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Friendly: My Life and Remaining Questions

Editor's note: Friendly completed a revision of his previous nine-part autobiography. This manuscript came to us only recently, and we publish it here. He attached this note to readers.   Dear Reader, In this year of my sixteenth birthday, by human reckoning, and in recognition of the long association of our species, dating back to ancient Egypt, I submit this memoir in hopes it will further understanding of the feline way of life, despite the misconceptions portrayed in comic strips, YouTube videos, and Facebook memes. I fear in some ways I've followed the human pattern in tell-all memoirs, directing my acerbic wit at everyone else and confessing things I'm actually proud of, such as possessing an acerbic wit. But I hope this one-part edition will provide a mirror in which humans can reflect on their society...and that this reflection will lead both our species to greater peace and harmony. Sincerely, Friendly My earlies t memories are of my mother, my four litter mate

The Poetics of Christmas

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First came the faint crackle vinyl records make, then Alexander Scourby's voice reading the King James Version. His voice painted the stories of Adam and Eve and Abraham and Job and Job's wife across my mind. When we were kids, Mom tucked us into bed and turned on the record player. There were two Christmas stories. "The First Nowell," in " Christmas Carols New and Old, " edited by Rev. H.R. Bramley and Dr. John Stainer. Public domain, courtesy of Christian Classics Ethereal Library . Both  Christmas stories —both  St. Luke's and St. Matthew's Gospels—appeal to Hebrew authority. Matthew begins with genealogy—with Abraham—picking up almost as if where the Chronicles of Israel's kings leave off. Matthew cites Hebrew prophecies fulfilled in events he records. Luke starts with the temple in Jerusalem, a priest named Zechariah, and his wife, Elizabeth. They were both “righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord bla