We have a new kitty in the hizouse. His name is Jack. He looks like a stripey Bengal tiger, and acts like one, too.
Jack dropped out of the sky, over the wall into our back yard one day. I saw something dark fall out of the corner of my eye, and Natalie and I rushed outside to see what it was. And there was Jack. He had "naughty" written all over him. But then he meowed and jumped on Natalie's lap and didn't leave and it was true love. Say "mew" in the highest pitch that you possibly can and then imagine it even higher and cuter, and that's Jack's little voice.
But Jack's appetite is anything but little or cute. He'll eat anything and won't stop until it's gone. Mister has lost a few inches due to his own dignified eating pace.
Jack had a few minor and major mishaps in the beginning, encouraging a strong sense of mistrust within the house. But in spite of the worms, urine and poop, he's come out on top and has begun his climb up the kitten tree into the branches of adolescence. He is very good with his litter box, a luxury suite that has an entry hall and spiral staircase leading to the main room. And although Mister seemed to have the upper hand in the boxing ring at the beginning, Jack has swiftly outgrown his teacher. So now the challenge is trying to teach him to respect his elders and to know when and when not to use his claws.
Today, we found out that Jack is 6 months old, which would make him 3 months old when he arrived. Also today, Jack got "fixed". I've always thought that "fixed" was a strange way to say castrated. It's as though he was broken before, which doesn't make any sense, because technically, he "worked" before being "fixed". And even though he can't "do it", he is not a neutral gender. He is a Tom through and through. So neutered doesn't work for Jack, either. Perhaps "surgically altered", or "woolly-cherry-less". Or "life bachelor", although he certainly is swinging around this house with the love, between genders and species.
Mister would never admit to being enamoured of Jack. But I can tell that he is. He sleeps through the night, exhausted from play. They now nap peaceably beside each other and interchange food bowls frequently throughout meal-time. Yes, there is hissing and howling at peak fighting moments, but it is not necessarily hostile behaviour. It's like a friendly joust, Jack just needs to learn the code of honor. I'm wondering if his newly lost fur-balls will entice him to seek higher levels of dignity. We shall see...
30.11.07
29.11.07
if you have a new computer now, why aren't you blogging ho?
That is a very good question, yo, and I will attempt to answer it with eloquence and embellishment fit for the demand.
I have been working. At work, I have discovered a new aspect of myself. I am anally retentive. I get very IRRITATED when things are not in their proper place or when things do not go smoothly. This is a challenge, because at work, as in real life (work isn't real yet), things never go smoothly or as expected and I must be FLEXIBLE and STRONG in order to deal with the things that pop up in the clear path I'd imagined. Not stiff and unyielding, or else I will break, snap, shatter and stab the people surrounding me.
A coworker was discussing the challenges of trying to collaborate with people who don't know the art as well as you. He was speaking of sports, in order to relate I imagined trying to sing in a chorus of people singing off key. And the word I used to describe both of the scenarios was IRRITATING.
So my daily challenge is to be like a duck and let the water run off my back while I keep swimming and diving. I think of a strong storm and remember that the trees that are always left standing are the ones with deep roots who bend.
I also started yelling at everyone around me before I realised that I was the guilty culprit. So now would be a good time to remember to pull the log out of my own eye before trying to pick the splinter out of my brother's, and to remember that people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
In my real life, I stayed up until 2 am last night cleaning and organizing my room. I have discovered the joys of modern life in streaming Internet radio. Have yet to try wruv, that's next. I miss the Sleepy Strange. And Friday brunches with Slomo.
I found two little pen knives that I forgot I had. I'm not sure that i ever really knew that I had them. They are very old and rusty, so I looked up methods for cleaning them. I've always wanted my own little knife, I guess I'm taking care of myself better than I know.....
I found the little rocks that Brian collected for me when he went surfing in New Hampshire so long ago. I looked at all of my rocks, and remembered where they came from. The grey one with the white lines shaped like a door on the side that Soupy collected for me in Dorset. The dark grayish brown one with a greenish growth on it, one of my favorites, from the back hill where Mummy and Papa used to live. The weird crab shell that Isaac collected for me on a strange luxury adventure to Florida. And the wonderful bones. I have a skull that my old vet thought was a raccoon, but I still think it's a cat. The cow vertebrae that looks like a bird in flight. One of my old beaus was very indulgent and helped me fill a whole box with bones when we chanced upon them in his back woods. I used most of them for a mobile that I did bring with me, but hesitate to hang for fear of frightening the roommates... not much made it across the states with me, what did is very special and beautiful.
That is one of the best things about trying to put your entire existence into one little car. You realize quickly what really matters. For me it was special vintage clothes, instruments, and rocks. Oh, and my sewing machine. That took up a lot of room... I did leave behind some irreplaceable winter items, a special piece of furniture, some pottery and inherited tableware, and my book collection. My book collection, even when trimmed down, is pretty obscene. Thank the good lord for Mummy and Papa's storage unit!
And, of course, the illustrious Mister. For those of you who have referred to his highness as "Snaggletooth" for the past few years, you will be sad to know that the name no longer fits as he's lost his last tooth. So now we call him "Gummy" when he's not around.
So that's that for now, hope it's long enough for you, Em. xo
I have been working. At work, I have discovered a new aspect of myself. I am anally retentive. I get very IRRITATED when things are not in their proper place or when things do not go smoothly. This is a challenge, because at work, as in real life (work isn't real yet), things never go smoothly or as expected and I must be FLEXIBLE and STRONG in order to deal with the things that pop up in the clear path I'd imagined. Not stiff and unyielding, or else I will break, snap, shatter and stab the people surrounding me.
A coworker was discussing the challenges of trying to collaborate with people who don't know the art as well as you. He was speaking of sports, in order to relate I imagined trying to sing in a chorus of people singing off key. And the word I used to describe both of the scenarios was IRRITATING.
So my daily challenge is to be like a duck and let the water run off my back while I keep swimming and diving. I think of a strong storm and remember that the trees that are always left standing are the ones with deep roots who bend.
I also started yelling at everyone around me before I realised that I was the guilty culprit. So now would be a good time to remember to pull the log out of my own eye before trying to pick the splinter out of my brother's, and to remember that people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
In my real life, I stayed up until 2 am last night cleaning and organizing my room. I have discovered the joys of modern life in streaming Internet radio. Have yet to try wruv, that's next. I miss the Sleepy Strange. And Friday brunches with Slomo.
I found two little pen knives that I forgot I had. I'm not sure that i ever really knew that I had them. They are very old and rusty, so I looked up methods for cleaning them. I've always wanted my own little knife, I guess I'm taking care of myself better than I know.....
I found the little rocks that Brian collected for me when he went surfing in New Hampshire so long ago. I looked at all of my rocks, and remembered where they came from. The grey one with the white lines shaped like a door on the side that Soupy collected for me in Dorset. The dark grayish brown one with a greenish growth on it, one of my favorites, from the back hill where Mummy and Papa used to live. The weird crab shell that Isaac collected for me on a strange luxury adventure to Florida. And the wonderful bones. I have a skull that my old vet thought was a raccoon, but I still think it's a cat. The cow vertebrae that looks like a bird in flight. One of my old beaus was very indulgent and helped me fill a whole box with bones when we chanced upon them in his back woods. I used most of them for a mobile that I did bring with me, but hesitate to hang for fear of frightening the roommates... not much made it across the states with me, what did is very special and beautiful.
That is one of the best things about trying to put your entire existence into one little car. You realize quickly what really matters. For me it was special vintage clothes, instruments, and rocks. Oh, and my sewing machine. That took up a lot of room... I did leave behind some irreplaceable winter items, a special piece of furniture, some pottery and inherited tableware, and my book collection. My book collection, even when trimmed down, is pretty obscene. Thank the good lord for Mummy and Papa's storage unit!
And, of course, the illustrious Mister. For those of you who have referred to his highness as "Snaggletooth" for the past few years, you will be sad to know that the name no longer fits as he's lost his last tooth. So now we call him "Gummy" when he's not around.
So that's that for now, hope it's long enough for you, Em. xo
25.11.07
My lovely boyfriend gave me a computer, but I haven't set it up yet. I just read my sister's blog and it made me cry. And I realised that I haven't posted in a while. I missed my family this Thanksgiving. But my lovely boyfriend has a lovely family and they have their own Thanksgiving rituals, and I was lucky enough to participate in them this year.
Brian's family goes camping up in the mountains every Thanksgiving. By family, I mean about 50 relatives. By camping, I mean everyone has a trailer with a kitchen and shower. In my family, it's always been just the 5 of us, mainly because all of the relatives live so far away.
Brian and I stayed in a tent, we are very proud of our ability to "rough it". We recently became "luxury campers" with the addition of an aerobed to the check list, but to our credit, the aerobed had a slow leak that became increasingly faster over the course of the trip. So there were some creaking bones and bruised backs....
Everyone cooked something for the big feast on Thursday, we contributed my famous "beer corn", a lucky discovery from a high school camping mishap. All you need are some corn cobs, tin foil, a fire and some beer. You make a sort "boat" with the foil around the corn and then pour beer in and seal it up, throw it on the fire and let it cook! It comes out best if it burns a little, Brian figured out that it starts to make popping noises when it's ready. I didn't believe him at first, but sure enough, the beer corn pops when done!
Thanksgiving Foster style reminded me a little of a church dinner. There were so many fun and interesting dishes that I'd never tried or heard of! Everyone seems to have a signature dish, and it was all so good! There was a mashed potato casserole topped with corn flakes! And a divine Asian slaw topped with uncooked crushed ramen noodles! That was my favorite for sure, it somehow validated my habit of eating all the noodles before the water boils.
Sitting at the table, I looked around and felt very warm inside. Although I miss my family very badly, it was comforting to be able to share Brian's for a few days.
Brian's family goes camping up in the mountains every Thanksgiving. By family, I mean about 50 relatives. By camping, I mean everyone has a trailer with a kitchen and shower. In my family, it's always been just the 5 of us, mainly because all of the relatives live so far away.
Brian and I stayed in a tent, we are very proud of our ability to "rough it". We recently became "luxury campers" with the addition of an aerobed to the check list, but to our credit, the aerobed had a slow leak that became increasingly faster over the course of the trip. So there were some creaking bones and bruised backs....
Everyone cooked something for the big feast on Thursday, we contributed my famous "beer corn", a lucky discovery from a high school camping mishap. All you need are some corn cobs, tin foil, a fire and some beer. You make a sort "boat" with the foil around the corn and then pour beer in and seal it up, throw it on the fire and let it cook! It comes out best if it burns a little, Brian figured out that it starts to make popping noises when it's ready. I didn't believe him at first, but sure enough, the beer corn pops when done!
Thanksgiving Foster style reminded me a little of a church dinner. There were so many fun and interesting dishes that I'd never tried or heard of! Everyone seems to have a signature dish, and it was all so good! There was a mashed potato casserole topped with corn flakes! And a divine Asian slaw topped with uncooked crushed ramen noodles! That was my favorite for sure, it somehow validated my habit of eating all the noodles before the water boils.
Sitting at the table, I looked around and felt very warm inside. Although I miss my family very badly, it was comforting to be able to share Brian's for a few days.
11.11.07
If it's any consolation...
I've been writing a heap, on paper, with pen. I still don't have a computer. So this extension is a luxury. I'm fixing to pose a right good stock of entertainment once I get some honest access to the inter-web. But don't hold any of those tales against me, for they might well be lies... xoxo
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