Cuddle-ish

When I lie down, even for a nap, Buster and Gracie like to join me. Buster lies near the head of the bed, curled into the crook of my arm, and Gracie crawls down to my lower torso, usually slipping under the covers. Buster's is kind of pro forma; after ten or twenty minutes, he jumps down and goes to his Safe Place, under the hassock on the other side of the bed.

Lately, Gracie's gotten a little testy. If she's already on the bed when Buster wants up, she'll snarl and even feint at snapping. I give her a little shove when she does that, but still, Buster (twice her mass!) has become reluctant to challenge her on this.

He has now taken to going to the other side, climbing up on the hassock and getting on the bed from there. That achieved, he then steps over (or on!) my head to cross to his preferred spot. I'm usually quick enough to grab the pillow and sit up so he can cross unmolested, but not always.

:shakes head:

Withering

We've lost another one: Bill Withers has died. This one's not a loss to the coronavirus, though.

"Ain't No Sunshine".
"Lean on Me".
"Use Me".
"Just the Two of Us".

and, lesser known but worth remembering:
"Lovely Day".
"Grandma's Hands".
"Harlem".

and a number of others. His career was brief, but he burned bright.

The Other Leonardo

I just posted another slide show for one of my history of mathematics classes, about Leonardo of Pisa, who was, more than anyone else, responsible for Europe's adoption of Hindu-Arabic notation. At the end of it I drop the bomb: they've heard of him, under another name. His father's name was Bonaccio, and he was often referred to as "the son of Bonaccio" - in the Pisan dialect, "fi'Bonacci".

I love that one.