Charlie Cat & Company

13/01/2025

After all, isn't it what life is all about?

19/10/2024

Should we celebrate Halloween. Of course we should? Why? Check out my last name, Ween(e). Our holiday! As it should be.

The Weene family comes from Transylvania, where we were loathed even more than Vlad the Impaler. So, when we pulled up stakes (including those through our hearts) and got out of town just before the pitchforks of our neighbors, there was a celebration. “Hallelujah, the Ween(e)s are gone,” people shouted. As the party and the fires (burning down our castle) roared on (fueled in part by Țuică, that wonderful plum brandy, and other spirits, the cry of delight was abbreviated, “Halloween” was born.

At any rate, to celebrate such an auspicious beginning (We did escape to America), we Weenes have ever since enjoyed stories of monsters, terror, and fear. So, let’s celebrate by sharing our ghastly, ghostly, and gasping tales.

Check out my Two Tales of Terror at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FHZIKE6/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i5

Only 99¢

Two stories that reach into the primordial well of terror. Who among us can laugh at death? Who can hear the strange noises of the night and not hug their blankets just a bit tighter? "Bela" and "Sometimes You Can Hear 'em": totally different tales, but both hit the human panic button.

18/10/2024

I have been discovering something fascinating about myself. I gather that most people set out to learn how to do something. I on the other hand start with questions like why, and what is the principle behind this method. Recently, I've been helping my wife cook. Now, she is an excellent cook and I am at best a novice. The result is that each time she tells me to do something, I start questioning. For example, we were blooming gelatin. She wanted to use water from the refrigerator. Why? It turns out that what she wanted was to have filtered water. Now, I would have to do an experiment to see what would be the best temperature and try to figure out why. She sees that as questioning her. Not really, but I understand how she feels.

At the end, I am less interested in the food—in this case panna cotta—than I am in the idea of gelatin and how it works. For me, it is always concept first before doing. So, am I strange? I don't know and I surely don't mind if I am.

Feedback, please.

16/10/2024

If you enjoy really great music, check out Joe Symes and the Loving Kind. Monica Brinkman and I have know these guys for years and love their music.

04/10/2024

If you believe this is the behavior of a competent human being let alone a potential POTUS, please do us all a favor and don't vote. Trump is a vile bully who can't resist attacking Jimmy Carter, an old man who has lived a good and faithful life.

Even on former President Jimmy Carter’s centennial, former President Donald Trump could not pass up reprising his longstanding jab at the Georgia Democrat.

02/10/2024

During tonight’s VP debate, JD Vance said there was a Federal Reserve study that showed that illegal immigration was driving up the cost of home ownership and contributing to a major factor in inflation. He also said the report would be posted on his website right after the debate. I have gone looking for such a report. First, there is a housing cost report that in no way mentions immigration, legal or other. Second, there is a formal hearing in which Vance asked FR chair Powell about that relationship. First, Powell pointed out that the FR does not comment or study immigration and then made it clear that while there may be some communities in which immigration may for the short-term drive-up housing costs (rents), in general immigration reduced inflation. So, I am hoping that all Americans demand that Vance show us that report. Seriously, the chair of the Federal Reserve already told him he was wrong in his position.

14/09/2024

This sounds like voter intimidation to me. What a sad state of affairs some of our states have entered. Florida has once again become a national disgrace. Remember, we are talking about sending police around to the homes of people who have signed a petition. Even if you would vote against the measure in November, what do you think about this tactic? How about if were an initiative that you supported and the cops came to your door?

Activists say investigation by agency set up by Ron DeSantis into whether fraud took place is voter intimidation

11/09/2024

When a child believes that aliens are eating dogs, that is sad. Let us reassure the kid. When it is a candidate for POTUS, that is downright scary. We should either be grabbing our AR15s to protect our pets or our ballots to protect the sanity of our nation.

28/08/2024

This is the kind of abuse of power and tactic of intimidation that I found offensive years ago as a child watching the Army-McCarthy and HUAC committee hearings. I had hoped that the GOP had learned from those embarrassments, but no, here they are again trying to intimidate decent people into turning on others, in this case an employee. Shame on Jim Jordan, shame on the Republicans, and shame on America for tolerating such actions.

The House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed the company that employs the daughter of Juan Merchan, the New York judge who is overseeing former President Trump’s hush money trial. The subpoena esca…

28/08/2024

I am delighted that my essay "Reflections on a leaky raft" about Mark Twain has been accepted for publication by The Bookends Review. I look forward to sharing the link when it is available.

21/08/2024

I love to share my poetry. Here's one piece from my collection Coursing. Please enjoy the video and the reading.

Boxes in the Attic is the opening poem in Ken’s new collection, COURSING, which can be found at https://amzn.to/3nAph4VWritten and Narrated by Kenneth WeeneV...

18/08/2024

Sometimes we forget how wonderful trees are. Check out this one tree—yes one tree—from India.

A single tree's 2,800 aerial roots give the appearance of a complete forest.