Home of Ripley's things

                 Kangarue “Diane” Butterfield passed away on February 18, 2023 after experiencing sudden heart failure and subsequent veterinary euthanasia. She was around 12 years old and spent her years as the Butterfield family cat, outliving the beloved Spooner Butterfield and remaining after Catniss Butterfield was re-homed. Originally called “Waffles,” Kangarue’s given name supposedly came from an argument between her young adopters, Ripley and Drusilla. Ripley wanted to name her new cat “Rue” after the tragic Hunger Games character- she had recently seen the movie. Drusilla, being only a toddler, preferred an animal name. Thus, the story goes, Kangaroo and Rue were fused into a singular title for the black and white kitten. In the last 3 or 4 years of her life, Kangarue went by “Diane,” a name suggested by her dear friend Madeline Boccone. “Diane” comes from the song "Sleeping with the Television On" from Billy Joel’s 1980 a...

There is something simultaneously stifling and freeing about walking in New Paltz. It can be refreshing, and wondrous- like when it's crisp outside and I spot groups of birds in the air or the Wallkill River- but it's also such an annoyance to trek uphill to campus after going anywhere. A walk is free, it helps slow-moving hours pass, and it's a form of exercise that I don't hate or attach self-conscious thoughts to. However, in a place where transportation is fickle and exceedingly limited, walking feels burdensome. And I don't consider it as "relaxing" or "mind-clearing" as some. It's an activity that I treat much like reading and drawing: I love it and can't imagine life without it, but don't indulge with as much regularity as I should. From the New Paltz Postcard Archive at Sojourner Truth Library. I'm thinking about walking because recently I've taken to listing out my days in a check-off-able to-do list on the app/websit...