I’m really bad at writing conclusions…

But I’m pretty good at beginnings.

Or at least I try to be. There is a cat who insists that he should be the one sitting on my lap and not my laptop.

My roommates cat is pretty much my cat (at least I feel that way.)Tucker seems to feel that way too, since he is my primary snuggle buddy and makes a habit of coming into my room and finding things to scratch on (namely my laundry hamper and yoga mat.) Poor thing really ought to have a proper scratching post…

I think he and I make quite a pair, seeing that as a writer I scratch and scribble on every possible write-on-able surface imaginable, I should also have a proper scratching post.

The more I thought of it, the better I liked the analogy—

“A scratching post is a wooden post covered in rough material that cat owners provide so their pets have an acceptable place to scratch. Cats have a natural urge to scratch: the action helps them remove old material from their claws, and they mark territory with scent glands in their paws. Indoor cats may be prevented from exercising this urge on furniture if they are provided with an acceptable scratching post.” (Wikipedia.)

Let me break it down:

One: the natural urge to scratch. I recently read an article that described a writer’s natural inclination towards writing (a little over-romantic for me but it reminded me of how I used to write, anyway.)

Two: the action of removing old material from their claws. I alluded to a former writing style, which may be likened to the removal of debris i.e. the removal of emotional baggage, the release of chemicals in your body and brain, of working through your thoughts and ideas. Scratch it out. Examine it.

Three: marking their territory- or in this case carving out a small plot for me on this mass field of internet space.

Four: not destroying the furniture, or in this case, one’s life. If you’ve got the creative impulse, you need to use it or it will wreck you. Think ‘bull in the china shop.’

So I guess it’s as good a time as any to begin scratching on a new post.

Just to warn you all as you go along (and as some of you have probably already noticed) my punctuation is shit. I need to work on that.

xoxx