Even before the first yowl, the other cats sensed trouble and sought cover. Oedipus and Electra had been fighting for several minutes already. The cats–one nearly twice the size his opponent–chased each other between the rooms. Paw strikes, at first playful, escalated into full on swipes and grapples. It was getting ugly fast.

After fourteen years, they knew each others hiding spots, and each others weak points. Retreat was not an option. Neither was surrender. One cat was going to lose big.

And then the cry.

When it ended, heaps of gray and white fur from Electra lay in random piles across the carpet. A swatch of exposed flesh was etched into the crook of her right ear, like some kind of prison yard slashing. Child’s play compared to the injuries Oedipus suffered.

The mighty Oedipus, and all his 21 pounds of muscle and glory, leaned against the wall, his right lid shut tight over the eye. His battle scar: a scratched cornea.

Later at the vet, a droplet of liquid made his eye appear green. The prognosis was excellent and Oedipus returned home shortly after the examination, and a stop at Sonic Burger for some Tots. He likes Tots.

Now Oedipus has a new opponent, more fearsome, and the consequence of the fight far more urgent than the last. Antibiotic drops, administered four times daily, and a once a day dash of atropine. It’s enough to make a grown cat cringe. And he does. He shudders. The atropine also makes him foam at the mouth for several minutes, like a mad animal. Or rather, like a talk show host.

But at least his eye stopped turning green, and it’s nearly half open. By Friday Oedipus will be good as new.

The only thing more devastating to teenager than limiting access to Facebook might just be the loss of their cell phone. It’s an exaggeration, but only slightly. In just a few years, one application has gone from innovative novelty to near necessity. But not just for teenagers.

Nearly all of my friend requests on Facebook in the last six months came from people who read The Last Track. That’s something I never expected.

Then again, I also never expected Facebook and social networking to get so big. At present more than 500 million people have Facebook accounts. Some days more people access Facebook than Yahoo or Google. Let me repeat that. A single destination draws more traffic than the biggest search engines that help people sift through billions of active web sites. That’s beyond impressive. And staggering.

It also makes me wonder what’s next for the social networking juggernaut. Maybe just more of the same.

Or maybe something even bigger.

One of the fiercest boxers who ever lived–a man whose powerful body time has softened, but in its place left perspective–recently said: “Each man kills the thing he loves.” It’s simple quote, very memorable, and one anchored in fact.

Looking over many notable figures from history, the knockout blow that bumped them from their perch came not from a rival, but from somewhere less obvious.

For at a certain point in these journeys, something very profound happened. The fire burning inside them, the one that once compelled they fight on flickered. Maybe the flames dipped just for an instant. Not so much that anyone on the outside might notice. But a second of shadows where there had always been light was enough time for something else to work into its place.

Possibly for the first time ever, these champions questioned whether or not what they had always wanted, was worth it. And that second guess was the first step towards the end of whatever empire they had constructed.

And so they killed what they loved, not with acts, or neglect, but with their beliefs.

Afterward, maybe the flames roared back smartly, burning as bright as before. Many empire builders rise and fall several times. But the voices of self-doubt now waited at the perimeter for them going forward, like a fire extinguisher ready to snuff the flames forever.

That quote was from Mike Tyson, and it described a lot more than his own boxing career. Ultimately his most cunning adversary proved to be himself.

Entering home stretch before the school year begins in earnest. Students from all over the world will return for another year on campus. As usual there is much to be done on campus.

Updates might be sporadic for the next two weeks.

Towards the middle of September, I’ll have some news about some store signings and contest results, too.

In Cat Army News, whose shelf is it, anyway?