Which Describes How You're Felix

We brought our new cat, Felix, back from the shelter the Friday before last. I assume he's named after the cartoon, but I can't say I know too much about it, other than that he has a bag of tricks. I haven't seen this guy use such a bag, but maybe that's the trick. The first few days, he hid under the bed most of the time, and Nellie was hissing and growling at him. I know that can be a thing for cats, but I was hoping it wouldn't with her, since she was still a kitten and usually gets along with everybody. She did eventually stop, however, and now she tends to follow him around.

He's gotten better about exploring the apartment as well, although I still have an unfortunate tendency to startle him. Beth thinks it's because I move around loudly. If he's in a calmer mood, he really likes to be petted, and will lean into your hand. He's a very handsome cat. It takes a lot of stress off my mind that I know he's eating, drinking, and using the litterbox. I know he eats Nellie's kitten food even though I've put out regular cat food for him, but I can't really avoid that unless I feed Nellie at specific times, and that's a hassle. I don't think it's hurting him to eat kitten food, but it means I have to buy it more frequently.


On Thursday, we saw the Kevin Geeks Out show about mental health at the Nitehawk Cinema in Prospect Park, the easier one to get to. It seemed shorter than usual, and there was no Kindest Cut. Whether it actually WAS shorter, I don't know. But anyway, it was fun. There was discussion on how media, especially back in the eighties and nineties, tended to show mental illness that didn't reflect any actual disorders, or if someone does have a diagnosis, they show totally unrelated symptoms. They also have an uncanny ability and desire to help seemingly normal people. One of Kevin Maher's bits was about psychiatric professionals in horror movies, and how they're usually portrayed as awful, examples being Nightbreed, Friday the 13th Part VII, Cult of Chucky, and Poltergeist III, in the latter being used in a way that pretty much contradicts the first movie. He ended it by saying that the doctor in Nightmare on Elm Street 3 is much better, but also looks like Bill Maher.

One thing I've seen mentioned before that I don't think came up at the show was how fictional media rarely make distinctions between psychologists and psychiatrists; therapists are always prescribing medicine. I guess this is just to make things simpler. Max Bank did an in-character segment as an acting coach who teaches method acting for portraying the mentally ill. Another presentation was about how characters in shows for young children are often way more chipper than they were back in the seventies or so, complete with clips of how Daniel Striped Tiger from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood being incredibly depressed. I'm sure this is the kind of thing that goes in cycles to some degree and doesn't apply to every kids' show, but it was an interesting look. And there was a game where the audience guessed whether a particular brand had ever said anything about mental health on social media.