Wheatena and Infinite Cats August 5, 2005 – Posted in: Aberrant Normalcy

Today for the first time in maybe eighteen years I had Wheatena, a toasted wheat product. I used to think of it as the “dark” cream of wheat, like the yang of the cereal I-Ching. The taste brought back memories of my father cooking it for me on the stove for breakfast. Yet, I knew something was missing as soon as I tasted it. Then I remembered — I used to put cold sour cream on top of it to contrast the heavy wheat taste of the grain. No sour cream in my fridge, so I added a little butter. Almost as good and much more fattening. But I made way too much. Do cats eat boiled grain?

Speaking of cats, a friend sent me this link to the Infinite Cat Project, a web site that contains pictures of cats regarding cats regarding cats, ad infinitum. When I was about thirteen my father rented a video camera and I hooked the output up to the television and then pointed the camera at the television. The image soon swirled into chaos as the imperfections in the relayed images built up on themselves and soon there were just fractal-like patterns spinning on screen. This cat concept is much cooler because you can control the images. From my estimate the original cat disappears somewhere around image 7 or 8.

In other news, my sister has started a website for collectors. It’s called Collectors’ Quest, and you can already see movies of collectors and their collections. Right now there are only a dozen, but there will soon be hundreds as collectors upload their movies. Eventually, I’m told, you will be able to show your entire collection on their site free of charge, including photos, videos, and descriptions. There will even be a TV channel, with programming catered to collectors of all types.

Finally, Sybil’s Garage will be opening to submissions on September 5, 2005 for issue #3. We are looking for all speculative fiction up to 5000 words, but we’d prefer if they tended toward the strange. Essays, reviews, poetry, and artwork will also be considered. Make sure to read the guidelines before submitting, and please don’t submit before September 5, 2005. We look forward to reading your stories.