A few months back, we got a new kitten.

Like anything new brought into my home, I wanted to make sure she was nice and clean. With dishes, I do this so I can eat off of them without worrying, but with a kitten it’s more of a “I want to rub my face in her fur without imagining her sleeping in or near her shelter litter box.”

I had to wait until I was sure she’d healed from spaying, as her stitches were water-soluble, and while I waited I looked around for some cat shampoo that wasn’t flea and tick.

I couldn’t find any at our grocery store or home improvement store (both of which had pet aisles). I’m sure we could have hunted up a pet store or ordered some online, but I only wanted to give her one bath, so I decided to look up whether or not it’s okay to bathe your cat with human shampoo.

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I’d extend my home security system to include an extra pet.

Like a lion or a tiger.

And I would design my yard so that I could let my guard-tiger run loose around areas of entry while we’re out.

Then I’d install a ton of cameras because, dude, if you get a burglar and he sees your guard-tiger, you want a clear shot of his expression.

*giggle*

(Would never actually do this. I wouldn’t have enough time to take care of one properly, and I wouldn’t want to own as much space as it would need. The idea is charming, though, and the thought of a burglar’s face walking into a house and being greeted by a giant cat has to be the funniest thing ever.)

I like organizing things.

I really do.

I’m not very prolific at it, but I enjoy the little thrill of knowing where stuff goes.

So when you have over 10 years of stories in a giant overflowing bin, and you want to keep every last note card because you might use it some day . . .

Where on earth are you supposed to start?

Me, I want to start with a label maker.

I have a hole puncher and a printer.

I have a ton of binders, though they’re the “Bigger is better” kind and I can’t decide if I like those or the friendly floppy ones better. I think the problem I have with binders is that once they’re organized and I have stuff in them, there’s nowhere for me to put them. Except in my doofy old bin. Out of sight, out of mind.

I do a lot of my idea organizing in Word, but then I print it out and staple it and again I can only put it in my doofy old bin.

You might say “Filing cabinet!” but that’s just as bad as my bin for hiding things. Worse, because I just don’t like flipping through tabbed folders. I don’t know why. Always hated it.

I’m thinking of getting a simple document wallet to put completed manuscripts in for editing. I found that I really like being able to pull loose-leaf out of an envelope to edit and stuff it back in without worrying that my cat will spread the pages all over the floor. I’m incapable of editing on my computer because I always forget what I’ve already done.

So . . . label maker. Maybe a cork board. Figure out a spot for my binders. Consolidate notes into a smaller space. *sigh* Nobody ever plans to have this much paper lying around, but it’s been the bane of offices for centuries. Somehow, some way, I’ll manage.

Hey, at least I got rid of a lot of crap in the move. That’s a win, right there.

There are search engines and browsers, but they are not the same thing.

The browser is the program you open (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Chrome) to browse the web in.  It has a bar toward the top with “http://” starting out a string of text, usually with .com or .php at the end.  You can set your home page (what pops up when you open your browser) through the “tools” or “options” menu.

A search engine is a website (Google, Yahoo, AOL, Bing, Ask).  You can browse to it and use it to search the web, but it is not a “browser.”

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For the time being, you can watch the new version of Jane Austen’s Emma on YouTube until someone reports it and it gets taken down.

I own the Kate Beckinsale version (also on YouTube, though the video quality is rougher) and prefer Kate’s portrayal simply because her facial expressions aren’t as exaggerated. She also has much better posture.

The 2009 version is good, and everyone does a great job (I particularly like that they made Emma insecure about how little she gets out in the world), but I just prefer the Kate Beckinsale one. It’s part personal taste (if you enjoy your leading ladies lively and haphazard, the 2009 version is for you), and partly that I enjoyed the book and the 2009 version takes a few liberties with showing scenes that are only alluded to. The Beckinsale version keeps to the book more strictly and has an overall more authentic feel.

Also, I don’t think “Dumbledore” when I look at her father. (Yes, Dumbledore is in the 2009 one. He does much better at this role than his portrayal of Dumbledore, though.)

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