Kalib eats Kiwi Fruit; Mayor Edward Itta in front of my old photos; all of my Anchorage kids except for Melanie - but I did get her cats; I see Avatar

I have been flooded with angry complaints, all of which go something like this: "Where is Kalib? Why has he disappeared from your blog?"

Here he is.

Today I went into Anchorage to do a couple of things and after I did the first, I headed over to Kalib's daycare center. I arrived at lunch time, which explains the bib, and just before naptime, which explains why he looks so tired.

He was surprised and excited when I first stepped through the door. That was kind of nice.

He's eating Kiwi fruit. Think about that: a Navajo/Apache boy eating Kiwi fruit in Alaska in January.

That's the kind of world we live in now.

This is Edward Itta, Mayor of the North Slope Borough, which, of course covers the Arctic Slope with headquarters in Barrow. Even so, it is essential that the Borough keep an office in Anchorage. Mayor Itta had come down to take care of some Anchorage business, which gave me the opportunity to go in and do a little interview with him.

See all those photos on the wall behind him?

Those are mine and I made those prints probably about 20 years ago. Many of the people pictured have since left this life.

"Where's your camera?" Mayor Itta asked me when he first saw me. "I never see you without your camera." He was very surprised when I pulled the little, tiny, palm-sized pocket camera out of my pocket.

I had lunch with Jacob and Lavina...

...and Lisa, too. I got maybe one hour of sleep last night, and it is now getting late again and I am just too tired to recount any of the conversation or even to recall topics discussed.

It did feel real good to have Lisa put her head on my shoulder.

Jacob, looking sharp in his US Public Health Services Commissioned Corp uniform.

The view in my rearview mirror while stopped at a red light on my way to take care of another piece of business.

I have no idea what happened here.

This is Jack King of Camai Printing, and he is handing me a color proof from a job Camai is printing for me. 

After that, I went by myself to watch the 3D version of the movie Avatar. I won't review it, but it was definitely a threshold movie. I know - there have been 3D movies before this one, but I do believe this is the one that is going to mark the moment when 3D started coming at us for real.

It did not feel at all gimmicky. It took a fantasy world and made it real. If only, at the end, the movie makers could have risen above formula and cliche, it could have also been a great movie, like the Last of the Mohicans or Little Big Man, or Dead Man, because its the same story, really, and the movie did get off to a fanatastic start, story-wise.

As to the effects, fantastic from beginning to end. Soon, I suppose, such effects will commonplace, expected.

Melanie had to work very late and I did not get to see her. I did go to her house, though, and see her cats. Here is Slick, or Bear Meach, as he is also called.

And here is Diamond, the sweet ornery one.

And here's Epizzles, or Poof, who is actually Charlie's cat, but is staying with Melanie and her cats right now.

As for Royce, the results came back. It is a thyroid deficiency. Now, he must be medicated twice a day for the rest of his life. Other than that, the test results showed no problems.

It was Rex who let me into Melanie's house to see the cats. Now that Stephanie has gone, he is temporarily living in Melanie's basement apartment along with Cassie, the 11 year-old dog that Stephanie brought into the marriage.

Some of you will remember Box Car Bean, the very beautiful cat that I rescued and gave to Rex and Stephanie a couple of years back. I loved that cat from the moment I rescued it and brought it home. I never wanted it to leave the family and that's why I gave it to Rex and Stephanie, but when she left, Stephanie took Boxcar Bean with her.

Rex says Stephanie needed to have Boxcar.

Here I am, driving out of Anchorage.

And here I am, on the Palmer Hay Flats, almost home.

Now, once again, it is very late  - early the next morning, actually, and given my one hour of sleep last night, I am extremely tired. So I have already made up my mind - after I get up, I'm going to Family Restaurant for breakfast, even if it's closer to lunch time.

I know. I should stay home and cook oatmeal. Eat a banana.

But I'm going to the Mat-Su Valley Family Restaurant.

I'm just going to do it. I don't care about economics, wisdom, or practicality. I'm going.

Comments

[Albert Lewis]

>I have been flooded with angry complaints, all of which go something like this: "Where is Kalib? Why has he disappeared from your blog?"

Hey! Whose blog IS this anyway!? Amazing how proprietary mere readers of a blog (or newspaper, or book, or web site ... or country, for that matter) can be, isn't it?

I've said before and I'll say it again, I visit your blog for its sheer pleasant humanity, its daily day-to-dayness. Keep up the good work.

[MGSoCal]

You must, better be proud/honored of your photos on the office wall.........the theater self-portrait is brilliant, well done!

[Rocksee]

Mr Hess, Who is the woman on the wall of pictures next to Mayor Itta's left arm. I am captivated by her for some reason. That picture is tremendous!

And I am super happy to Mr. Kalib. He's a keeper!

Go to sleep ! :)

[anonymous]

This is just a test, to see if I get on.

[debby]

Yeah. Bill, it can be terribly hard to deal with the demanding legions of fans that you have. Who, if you don't scrape and cater to our every whim, will head straight for Wasilla, Alaska, and write epithets in the dirt on the side of stranded vehicles, or head to the Metro cafe and convince them to give you a crappy cup of joe, or maybe head over the the Mat-su and convince them to give you your hashbrowns crunchy on the inside and mushy in the middle. We are a rare and ornery breed, we fans of yours, and it is good that you realize who's running the show here.

So there.

That's the best laugh that I've had all day.

You are priviledged to know some cats of fine charactor! Glad that you had a nice day with the kids.

3D is awesome, isn't it? Don't you wish LIFE could be in 3D? :^D

[Charlie]

Hey Bill,

I like the self portrait as well! It looks like everyone is at a Buddy Holly look alike contest! Thanks for seeing and hopefully petting The Poof Cat! I will show him the blog later today!

[Martha]

Kalib AND cats! Sweet!

[KarenJ]

Good for Royce, that he's going to have medication that'll get him back to health. Watch out that he doesn't cough up the meds with his hairballs... :)

I'm laughing a bit at your dining-out routine with your wife being gone. My older brother is going to house-sit while my sis and I take a vacation cruise together (and hubby is in a care center). When Older Brother realized both his usual hostesses/cooks would be GONE, and he'd have to fend for himself, he said, "I'll guess I'll be eating out a lot!"

[Mona]

Thank goodness you're not one of those jerk that drives in the left lane. I like you even more now. :-)

[kalaluka]

Yay for Royce. This is much better news than kidney problems... I'm so happy to hear it. Our 10-year old dog needs thyroid supplement too, for the opposite reason (she was 20 lbs overweight). She started the meds in May, and just got to the '20 lbs lost' point this month. Hooray! Hopefully Royce's response will be as good. Keep us posted. And, on the subject of Kalib images in the blog, I suspect that of all of us, you are the most desiring of opportunities to create those pictures. I'm just sayin'. :-)

[A. Morrison]

I echo: excellent news on the thyroid problem. So much better than kidney problems! I am relieved, even though I know it is not much fun to pill a cat 2x a day. Oh well. My friend's cat has a heart problem and he gets a pill every morning, then a treat right after the pill. Now on weekends he wakes her up if she does not get up at 5 a.m. to give him his treat. Er, his pill. :)

[Wasilla, Alaska, by 300]

Albert - Thank you. I will try.

MGSoCal - Again, thank you.

Rocksee - That is the late Mrs. Nageak, of Barrow.

Anonymous - You did.

Debby - Yes, it can be very hard.

Charlie - I think I just saw you.

Martha - That they are.

Karen - This medicine is applied inside the ear with an applicator. I understand about your brother.

Mona - It can be maddening, can't it?

Kalaluka - Yes, its a relief, I think. Odd that it has worked the opposite in your dog.

A. Morrison - Royce doesn't much like the ear applicator either, but he tolerates it.