[stylist] August, 2009 The shellBell Report

[Shelley J. Alongi]

the Case of the Missing Red meat

I should have known that something was up when I couldn't find either of my cats in the airconditioned apartment that Saturday afternoon. The morning had gotten off to a good start, a day spent writing and catching up on chores, at least the chores I want to do. I have a theory about chores; if I do the ones I like often enough, when I feel like doing the ones I dont' like to do, I'll be in the mood to do them because I won't have to spend time doing the other ones and running out of energy. Well, it has been one of those mornings and one of the more pleasant chores I engage in is cooking. I love cooking. today, steak was on the menu, except that I decided to leave the steak on a plate on the counter in the kitchen. Being distracted as usual from one of my pleasant chores I went into the office to write or do something, and then returned to the kitchen to put the dishes in the dish washer and find the steak...except the steak was missing. How could a piece of steak the size of my hand and smothered in barbecue sauce come up mising? Especially when I hadn't eaten it? In the back of a clear head I wondered if perhaps Pearl or Brandy had gotten up on the counter and knocked the meat onto the floor, but, no, I thought, they usually dont' get on the counter. Well, maybe they got up on the counter one time in the old place, and I suspect it was Pearl who got up on the counter that time, and if any of my cats had gotten up on the counter this time it would have been Pearl. who knows, it could have been Brandy, she's the one who always jumps up the counter when she's excited about food. But that on that hot, August day, with the humidity being high, I knew the steak was safe for human consumption because the place was cool...but maybe it wasn't safe for cat consumption. I didn't have any sick cats, so, no, I thought, the cats couldn't have gotten up on the counter. Still, I couldn't be sure.

cleaning the dishes and putting them into the dishwasher I suddenly got the idea to clean the kitchen floor, one of the more unplesant chores, even if my kitchen isn't very big. There was a sticky trail of barbecue sauce and I just couldn't figure out how in the world it got on the floor since I didn't spill it. Finding the cloth, wetting it with the hottest water, i began my task in earnest. On the third time around, as the floor became cleaner, I happened upon the corner of the floor that meets the counter and the refrigerator, and lo and behold, what to my wondering eyes should appear...a piece of steak the size of my hand, smothered in barbecue sauce. Well, I guess that solved the mystery. Since I had definitely not put the steak under the refrigerator, I guess it was the cats who did it..but then, again, I'll never know. 

Now you know why I keep my kitchen as clean as possible and I dont' leave food out on mycounters. When I leave for work in the morning, which I have been doing for the last two weeks after vacation, the kitchen is clean, in fact the house is clean. I believe in giving cats free reign of the house..but not the food. The weather has demanded air conditioning or at least I've demanded it, so it's been running here constantly, making both myself and the cats comfortable. The cats and I have lived in happy existence, working, eating, visiting the train station, and writing. That's one thing we've been doing a lot of around here lately: writing. Between reading my book on the santa Fe Railroad, visiting the Southern California train travel group, reading articles for the "Slate and Style" issue for summer, keepign things in order, and meeting new characters both real and imagined, we've been busy around here. My railroad story is developing another twist. We're now experimenting with a relationship witha teenage railfan, a mentoring one, a hangout buddy for videos; that means I need to develop my characters, Judy, Glen, and now Matthew Martinez in an even fuller spectrum of experiences. when I'm not reading, writing or doing arithmetic, as it were, I'm developing characters. I think I'll be writing n article or two on how I do that, articles which will appear soon enough somewhere, either online or in the magazine. 

So as you can see, the month of July passed altogether in a pleasant manner. We went to Chatsworth and found Rob Sanchez's friends, we did all the other things that needed to be done, and now, August is upon us. So here's to a happy August, and hopefully to no more discoveries of Shelley's red meat by cats! 

Next time I write my website will be up and running. I will have lived in this apartment for a year, and so far, everything is hunky dory. So till we meet again in person or online, have a great day and keep dreaming! 

Shelley, Pearl, and Brandy 

Shelley J. Alongi 
Home Office: (714)869-3207
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NFBWD "Slate and Style" editor 
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To read essays on my journey through the Chatsworth train accident, Metrolink 111 or other interests click on http://www.storymania.com/cgibin/sm2/smshowauthorbox.cgi?page=&author=AlongiSJ&alpha=A

updated July 2, 2009