by It’s actually a bit over 100 days. So has it been worth it? Kitty is a lovely little thing with a beautiful soft coat, and that’s probably what made me take her on in the first place. It’s fascinating just to watch her. Cats – especially young ones like her – are amazing animals. I often marvel at how well designed she is, with her speed, strength (those back legs!) and flexibility. As I lumber around my flat, I feel utterly pathetic in comparison. I’ve also become acutely aware of how few places on my body I’m capable of licking. (She can get to almost anywhere, and for the few places she can’t, she’ll just lick her paw, then wipe her wet paw on the desired area.)
So, Kitty is great to observe, but is there any benefit to actually having her? After all, there are cats all over the show in Timișoara. I could just watch them. That’s a tough question. She knows where to pee and poo, and she hasn’t wrecked my furniture as I’d feared, so really she hasn’t been a problem. The real disappointment is that she hasn’t become a friend. She loves to play, but not really when I’m involved. Expressions of affection – or even interest in me – are extremely rare. Some of that must be down to her start in life. The only time Kitty seems halfway friendly (and only sometimes, even then) is when she’s purring away in an inactive state. If I come into the living room at night, she’ll sometimes rub up against me. It’s lovely when she does that, but all too rare. At times I feel sorry for her as she looks longingly out the window. I bet she’d love to be on the other side. I’ve got used to the zooming which took me aback at first, but I really wish she wouldn’t jump on my desk so much. My desk is a place for work and concentration, not a place for Kitty to play. I often end up manhandling her off my desk, but she usually jumps back on anyway unless I lock her in the living room – I so sometimes resort to that. I’m going to invest in a water pistol.
In short, Kitty is fine and I don’t regret having her, but if someone (a student, say) told me they really wanted a cat and had some outdoor space at home, I’d probably palm her off onto that person.
Last night I watched the Champions League quarter-final second leg between Aston Villa and Paris St-Germain. I almost never watch football at that level, but by golly, what a match it was. So open and so fast. It was like a different sport from the other games I’ve seen lately at a lower level, or even the top-level games I’d watch back in the nineties. The sheer pace was dizzying. Villa, already 3-1 down from the away leg, conceded twice to go four goals behind on aggregate, and surely it was done. But they got one back before half-time and though they still had a mountain to climb, the game was so ridiculously open… They got two more early in the second half. Madness. Just wave upon wave of Villa attacks against perhaps the best club team in the world. And they still had ages to level things or even win it. Villa had some great chances, and some superb saves from PSG keeper Donnarumma basically made the difference in the end. I have no idea why they played only three minutes of added time. PSG had a player called Désiré Doué. What a name. Doué means gifted or talented in French. It was a night that will live long in the memory of Villa fans, including Prince William who was there (no idea why he supports Aston Villa – the name?) but it was nearly one of the all-time great comebacks in the sport.
Snooker. Drama, as expected, in yesterday’s last-round qualifiers. The best match was between Zhao Xintong (a supreme talent; he’d just come back from a suspension for match-fixing – ugh) and Elliott Slessor who had the misfortune of having to play him. They both played at such a high level; Zhao won 10-8. There were also two 10-9 finishes. I felt sorry for Irishman Aaron Hill who had been well in front but was pipped by David Gilbert – he was just about in tears at the end. You could tell how much it meant. Eight more qualifiers today. The tournament proper starts on Saturday.
Can he keep the black out? This was a crazy tippy-tappy exchange. Wells (in the picture here) did eventually sink the black and Wilson won the frame, but Wells was the winner in a decider.
After watching both football and snooker, I’ve decided that snooker is more my thing. It has a nice mix of drama and relaxation.
We’ve got warm weather in store for the next little while.
