Monthly Archives: January 2007

I’m not really a cat person.

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I mean, I like them, but close proximity to them makes me all sneezy, which is never good. Nevertheless, I love watching big cats – you know lions and tigers and panthers, and such – so when I saw the latest shapeshifter scent at Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, I had to order it:

From the BPAL website:

BAKENEKO
In sharp contrast to the stark sterility of Hunger Moon, we present a carnivorous chaotic charmer: the bakeneko. The Monster Cat is a shapeshifter, and is empowered to take the form of a beautiful woman (to entice lonely gentlemen) or a winsome young maiden (to the peril of childless couples). Though some bakeneko are benevolent, and only wish to find someone to care for them, or to show gratitude to a mortal that has done them a great service, others are furry balls of malevolent mayhem. Their mischief ranges from simply destructive — knocking over lamps and destroying property, tossing ghostly, freezing fireballs from their hands — to horrifying acts of carnage.

(Warm amber musk, Satsuma tangerine, black tea leaf, cardamom, cherry blossom and cinnamon.)

And speaking of watching cats…

My friend Rana is an amazingly caring cat-mom. So much so, that in an effort to both save cash and not torment a recently-ill kitty, she’s trying to do a natural capture of a urine specimen. I know this because our relationship is generally limited to online exchanges and the occasional sharing of coffee and conversation in person, but today she actually called me. Why? Because she had errands to run, and needed someone to watch the kitty cam and see if the cat used the litterbox. I was happy to help.

She made me promise to not make her seem like a moron. I don’t think there’s anything moronic in caring for your pet that much – I mean, I learned how to give Zorro rectal injections of valium when he was seizing, so HE wouldn’t have to sleep in a cage.

Of course, that wasn’t televised.

A Cold and Rainy Wretched Day

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I didn’t sleep well last night. I woke around three from a nightmare in which my decades-deceased uncle was partially transformed into a panther, and was being interrogated, while I and someone I couldn’t identify held paperbacks, and argued about whether the pages flying around were loose because of a ghost or because spilled vinegar had melted the glue in the binding. I was on the side of vinegar. The dream sounds funny, now, I know, but in the dark, in the night, it was creepy and left me awake with my skin tingling, and while the details faded, the terror lingered. Poor Fuzzy tried to soothe me but the only solution was to be awake, so I pulled the laptop in bed with me, and left the lights out so he could sleep, and finally went to sleep again around five, waking when Fuzzy nudged me to tell me that he was leaving.

Only after I’d worked for an hour from bed did I realize that it was cold, and grey and damp outside. I looked out to the mailbox to see if mail had come, and couldn’t tell, but a very pale golden retriever was hovering around the mailbox (not surprising, as it’s Zorro and Cleo’s favorite spot to leave messages) and it saw me and wagged its tail. I went out an hour or so later to check the mail, and it was across the street. It sat and wagged at me, and I decided that if it was still out and the damp turned to rain, I would bring it into the garage and give it water and a blanket and see if its collar held id tags that were of any use. But when I checked again when the rain started, there was no sign of the dog.

I’ve seen it before, in the neighborhood, but can’t remember where it lives. Poor thing. I could tell it wanted to be home.

My throat is all raw again today, and I feel kind of blechy. Not sick exactly, just…blechy. As if the grey damp day has settled into my mood in a bad way.

This afternoon I wrote about 300 words about Honda Accords. My first official work. Still don’t have the manual I was told about. Must remember to check on that. I like these little 250-ish word reviews. They’re quick and snappy and since it’s just content there are no funky keywords to embed. Also, it’s informative.

Had pumpkin I had to use, so made pie this afternoon. We hadn’t made it over Christmas because I forgot to get the evaporated milk. As it is, Fuzzy brought me back a can each of evaporated and condensed, so I used them both (recipe calls for two cans of evaporated), and used the dregs of the condensed milk to sweeten my mug of chicory-laced coffee from Cafe du Monde, a present from my cousin Stacie in Louisiana, whose birthday is TOMORROW. (Must remember to call her.) She’s got this gentle Southern accent and as sharp a tongue as I have, though her humor is kinder than mine. We’re just getting to know each other after a lifetime of really being just names to one another, and it’s been a great experience.

And now? Now Fuzzy is home, and I made his favorite vegetables, and I’m going to putter and do laundry and maybe be in bed by one.

New Year, New Look

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I’ve had a reprieve of sorts from my first day of work, as the manual that we were supposed to receive before Christmas is not yet here. Boss says I should have it tomorrow. My plan is to bring the laptop out by the fire and read in comfort.

Granted another vacation day, I spent it revamping my blog. I do this from time to time, anyway, but today’s revamp includes the addition of a second column, mostly to hold adsense and amazon links, a completely new color scheme, and oh, yes, I changed all my various IM id’s as well (so if I’m on any of your lists, you probably got a re-auth request).

My archives and category listings now appear on the archive page, and eventually other links will go live. In the meantime, pardon the dust – it generally takes me a couple days to do all the tweaking I want to accomplish.

Be it Resolved

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I’ve never been one for posting lists of resolutions. Witness my post from December, 2004, in which I said:

o, just as I’ve tried to make it a rule that I do at least one productive thing every day, I’m going to resolve in very vague forms: to learn something new, to make a new friend, to help someone, and to do something to improve myself. Is this cheating? I don’t think so.

I didn’t post anything even similar at the end of 2005 or beginning of 2006, choosing to stick to the same goals. And truly? I think I’ve succeeded, though sometimes my “one productive thing” has been stretched to include “take a shower” or “get dressed,” but when you work from home these make all the difference.

In any case, I’ve learned many new things over the last year, made several new friends, and connected with a couple old ones, joined a group that helps me help others, and am taking small steps in the arena of self improvement. While these goals are still in place, maybe it’s time to be more specific?

So, while these aren’t really resolutions, as much as GOALS, here’s my obligatory “Things to do in 2007” list:

  1. Use my camera more. I have a fancy digital camera that I almost never use, and I’m so envious of the pictures posted by people like Carmi, Utenzi, Janet, Rana, and Klae, that I have to do something about it. I’m not sure if I’ll have the nerve to share the results, but I’ll be snapping away anyway.
  2. Publish something. I’ve lost site of that goal over the last year, and let fear keep me from sending queries. No more! I will not let myself get distracted and push stuff aside, and I will face my fear of sharing my work.
  3. Spend more time outside. I’ve never really been an outdoorsy person, but I’ve been taking that to extremes lately. So, it’s time to get re-acquainted with things like sunshine and wind and pavement.
  4. Read more. I haven’t been reading much lately, and what I’ve read has been fluffy mind candy, and not challenging or provocative. I’ve also pretty much ignored my bookblog since September. This must change.

And there you have it. Not very lofty goals, and actually they’re being layered on top of the list from 2004, because I think it’s a good list to keep, but goals nonetheless.

Check with me in a few months to see how I’m doing.

Happy New Year

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If my title is less than original tonight / this morning, at least the sentiment is sincere. We spent the evening hanging out at ComedySportz where I was NOT on the liners, but came just to help out. Technically we’re required to, and honestly, it was fun to watch the show for a change – the last two months I’ve either been away, on stage, or the show has been dark.

I was supposed to play last night, but felt icky and had NO VOICE so called in sick, which got me some well earned rest. I slept away most of Friday, and a good portion of Saturday, and while I felt a bit groggy this morning, and my back still hurts as it always does during certain times of the month, I had fun helping out tonight. We did two shows, and in spite of the chaos that entailed, our arena was like an island of calm in the even more chaotic West End. Someone had rented the bars in the building for the night, you see, charged $100 / head, and given an open bar and three bands, BUT, they over-sold and weren’t organized and by midnight the building was full of smokey pissed-off drunk people. Mmm, attractive.

My aunt commented that it was interesting to see me in a CSz show on Saturday night and then transition into wearing a cassock and surplice and singing at high Mass on Sunday morning, and I guess it’s true from outside my life, but if she knew how funny and snarky we are in choir practice, and how the ladies of the choir often whisper through the homily, and how much laughter is involved, she might not think it so. What I do know is that Sunday mornings post-show, especially if I was in it, and not just helping, come too soon after Saturday nights, and it’s often hard to find my vocal balance in the mornings. Tonight, however, is Sunday, and therefore there is no issue – our loftiest plan for Monday is that we might catch a movie.

Meanwhile, my mother has emailed to wish me a Happy New Year (she was probably in bed by ten), and my feet are screaming for new sneakers, and I have yet to eat anything approaching real food today – cake at church, soup and a sandwich I couldn’t finish at Panera at lunch, and then chips, pretzels, a coke, and a couple miniature eclairs at the show. I think I may be hungry, but I’m not sure.

In any case, the night is more than half done, and I have nowhere to be in the morning. I might post resolutions. I might not. Either way, I wish everyone reading this the very happiest of new years. May 2007 bring you whatever you want, when you want it.

Peace.