Thinking About...Ada Lovelace

Today I was thinking about Lady Ada Lovelace, a fellow female of technology and a bit of a role model to me. I met her once during my travels with my adventurer-inventor father as a very young kitten and curled up nearby, listening to her theories about the latest this and that. The person she was talking to seemed rather bored, but I was enthralled. I am most sure that we would have gotten along rather swimmingly and her thoughts on my latest doom rays, automatons and mechanical wonders would have been much appreciated.

That Babbage on the other hand...I don't know how she dealt with him on a regular basis. I hope she had a doom ray on stun nearby to pop him when he became too insufferable.

Thinking About...Ebenezer Scrooge

I always appreciated Ebenezer's way of thinking: Sticking to his convictions and keeping his minion Cratchit in line, all while shaking his fist in defiance at the world. After all, is that much coal for warmth in the office really necessary? And his stance on workhouses and how to decrease the "surplus population" of the poor? Legendary.

So when I heard that he had been "reformed" I headed over to his place of business to see for myself. His minion Crachit was as chipper as ever, much to my annoyance. However, it was seeing Ebenezer being so "perky" himself that made my kitty stomach turn ever so slightly.

As I sipped my tea I asked him about his recent change of his ways and what brought it about. "Four ghosts? Really?" I asked. "Are you sure you hadn't been sipping much that evening?" He insisted he had not and said that he even saw his old partner Mr Marley. "My God man, what was in your gruel?" I asked. I offered him the name of some experts in spirit removal--as well as that of a psychiatrist--but he declined, saying he was a reformed man. I told him that I would miss our scowling contests (he usually won). He said that I should try being nice, I might like it, to which I said only one word:

"Humbug."

Thinking About...Abe Van Helsing

This time of the year always make me reflect upon the many unusual creatures and beings I have encountered through the years, not to mention the personalities that seem to obsess a bit about them. Made me think about a colleague of mine, an obscure pathologist chap by the name of Abe Van Helsing. I had him over for a spot of tea and he told me an odd tale of a young socialite woman with a rather unusual condition. Something about bite marks and blood loss. "That is quite a mosquito, sir!" I said. He chuckled, being rather a dry wit, and showed me this picture, saying that he was about to travel to Transylvania to confront this man. "Oh my," I said, "So you are saying that you believe that he has been undead since the 15th century?" He nodded, leaned a little too close to me and asked if I had any advice.

"My advice? Keep on eating all of that garlic you've been consuming lately. That should keep everyone away!"

Thinking About Vic Frankenstein...

I was thinking about Victor today. When he created his Monster, it was the culmination of years of what one could call obsessive research and experimentation in the obscure alchemical arts. He talked about it incessantly. "My creation" this and that. I would just politely sip my tea and nod. However, once made, the fool went and abandoned it, leaving the sentient creature wandering aimlessly with pretty much nothing better than to have alienation and revenge on its mind--eventually picking off Vic's loved ones one-by-one. When he sent me a letter saying he was going to the Arctic to deal with it once and for all, I could only shake my head. "My God man," I sent back by way of reply. "Some people should never be allowed to reproduce. Do pack warm clothes though, as I hear it is quite brisk there."