That would be another accurate title for this blog, huh? My sneaky plan to avoid getting caught in a sticky web of scrolling by writing posts here instead of onto social media--it's working. I've clawed back HOURS of time by dropping every "Here be a funny/interesting/annoying thing" observation into a draft post instead of booting up a social media app that sucks me in.

I've forgotten to PUBLISH the drafts several times already, though. That is a strong indication my desire to share things is satisfied by writing them down. It also indicates I still suffer from some self-censoring problem of "but is that important enough to post?" avoidance.

Time to refine the strategy and formally assert that every few hundred words of something IS a post and publish it once any draft hits that goal. Which this one has! Here be 3 separate shortish snippets.

FIRSTEST.

I didn't get around to doing biscotti yesterday. I wrote things and made BBQ baked beans + cornbread for oven exercise, but there was a LOT of laundry to slog through as well. Biscotti prep did happen--I diced TWO batches of dried fruit in the food processor, so there will be a bonus batch of cookies at some future date--but the main storyline got postponed in favor of several side-quests in the form of cabinet cleaning, drawer organizing, and a seasonal behind-a-the-things counter scrubbing. This is a typical chain of events for my kitchen adventures.

Cookie completion? Delayed. Sense of accomplishment? HUGE. I'll take that trade-off.

SECONDEST.

"Chase Catmom" is currently First Among Favorites on the long list of Mister Pippin's favorite games. It's a recent spin on an earlier entertainment: Watch Mom Walk In Circles.

I pace around the basement at night when I'm feeling antsy but it's too damned cold and icy outside to take a walk. (So, in my area, most of January.) The best spot for 'taking a turn around the room,' to use my Regency Romance phraseology, is a wide hallway about 25' long, with a winding stair at one end and the game room at the other. If I'm feeling ambitious, I'll open the cat gate to the gaming zone and add a circle around that to my route.

Pips always wants to be in the middle of any action, because CAT, and there are several excellent window wells and table perches. I get exercise, he gets cat TV.

A few days ago he leaped off the table and got underfoot when I turned at the game room end. There was much whuffling, many tail-flirts, and some foot dancing action. Never has there been a clearer invitation to play Chase.

"Seek & Pounce" being a critical element of the chase game, I hustled to the far end by the stair and hid around the corner. (I would say run, but it's a wind-sprint distance, so I never get up to speed.)

Pips galloped along in my wake, mrrping excitedly the whole way, and he accepted pets and praise on arrival when he "found" me. Once I resumed my walking, Pips waited until I got halfway down the hall before charging up and past me in an obvious bid to do it all over again. So we did.

Best Game Ever.

He'll sprint after me ten or twelve times before he's thoroughly tuckered out. At the end of every lap he meows and chirrups and demands pets for his excellent conformation and speed. It's adorable, and no, I am not doing video of it.

THIRDEST

Today in random investigations: Woodstock is much more common municipality name than I realized. Not quite Springfield, but it's up there. I didn't check all 50 states, but CT, IA, IL, IN, KY, MI, NC, NY, OH, PA, SC, TN, WI for sure all have a place called Woodstock. And now you know that too.

Postscript, sort of. Tags. My dislike of the tagging and categorizing aspect of blogging may also be holding me back. When I'm done writing, I want to hit publish & be done, not ponder the best subject headers & keywords. Adding internet cat tax photos to tempt folks into clicking is fun, and I don't mind dashing off little teasers for the social media auto-shares, but my post-writing-the-post patience ends there.

I recognize tags are important Search Engine Optimization tools, but I gotta be honest: that's a skillset I don't feel like learning. From now on, I shall be doing few-to-no tags and ignoring Wordpress's little guilt-trip suggestion boxes about them. Easier is better, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

That's all for now. I'll do this again when next I have a few hundred words of random. Until then!