Why hello there. 7/8******* ////////////////////////////////////////////// (a message from my cat)

I've spent years living in the doldrums. I didn't know where I was until 5th grade; we had to read The Phantom Tollbooth for school. Thats when I learned where I was, and thats where I stayed, until now. I've been travelling for about three months. I'm not sure where I am now, but I found the highway and I have yet to exit.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, heres an excerpt I found:

“You see,… it’s really quite strenuous doing nothing all day, so once a week we take a holiday and go nowhere, which was just where we were going when you came along. Would you care to join us?”

“I might as well,” thought Milo; “that’s where I seem to be going anyway.” 

...

“What are you doing here?” growled the watchdog.

“Just killing time,” replied Milo apologetically. “You see—“

“KILLING TIME!” roared the dog—so furiously that his alarm went off. “It’s bad enough wasting time without killing it.” And he shuddered at the thought. “Why are you in the Doldrums anyway—don’t you have anywhere to go?”

“I was on my way to Dictionopolis when I got stuck here,” explained Milo. “Can you help me?”

“Help you! You must help yourself,” the dog replied, carefully winding himself with his left hind leg. “I suppose you know why you got stuck.”

“I guess I just wasn’t thinking,” said Milo.

“PRECISELY,” shouted the dog as his alarm went off again, “Now you know what you must do.”

“I’m afraid I don’t,” admitted Milo, feeling quite stupid.

“Well,” continued the watchdog impatiently, “since you got here by not thinking, it seems reasonable to expect that, in order to get out, you must start thinking.” And with that he hopped into the car.

“Do you mind if I get in? I love automobile rides.”

Milo began to think as hard as he could (which was very difficult, since he wasn’t used to it). He thought of birds that swim and fish that fly. He thought of yesterday’s lunch and tomorrow’s dinner. He thought of words that began with J and numbers that end in 3. And, as he thought, the wheels began to turn.

“We’re moving, we’re moving,” he shouted happily.

“Keep thinking,” scolded the watchdog,

The little car started to go faster and faster as Milo’s brain whirled with activity, and down the road they went. In a few moments they were out of the Doldrums and back on the main highway. All the colors had returned to their original brightness, and as they raced along the road Milo continued to think of all sorts of things; of the many detours and wrong turns that were so easy to take, of how fine it was to be moving along, and, most of all, of how much could be accomplished with just a little thought. And the dog, his nose in the wind, just sat back, watchfully ticking. 

I found the excerpt on a professor's webpage, he taught at Umass Amherst and retired a few months ago this year (it's 2026). I knew nothing about him until I went looking for a passage from this book. But I'm glad to have stumbled upon him, I would have liked to have taken one of his classes. Happy retirement Prof. Barrington!

Thats all for now, but I'll add more later when I'm feeling more talkative.
"and if I dont see you, good afternoon, good evening, and good night."