Virtual Quill

I’m just about to head off for the fall semester when Grandpa gets arrested...again. (He was caught eating vegetables after a rash of thefts from traps in the predator’s wing of the Fennec boarding house.) Even though active predation is against the lease contract, having passive traps within the rooms is a grey area. What isn’t a grey area is breaking into a room for any purpose, and Grandpa was subsequently taken away.
Despite his long criminal record, this didn’t make sense. As it turned out, Dad and Kell discovered that Grandpa in fact took the vegetables from Dad’s garden. (That’s actually more in character.)
The authorities will need stronger proof of his innocence before releasing him, however, so it’s going to be up to us to catch whoever is really stealing from the traps. Kell did an initial sweep of the boarding house but couldn’t pick up a scent on the floors or carpets. She theorized that the thief might be avian, but what bird likes veggies? Dad will go over to the county lockup to visit Grandpa and try to get him to admit raiding his garden. (For some reason, Grandpa would rather go to prison rather than confess to doing that. He has an interesting personal code of ethics.)
As for myself, as a nocturnal species it’s fallen on me to stake out the boarding house hallways. Wish me luck!
This week's question: how does one pass the time on a stakeout? Suggestions?

I’m preparing for another year at Beige University, again rooming with Rachel Einhorn. She’s become accustomed to college life now, and hardly ever charges when she encounters the unfamiliar.
She envies my proximity to Fenton, who rooms with Bob Shrike in the same dormitory as Rachel and I (one floor down). Rachel misses her longtime girlfriend Joan Hoof, who is still a senior back at Caliban Academy. (I’m actually impressed that they’ve been able to make a long-distance relationship work for all this time.) Joan will travel down here on Saturdays for the home games.
Speaking of the hunting competitions, my old roommate Rhonda is now a starter and one the team’s stars. Many sportswriters are speculating that she may even have what it takes to be drafted into the professional ranks when she graduates, but that’s down the road.
Fenton and I visit her and Quinn over at the family housing complex at every opportunity. We asked if she and Quinn will make the “family” designation official in their case, but they said no, for now. Rhonda did say that getting pregnant would actually help her prospects in the hunting field, as predator mothers are especially known for their aggressive protectiveness.
School starts in two weeks, but I’ll be home most weekends in September. Today's question: Do humans have professional hunting leagues?

Reading Ms. Aura’s twitter postings, I see that she and Nigel seem to be adjusting to human life. In the end, whatever role she has in monitoring two dimensions and the connections and balance between them, she’s basically a mom who wants the best for her child. She’s actually nervous about sending Nigel off to kindergarden for the first time, despite having spent the previous years in an environment stocked with sharks! (As we all know, Nigel won’t encounter sharks until middle school.)
From my brief sojourn into the human world I imagine that she’s facing some unique challenges. Our two worlds are so similar in many ways, which lulls one into a comfort zone until some jarring exception is encountered. Danielle tells me she still experiences this even after all these years.
Having an interim period as dolphins in the ocean was probably a wise, albeit apparently unplanned decision. The human realm will be more like their previous life in Domain in comparison to the aquatic environment.
Speaking of fish out of water, Fenton and I saw the new Miyazaki film “Ponyo” last night. It’s absolutely magical, more in the vein of his “My Neighbor Totoro” rather than the intense “Princess Mononoke” or his masterwork “Spirited Away.” Still, my favorite film of his is still “Kiki’s Delivery Service.”
Today’s question: Guess why!

I've been reading Ms. Aura's Twitter postings from the human side of the portal with great interest. It still appears that she's unaware that anyone outside her immediate circle can access them. (I hope to keep it that way!)
My first question is, her immediate circle of...what? Humans, I assume, but humans who originated on this side of the portal? Or is she in a league with actual humans? (Besides me and Danielle, that is.) At any rate it seems to be a large and influential grouping with a wide range of resources at their disposal.
I now know that she has transformed herself and Nigel from dolphin to human. I can only imagine which combination of portals brought about that result. Fenton and I were lost among the portals at one point, and perhaps we didn't know how lucky we were not to end up as who-knows-what. (What we did end up as were humans...briefly.)
This week's question is rather specific. The Twitter service experienced a cyber-attack a few days ago. Did it affect the human version of Twitter, too? (I gather from Ms. Aura's tweets that it did.)

Every year at this time, Dad and the rest of the school board meet the local patents for a Q and A about the county’s educational issues. It’s pretty wide-ranging, and it gives the board a good idea what’s on the minds of the constituents. Dad, having those big rabbit ears, has always been a good listener in that regard.
In other back-to-school developments, Rudy and Fiona have started the hunting team’s preschool practices, known as “two-a-days.” That’s because at this stage the predators are limited to two kills a day so they don’t put on too much weight before the season starts.
Coney will soon start back at preschool. Meanwhile, I’ve reading Ms. Aura’s tweets from the other side of the portal and saw that Nigel is a five-year-old human starting kindergarden.
Lastly, Beige University classes begin later this month. I’ll once again be rooming with Rachel, most likely for the last year. Rachel’s girlfriend Joan will probably attend Beige in the fall of 2010, and if that’s the case they’ll live together.
Fenton’s well aware of my potential need for a replacement!
Todays' question is inspired by Ms. Aura's tweet about Nigel: When does school start for human children?