The Kitten Box by Gareth Lyn Powell

[Robert_Moriyama]

A very good read! There was some debate last month about the nature of the Mare Inebrium and the types of stories that work best in that environment. While I am certainly quite fond of the longer works, I think vignettes like "The Kitten Box" are perfect for the Mare Inebrium.

My only comment concerns spacing. Some of the spacings on the lines and between the lines seemed a bit eccentric.

Otherwise, though, a lovely little story!


--Jeff Williams

<br><br>This being a Mare story, it didn't pass through my format standardization process where I ruthlessly crush any variations in font and layout. Were there any superscripts or subscripts or odd-sized characters (i.e., symbols, not denizens of the Mare, who come in all shapes and sizes)? Things like that ALWAYS screw up line spacing. (The other thing that can mess you up is 'hard' carriage returns. With those, you end up with weird spacing unless the screen width and font size are pretty much what was used to lay out the page.)<br><br>Dan'l, should I try to clean the file up a bit so GLP's work looks as pretty as a box o' kittens?<br><br>Robert M.

[kailhofer]

I've read this one three times, and I've got one big problem with it that I just can't shake. <br><br>I could live with the level of sensory input. There's no sensation of touch until he is surprised how heavy the box is, and no smells until the taste of the salt air out side, but Gareth threw in more thn enough extra bits to make the scene seem real enough. Aliens squabbling over grilled cheese sandwiches, the wind blowing scraps of litter at their feet, and so on.<br><br>Structurally, it's more like an extra long flash piece than one where a definite resolution is reached, but I was still fine with that. Since Verne had to look, there's the sense that he'll continue to have to look in the future, keeping the story going beyond the bounds of the tales framework.<br><br>I don't know if I could accept a live kitten in the box forever, without any kind of food, but obviously the same nanomachines could keep the cat alive. Honestly, I didn't mind it too much.<br><br>What I got hung up on was the title and the image it put in my head. In our house, the cat box doesn't contain diamonds, let me tell you! Looking to see if something died in there doesn't have at all the same meaning, so to speak.<br><br>I didn't want to sound like a jerk, but then I thought that maybe it's a language barrier from across the pond, in which case, Gareth would want to know about it--you know, like how taking the lift or opening the boot won't sound right to an American audience. Maybe over there when a kitten has to poop, it doesn't do it in the kitty box, but that's what that box is called at my house.<br><br>I'm sorry, Gareth. This is a perfectly wonderful story, but my own shortcomings ruin it for me, and I can't shake the analogy in my head. I really hope no one else sees it this way. If it was anything else, a salamander, a bug, a tiny marsupial--anything else but a cat box, I'd shower it with praise.<br><br><br>Nate

[M._Maldonado]

I haven't read the story, but I'd like to point out that I've never heard the litter box called a kitty box. O.o Nor have I heard anyone else call it anything other than litter box, ever.<br><br>I suddenly feel very sheltered. :P<br><br><br>~MM

[Robert_Moriyama]

We call it a cat box.

Quite obviously, Nate is insane.

<br><br>I think it's a side effect of Following the Way (viz. the Centenary thread).<br><br>Any linguists out there who are aware of regional variations in terms for 'litter box'? Or is 'kitten box' one of those terms that is used only by a single extended family?<br><br>I'm disappointed to learn that GLP thinks that the box may be a scam. The miniature kitten, immortal unless the box is opened (and even then, with a 50% chance of being tiny but alive) is such a charming image. Not much fun for the kitten, of course; it must be bored out of its furry little (extremely little, in this case) skull if it's not in stasis.<br><br>Robert M.

[Robert_Moriyama]

Hey Robert,
I've owned many a cat and rest assured kittens are never bored.

<br><br>You mean, of course, that many a cat has given you the honor of providing food, water, and shelter. Cats don't do the 'owned by' thing.<br><br>While it is true that a feline can find a spot on the wall (or in mid-air) fascinating even though it appears to be completely empty to mere human senses, I suspect that The Box might get a little tedious after a while (unless the kitten was REALLY REALLY TINY so the Box provided room enough to (say) run around the walls without touching the floor).<br><br>I'm surprised that the GSPCA wasn't chasing the owner of The Box for cruelty to creatures. (Of course, that may be why he needed to get off-planet as soon as possible ...)<br><br>Robert M.

[Robert_Moriyama]

Were they red states or blue states?

<br><br>Given the amount of shooting that was probably involved, I'd guess Red. (And how weird is it that the Republican 'color' is the same as the signature color of Communism?)<br><br>Robert M.

[kailhofer]

Quite obviously, Nate is insane.

<br>You mean it wasn't obvious?<br><br>They say there's a fine line between genius and insanity, and although I aimed at genius, I have no doubt which side of the line I landed on. :)<br><br><br>Nate<br><br>(That is, until the rose-colored prespective that history provides proves me and "The Way" right, at which time I have instructed my children to thumb their noses at your decendents, the both of you. :P)

[Robert_Moriyama]

You know, this story really doesn't work unless you understand the running gag on Schroedinger's Cat. I'm surprised more of you sci-fi geeks didn't pick up on it earlier. :P

<br><br>We picked up on it, but didn't think it needed mentioning. It was such an obvious reference, and GLP did everything but NAME the scenario (and no far-future fellow on a distant world would have heard of Earth, let alone Schrodinger, so he COULDN'T).<br><br>Robert M.<br><br>(PS Did Robert Anton Wilson or somebody like that actually write a story or book called 'Schrodinger's Cat'? I seem to recall seeing a story/book with that title...)<br>

[Megawatts]

Nice story, well written! Reminds me of the old "Sea-side bar tell between two sailors."<br><br>I don't know what the cat in the box stood for, but it did get Dray Lu to his destination. <br><br>A hustler and a freelance shipping agent---any agent is a legal hustler in my book---are on even terms. One could easily see through the other, but in the story a mutual trust of the other came though! The tells me that the box had to be valuable. <br><br>A cat in the box, suggesting that one is sick of living forever, and the element of chance--a poker player--does enter into the world of quantum physics, where chance rules!<br><br>But I don't think that this story was about quantum physic, but about curiosity! Verne Turner had to see what was in the box!<br><br>By hanging around Mare Inebrium--a bar set in the future and far from Earth--Verne must have heard a vast amout of stories, and I'm sure he has seen an equally amout of creatures from the stars. But, and I say this about humans--aliens might be different but I doubt it---curiosity will always be with us. From the caveman days to the days when starships travel the universe and beyond, we human will always be curious about something!<br><br>Remebmer one thing: Curiosity killed the pussy-cat, so maybe there is something about quautum physics to this story after all!<br><br><br><br>

[Stuart_Cormie]

.. I didn't want to sound like a jerk, but then I thought that maybe it's a language barrier from across the pond, in which case, Gareth would want to know about it--you know, like how taking the lift or opening the boot won't sound right to an American audience. Maybe over there when a kitten has to poop, it doesn't do it in the kitty box, but that's what that box is called at my house.

<br><br>But on the other hand, Nate, if the story had been 'translated' into American English, those of us outside the US may well equally have been at a disadvantage.<br><br>I appreciate that Aphelion is a US-based operation, and quite probably a majority of its visitors are from the US; given that, I would accept that it has a prerogative to stipulate submissions in American English. However, Aphelion's audience is theoretically global, and I would argue that 'English' English on an intra-planetary stage is no less valid or out of place than American English.<br><br>Until such time that a 'standard' English is defined for the Web, it strikes me that we should simply enjoy our regional variations -- or, "Vive la difference!"

[Robert_Moriyama]

I have been Americanizing spelling and occasionally substituting North American equivalents for Britishisms in some stories -- particularly those that were SET in North American locales.<br><br>Now, however, I'm leaning toward leaving things alone if the British flavor is appropriate to the story. Hence stories set in "U.K. English" countries with characters likely to use British terms (tyres, lorries, lifts, etc.) would be left alone, but a story set in Chicago, Illinois featuring a guy from Dearborn, Michigan might still get The Treatment. (Of course, he could be a Masterpiece Theater addict, but the story would have to make that clear!)<br><br>Readers and authors, opinions please?<br><br>Robert M.

[Stuart_Cormie]

I have been Americanizing spelling and occasionally substituting North American equivalents for Britishisms in some stories -- particularly those that were SET in North American locales.

Now, however, I'm leaning toward leaving things alone if the British flavor is appropriate to the story.  Hence stories set in "U.K. English" countries with characters likely to use British terms (tyres, lorries, lifts, etc.) would be left alone, but a story set in Chicago, Illinois featuring a guy from Dearborn, Michigan might still get The Treatment.  (Of course, he could be a Masterpiece Theater addict, but the story would have to make that clear!)

Readers and authors, opinions please?

Robert M.

<br><br>Here's my tuppence-ha'penny / two cents worth <br><br>My immediate thought is that, whatever else, dialogue (sorry, dialog ) should be in the local vernacular anyway (local as defined in the story, not the place of publication), at least in terms of vocabulary and grammar. That's the responsibility of the author, it seems to me.<br><br>But considering the story as a whole, I think a given publication should simply choose one variant of English and apply the rules of that variant in all cases (with the exception noted above for dialogue). Consistency is key I feel.<br><br>For me, as I said in my earlier post, it's only fair that Aphelion regards itself as a US English publication at this time, but in the longer run, as another issue, I feel there's possibly a case for a single global English standard.<br><br>Or am I making too big a deal of it? As Wishbone points out, some people can happily recognise the differences and flit between them without trauma.<br><br>AFTERTHOUGHT: In a sense, a global 'standard' already exists -- it's the superset of all the English variants that exist. Ie -- anything goes!

[Stuart_Cormie]

... what we [Danes] learn in school is British English, but most of what we subsequently read, hear and see (in books, TV, movies, computergames, webpages, etc.) is mostly American English....

<br><br>Hey, that's what happens here in England too!<br>