Top/Turbine") to be filled, not individuals. And to the fans who love them enough to draw them, write fic about them, and so on, they ARE individuals. That's why we're upset.
Somebody fulfilled my request in a /co/ drawthread yesterday! I'd post it at Tumblr, except it could reasonably be perceived as a passive-aggressive reminder to the person who owes me the art from that art/fic trade (she reads my Tumblr and this is pretty much what I asked for. Since I doubt I'll ever get that art, I asked for it in the drawthread). Maybe I'll post this at Tumblr someday if she ever draws it.