Well, that was exciting. I was typing up the Dickens quote below when Busby wanted to go outside. I was certain the kitten was in another part of the house, so I was all "sure, Busby - take your time!" while I held the door open for him. You know what happens next - the kitten bolted out of god knows where and ran outside to sweet, sweet freedom. Both Busby and I went out after him and I finally managed to chase him in the right direction and he ran back in the house. Actually, I don't think I had anything to do with it; I think he freaked himself out and found the door through sheer dumb luck. At least his little feet are white so I could keep eyes on him as he hopped around in the cold, wet, dark like a deranged kitten/rabbit.
Back to Dickens - one of the things I'm loving about this novel (Great Expectations) is his insight into persistent human nature. This made sense in 1861 and it makes sense in 2012: we don't always tell ourselves the truth, and we KNOW IT. Not only do we know it, we invent self-deluding fictions to pretty it up. It's one of those curious conditions of humanity.
All other swindlers upon earth are nothing to the self-swindlers, and with such pretenses did I cheat myself. Surely a curious thing. That I should innocently take a bad half-crown of somebody else's manufacture is reasonable enough; but that I should knowingly reckon the spurious coin of my own make as good money! An obliging stranger, under pretense of compactly folding up my bank-notes for security's sake, abstracts the notes and gives me nutshells; but what is his sleight of hand to mine, when I fold up my own nutshells and pass them on to myself as notes!
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