damn kids…

not only does this kitten act like a baby Katushka

she looks like one too:

i just can't help it

i have to post this because it is so like the world i am living in:

patty cake, patty cake, . . .

kitty say what

some days

are just like that

(and this is so apropos to my life as i have not been able to print anything on my printer for centuries because of some non-existant paperjam!*#%&*! ~ no matter how many times Demetra has tried to remedy the problem!)

poor little turtle

only wants to be kitty's friend and the cat is having none of it...



(not one of my cats, by the by...)

a trip to the vet...

We were off to our vet appointment today (well three of us were off, since Dixie seems to have learned that precognitive skill of sensing beforehand that the vet trip is eminent.) Even though i was able to lure Demetra and Katushka into the bathroom with cat treats and then close the door only to insert them into cat carriers, Dixie was having none of it (nor the promise of food) and hid in the basement. The search for her was futile. So i trundled off the two others to the appointment meant for three. The beasties needed their annual exams and to have their talon-like claws clipped (they will not let me near their paws--amazing how an animal 5%-10% of your body weight can really hold their own against you.) I threaten them with declawing every now and then but i never would as i am morally opposed to it (besides the fact that i refuse to put the 16 year old Dixie under anaesthesia unless absolutely necessary.) I have bought those soft paws things (rubber caps that slip over the claw itself and fall off after six to eight weeks) but not only do you have to trim their claws before you can apply them but you also need them to hold still while you glue them on (what's the point?) I've had groomers tell me that vets can do it for you, and of course the vets tell me that groomers do. Does anyone know anything about the effectiveness of EmeryCat? I'm actually more concerned about my own safety rather than my furniture (although Katushka claws at my kitchen bench incessantly). Dixie claws at the carpet and runs over me with her claws, Katushka also runs over me, and she has a bit of a kneading problem. Demetra has a major kneading problem because she was weaned too early (but she always using her scratching post.)

As if you cared for any of the above detour, back to my story: I asked Herr Doctor if Demetra has gained weight just because her sides seem to be buldging a teensy bit (can i stress teensy?) I probably wouldn't have even noticed if Demetra had not been a short-haired cat, unlike her sisters (Katushka once lost 25% of her weight without my note until the vet weighed her.) So Herr Doctor tells me that she has gained a little and then proceeds to tell me that she needs to go on a diet (a little difficult with three cats who don't care whose food they eat), that i need to brush her back better because she probably can't reach around to groom herself (little does he know i rarely brush any of them), and that she has possibly lost the fur underneath her chin due to her neck size increasing rather than some kind of reaction to her collar. I wonder if he would have even come up with this theory if i hadn't brought it up (she had hissed at the vet tech, something she never does~maybe she was unhappy with being called fat) it's not like the animal is obese, just a little pudgy.

Cats all bundled up and in the car i make a quick visit to the liquor store next to the vet (it was a five minute trip and cool and cloudy outside.) Had a major attack of vertigo while in the liquor store, shaking, swaying, waving vision (and i'm sure as i stumbled out of the liquor store a few assumptions were made.) My mother claims it was the act of being in the liquor store~maybe it was bad Karma for leaving the kids in the car~in actuality i believe it was just a relapse.)
Got into the car and had a lens fall out of my glasses (which rendered me completely unable to see.) Called mom to let her know she might need to come pick us up. So, with shaking hands, after about ten minutes got the lens back in. Drove like a little old lady until i got about a block away from my house where i ran out of gas. Had to call mom to rescue us, and then carry the animals in once i got home I'm sure they were wondering what the hell was going on when their trip home was much longer and confusing than it usually is. Needless to say the trip home from the vet was not the most enjoyable adventure...

how can i dream about the soles of my feet if you're sitting on top of my head???

Was in the middle of figuring out where my dream was heading (or just beginning to enjoy the bizareness of it when Dixie Louanne bothered and awoke me both by sitting on my head and rattling the blind. Now i'll never know!

do you ever get the feeling people just call the local reference librarian because they're lonley and need to chat (or because they are obnoxious and bitchy and need someone to yell at and have already lost any friends they might have had?

Do you ever get the feeling i am just a lonely old -spinster-cat lady?

really makes me wonder what my kitties are up to while i'm toiling away...

although i’ve often wondered some of what they’re up to when i am at home like:

• when i hear big crashes coming from some other room and when i go to investigate can find no evidence of what has happened (nor any cats in sight)

• or the time i found a dollar hidden under one of the rugs they often sleep under in the back bedroom (a place i never carry money to); as if they were saving up for some grand escape

• or the time i was doing dishes and i kept hearing a cat zooming by behind me to head down into the basement~times about seven~i ventured down the stairs a couple of times and didn’t see where they had gotten themselves off to (and i had never heard the corresponding bells on their collars indicating they had come back upstairs). It was if they were having a little feline bash in some secret corner of the basement and had invited all their pals (just run by real fast and she’ll never know the difference…)

• when i went into the back room and stumbled on the rug where i found a couple of dollars hidden underneath it, as if they were plotting their escape.

• the time Katushka managed to sneak out of the house and i didn’t notice until a cat that “looked exactly like her” came up to the window

• similar to the time i came home and the two stray cats who “looked exactly like” Katushka and Dixie were loitering on my porch with the door wide open

• or when i ignored Katushka when she was begging for her supper and so she decided to open the front door and go out and find her own

• the times they hide my car keys from me just to make me think i’m losing my mind (is it possible i’m giving them to much credit?)

• and the eternal question: do cats purr if there is no one around to hear them?

and if they can do all this why can’t I train them to do housework???

Anyway, back to the book…

most of these are taken from the website of the same name and include all sorts of pets

for the animal lover (perhaps even animal hater) in all of us… Always good for a laugh, or two…

you may think you know how it ends...

Ophelia never was one of my favorite Shakespearean heroines (perhaps because my acting teachers were often suggesting i play her~and i was always a little partial to Juliet~ever since we first read the play in ninth grade English). I always saw Ophelia as a bit weak and victim-like~i suppose i'm not the only one~and named a cat i got after my other "tough" cat Tiny disappeared when a roommate let her out into a strange neighborhood (i saw the cat as somewhat weak~that cat later became my baby who no other cat~at first~would ever match and i never knew if i came to see the character of Ophelia differently because of the cat or because of a re-reading of Hamlet...)

Of course any re-writing of the master (and Hamlet always has been one of my favorite plays~i actually always wanted to play Hamlet) is going to leave a few detractors and there were definitely aspects of Lisa Fiedler's Dating Hamlet: Ophelia's Story that left me none too happy (i.e. certain changes to Polonius and the gravedigger~but what can you do really?) Ophelia isn't quite the strong, feminist character you might hope for (she was still quite head over heels for Hamlet~but she is a teenager after all~also living in eleventh century Denmark) but she can definitely hold her own (and even has some career aspirations~maybe she is a bit of a feminist after all...~i mean she does act for herself, what more is there?). She does manage quite a few of the behind-the-scenes plot machinations for herself and you can also see why there might be a bit of a real romance for her and the Danish prince (he's not quite as wishy-washy as some have played him, either.) Some stuff that i was thinking sounded a bit like another Shakespeare plot was explained slightly (if a bit too cutely, pertly, patly, etc) at the end.

All in all, a quick (and isn't that what most of us want from a young adult novel, anyway?) breezy, enjoyable read (especially if you're a fan of the bard).

Ready, Set, Cringe... (or, is this any way to drown one's sorrows?)

Late last night (or early this morning~depending on your point of view), while i was Not Sleeping, i decided to lie in bed and listen to some old This American Life episodes (this is something i often do to try to lull myself to sleep.) I happened upon this gem about those stories that make us cringe~and what exactly is it about those type of stories that are universally cringeworthy? The podcast was incredibly funny, so relateable (though they did make the observation that women often have cringe-related stories concerning love, that they absolutely revel in retelling again and again while men do not), and not all that sleep inducing (fortunately the drugs finally kicked in about 4:30 a.m.~although i didn't feel terribly fortunate when i was stumbling around the library this morning like a drunken fool~without the added benefit of incoherence).

On a completely unrelated, although now that i think about it this would probably create a few cringes in many of you (and many of the cringe-worthy stories are stories i am actually unable to repeat). As i was walking through my house i found that one of my cats had developed yet another case of feline ill that i am unable to diagnose nor trace to a specific cat to take to the veterinarian (and i cannot afford to take them all) and i was considering covering my entire house with sand so as to much more easily clean up these frequent accidents. I have long been considering what to do with the small area in my small entry hall area which, due to the long presence of cats before mine, had acquired a certain smell which caused Dixie to begin to eliminate there and caused me to unwilling place a litter box in my front hall closed helping but not entirely doing away with the problem.

I had decided on replacing the carpet with granite, supposed the most non-porous stone there is which i can also dye to match (or buy to match) the new dark blue carpet i plan to replace my current living room carpet with (the living room, by the by, is the only room in the house which is carpeted but i really want to keep the carpeting because i always sit on the floor.) When i had, most frustratingly decided to resort to the "beach theme" of sand i then came up with the more brilliant idea of putting an indoor pond in the front hall (the entire front hall) which would {hopefully~cats not being huge lovers of all things aquatic} serve the triple purpose of keeping them out of the front closet, the entry hall, AND keep keep Katushka and Demetra from racing out the front door whenever it opens which often has me standing outside the front door in a foot ball huddle waiting to catch a flying cat as well as kicking the door and shouting repeatedly, "Step away the door" which i'm sure has my neighbors wondering what sort of police action occurs at my house nearly every night.

Now, this whole idea of putting a water feature in my hall , or more accurately, my house, has appealed to me ever since i saw one featured in the mansion in the absolutely wonderful movie The Party with Peter Sellers (if you've never seen it, rush out and do so now!) Anyway, in a semi-serious quest i checked out Designing Water Gardens: A Unique Approach by Anthony Archer-Willis and Indoor Water Garden Design: 20 Eye-Catching Designs to Bring the Outdoors into your Home by Yvonne Rees. Designing Water Gardens didn't give me so many ideas although it does have pics of the whole stepping stone idea i've always wanted (a la The Party) ~tho that might defeat the whole preventing kitties idea as kitties can go tripping across the stepping stones almost as easily as i can~might have to construct some kind of drawbridge... not so very pretty that... Designing Water Gardens also introduced me to the very unique swimming pool at the Adelphi Hotel in Melbourne, Australia, part of which juts out over Flinders Lane~i'm not sure how i'd feel about swimming above metropolitan traffic, or having them look up at me~interesting nonetheless.

Indoor Water Garden Design did offer one design which was ALMOST doable, though the whole idea is far from practical~a girl can dream can't she. There are also a few ideas i found online~one with a cat pictured although i would have to figure out a way to sink the whole thing into the floor (again not a big practical idea) and one on a much larger scale than i had in mind~i guess it's all a great big OH WELL...

feline philosophy from across the pond

Vicky Halls is a veterinary nurse who currently works in Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom as a “cat behaviour consellor” (that U.K. bit is important because there are some fundamental differences in U.K. thinking on what is best for our little feline friends and U.S. thinking). Being a cat behavior consellor apparently means that she earns her living by visiting people in their homes, drinking tea from their cat mugs and listening to their stories about their cats.” She never gets bored (her words). I’m not sure how helpful any of this is to the North American cat owner who picks up Cat Confidential: the book your cat would want you to read with a hope to solve a particular cat problem, it is, however, a rather entertaining and thoughtful book written with some insight.

First off, in case you didn’t know, two major difference between British and American views on house cats:

1. In the U.K. declawing is illegal so you will not find any discussion of it here~pros OR cons (not that that’s a bad thing~i believe it’s a rather inhumane thing to do myself, but it does bear mentioning)

2. more importantly, in the U.K. it is considered depriving a cat of one of its most basic needs to not allow it to freely roam outside whereas the A.S.P.C.A and the Humane Society of the United States as well as most U.S. vets agree that not only are cats much safer as purely “indoor” creatures but that they can live a very happy satisfied life if kept inside (given the proper amusement and stimulation). In fact it is mentioned as one of the symptoms of an overly attached (perhaps even bordering on pathological) owner in this book if:

“the cat is kept exclusively indoors or allowed only restricted access to the outdoors under supervision for reasons of ‘safety’. (The owners worry that the cat would be exposed to unacceptable dangers if it were to go outside)”

In the U.S. this would be considered indicative of a responsible cat owner.

Another conceit of this particular author seems to be that often the answer is to remove the cat from the home, which, i am sure, must sometimes be necessary but she seems much quicker to do it than i would be (and have worked out situations in my own home that have seemed more daunting than those she seemed to resort to very extreme measures with…)

The book is divided into chapters which would seem to make seeking help for particular problems easier:

• The New Kitten

• The Scaredy Cat

• The Aggressive Cat

• The Indoor Cat

  • which of course would always seem to result in a “stir crazy” cat who needs some outdoor time

• The Multi-Cat Household

  • which rarely seems to work well (except in the author’s case)

• The Weird Cat

• The Human/Cat Bond

• The Elderly and Disabled Cat

• Coping with Bereavement

Unfortunately many of these “problems” often seem to have similar solutions and they are so anecdotal as to be of little use. I found the last two chapters dealing with elderly cats (which is really just a report on a survey the author did of cat owners) and coping with bereavement to be the most helpful. Halls said she wrote this book mainly to talk about the nine cats she has shared her life with (and each of these is used to introduce a chapter), it is on this level and in Halls’ tone that i find the book succeeds most. (She also is incredibly witty and i love her description of how cats feel about cat doors~but without them, and the constant need for the cat to go outside, doesn’t that leave you at your cat’s beck and call?)

Worth reading but for behavior advise a better bet is probably Nicholas Dodman.

fang marks and all

Yesterday/today (it's always so confusing in the wee hours what to call the day~because i haven't been to bed yet so it doesn't really seem like yesterday~but anyway...) was kind of a bitch~i was feeling like shit (have yet another cold and so does Dixie~if cats do indeed get colds i'm finding/getting conflicting information on that front~but the fact that my twelve year old cat is sneezing and congested/having trouble breathing disturbs me terribly.)

My library system started its summer reading program Friday and i didn't work until Saturday, so when i got to work one of the things i did was wander around looking for some of the display tape and other things my manager had said she was going to put up. So there i was, without my nametag (it's temporarily lost) meandering, looking like i had no idea where i was or what i was doing, when i had the sudden sense i was being followed; i turned around only to be assaulted by a couple of librarian questions... I was tempted to ask "Do i LOOK like i work here???" but of course i didn't, i very cooperatively helped them out like any good librarian should, but how the hell did they know?

Had a migraine ~towards the end i had to keep running to the bathroom to throw up and we still had customers every time i came out wanting things~i was late locking the doors and there were still people there asking to put holds on things and i told them "I'm sorry, i'm closed, you will have to come back another time," something which did not please them, and i usually don't do but i needed to get out of there (maybe if i threw up on them they would have sensed the urgency?)

Anyway, i get home, feeling, as i said, ooaoogy (you know what i mean, don't you?), and grumpy, to discover that Amazon has delivered the new Spike issue: SPIKE: Asylum. This discovery ignited in me a desire to read the other two Spike collections i already had, Spike and Spike vs Dracula (the second of which i discovered, interestingly enough, had two small bite marks in the lower right hand corner, which had me puzzled for a few minutes~was this a design feature {a bit much really for a mass produced graphic novel} or~a much more likely possibility~the result of Dixie's biblio-fascination?). So, i have spent the night, distracting myself from the extreme pain in my head in my neck and head, by reading about one of my favorite characters.

Spike actually started out as a temporary-guest-starring role on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and eventually grew into a regular on both Buffy and Angel. Spike is a collection of three separate tales: Old Times; Old Wounds; and Lost & Found. Old Times puts a new spin on Spike's "siring" (and also where he met Halfrek before). Old Wounds tells about Spike's alleged involvement in the Black Dahlia case (as well as the fact that he had heard of "Los Hermanos Numeros" and never informed Angel.) Which leaves us with Lost & Found, bringing back that Other ever-so-lovely blonde Harmony and the pesky "Gem of Amarra".

The (curiously-bite-marked) Spike vs. Dracula includes Spike's (as well as Darla's and Drucilla's) first meeting with the Dark Prince, which adds more back-story to Angel's curse. Then there's meeting at Bella Lugosi's play "Dracula". The next meeting occurs in 1943 Berlin (in case you didn't know there were some truly nasty characters roaming about then). Here we encounter a certain Nathaniel Osborne and have a prefiguration of a Uboat incident. Then, when Dru and Spike are living la Dolce Vita in Rome of 1959 they encounter the Comte de Saint-Germain (tho not a vampire as of yet, leave that up to Chelsea Quinn Yarbro) and Spike unwittingly makes the way for the first Buffy episode of season four. Their final meeting is in Los Angeles, 2003 with Spike in his ghostly form. This graphic novel is worth reading if only for the interlude of "What I Did For My Birthday" by... (well i won't give it away) alone.

And finally we come to Asylum wherein the Spikester is tricked into signing himself into the Mosaic Wellness Center "where Mutant Enemies learn to be Mutant Friends" (one of oh-so-many inside jokes. Mosaic is supposedly a rehabilitation center for vampires, demons, witches, monsters, and all sorts of other beasties of the big bad dark. However once Spike arrives he discovers that not all is as it seems, now who would have thunk it??? Overall, well written, well drawn, well inked, and well coloured...

*this is a scan of Mosaic’s administrator(you really SHOULD check out the book because this one pathetic scan was the best i could do and it just doesn't do her justice)~Brian Lynch tells us in his “Commentary Track” that the script called for a “hot librarian” and this is what Franco Urru drew (which Lynch described as perfect)~why do i love it so? it’s like he was drawing me~it doesn't show so well in the scan but her hair is red and the figure is not so waif-like-modelly (when i had a bit more hair and a FEW less pounds) to a tee (although i was talked to once about my work attire~it was a i-REALLY-need-to-do-my-laundry-day-or-i-would-never-dress-this-way!)

i always suspected as much

have you ever wondered if your pet can read your mind?

According to some researchers they can:

Petsensory Perception

A cat disappears when her owners go on vacation each year, yet arrives back at the house an hour before they return. A dog runs to the door, the moment his owner leaves work, and sits and waits expectantly until she arrives home. A man sits on the couch, his dog slumbering in the next room. He thinks, “I should take Daisy for a walk,” and suddenly his dog comes bounding in the room, leash in mouth, anxious to go. A cat curls up next to the phone just before a family member calls, but never when anyone else is about to call. These kinds of stories are told by many pet owners from all over the world.

Most dogs and cats are very attuned to their owners, and quickly learn their patterns, read their body language and anticipate what’s going to happen next. But there are so many stories of pets seeming to know more than their natural senses would allow that it has been the subject of study and debate for years. Are their natural senses even greater than we ever imagined? Or do they have a sixth sense? Some kind of psychic connection to their owners?

Biologist Rupert Sheldrake, author of Dogs That Know When Their Owner is Coming Home believes that animals have perceptive abilities of telepathy and premonitions. Veterinarian and author, Dr. Allan Schoen says in his book, Kindred Spirits, that people and animals are intimately connected. Pets whom we feel especially close to, seem to understand our needs, read our moods, and sometimes even communicate with us on a level that transcends words or body language.

Can pets be so connected and attuned to their owners when they are far apart, even when there is no possible way they could be using their sense of smell or hearing? Physician and author Dr. Larry Dossey, says there is a connection between all species, which is not limited by locality. He refers to it as a “nonlocal mind.” Consciousness is not restricted to the brain or the body or time or place. Therefore people and animals can have an effect on each other, even when miles apart. Traditional scientists remain skeptical about psychic abilities among people – let alone pets! They say much of the phenomenon can be explained in other ways, through pets’ acute senses of hearing and smell, reading human body language, or noting other cues happening in their environment. Dogs and cats live mostly in a scent world, and are also very sensitive to sounds. It may be that when an owner thinks about taking her dog for a walk, this happy thought causes a slight change in her body chemistry, which the dog can smell, and associate with walks. Some who swear their dog knows when their owner is coming home, may find their pets are unable to do so when they come home in a different car. Another simpler explanation is that owners notice their pets’ mysterious behaviors only when related events coincide. The cat may curl up by the phone now and then, but the owner doesn’t notice. If the cat happens to sit by the phone when “dad” calls, the owner is more likely to take note of it. There is no dispute that our pets live on a sensory level that’s different from our own. Though we share the same five known senses, dogs and cats take in their world mostly through scent and sound and act on instinct. We take in our world mostly through sight and act on intellect and emotion. So it’s not surprising that our pets are able to clue in on things that we can’t imagine could be possible. But sometimes, hard science has no explanation for extraordinary pet perception. The debate goes on.

Dixie can always sense an impending veterinarian trip. Once i start putting on my shoes she disappears (as if i never put on my shoes at any other time). I have to put my shoes, the cat carrier, my bag, and any other to-go necessities out of sight, out of mind near the door and hum a little tune to keep my intentions out of my own mind while i stealthily sneak up on her if i plan on getting her to the vet anytime that same day. Interestingly enough i can get a carrier out and leave it in plain sight if it's another cat's turn and it doesn't bother her a bit.

Both Dixie and Demetra seem to know if i'm just pretending to be asleep because they will repeatedly tap me on the face and neck with their paws to get me to pay attention to them (pet them, cuddle, etc). I assume they don't do this when i'm asleep because i never wake up with little claw marks on my face or neck...

My cat Ophelia and i always had i certain kind of mind-meld going on that my roommates were in constant amazement over. She always knew when i was serious (like wanted to go to bed NOW) when i told her to come into my room, and when she could get away with ignoring me. She always knew when i was going to come home (even though i had a completely unpredictable schedule, no car, and we lived on a second floor interior apartment) and would go to the door about five minutes before i was to walk in it. She knew when i needed comforting, she could also express her dissatisfaction with me by placing herself three feet in front of me with her back to me. That cat was my baby and there will never be another like her...

Katushka, Demetra, and...

in case you haven't noticed by my cats' names i am a bit enamoured by Russian names (and a few other things of Russian origin (it may be in part due to my Alaskan childhood)~in part due to the whole foreign/exotic air of it all~the idea of native peoples~my love for Fiddler on the Roof, Nabokov, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and all those guys, or i don't know what; but, needless to say, i am obsessed (i always wanted to go there too). In college i tried to take on the language but, due to illness, surprise, surprise, couldn't deal with the immersion style class that required constant attendance.So when i noticed this quiz on Liz's site how could i not avail myself of it?

Your Russian Name Is...

Varya Laryssa Smirnov

What's Your Russian Name?

and isn't it interesting that my last name in Russian is synonymous (is that the word?) for the vodka~can i collect any royalties for that~maybe just for the bottles i've downed personally?

Anyway, once i took the quiz, i realized i already had my Russian appellation; and it wasn't Varya Laryssa Smirnov~it was Katreenka Tudor (okay maybe not so Russian~but i had a whole back story to go with it, which a blogger friend of mine, who shall remain nameless here, could confirm~if he weren't nameless.)

So, when i was working at "The Bookstore" we were eventually forced to put our names on our nametags, and, of course, being me, not wanting to put my actual name on my name tag, i came up with "KATREENKA" (yes my own spelling~i have to be somewhat unique after all) i also came up with the story of how i came to be Katreenka (originally, i think for the day i met Ralph, but you know, i'm kind of souring on that now...so, i'll just tell you...)

The story goes...my parents met in some Russian literature class and there was this short story by Turgenev, or Tolstoy, or Dostoevsky, or maybe even a prose work by Onegin (neither of them can remember for sure) in which the main character was named Katrinka or Katreenka or something like that. And my parents got involved in this fierce discussion/argument/fight about whether she was a strong or a weak character or a put-upon character or a bitch or a victim or whatever and then the argument/slash discussion spilled out of class disgust/contempt/hatred turned into desire/lust/love and the rest was...well, if not history, then at least the naming of yours truly... Because i am the drama queen/fiction writer that i am i could go into a huge amount of detail about this class, this fight, this character, my parents, the romance that ensued, how neither of them remembered who exactly the author was, and my endless search for the short story (of course the whole thing is made up~and i'm adopted~not that that makes a difference with the name thing.) By the by, Tudor comes from Elizabeth and my obsession with that whole reign but that's another story...

And Demetra came up with her own name...kind of...when she was but a kitten and i was flipping through my Gods and Goddess' name book i came across Demeter (a permutation of my own given name~by the by) and i thought..."how to Russian this name Demetri...Demetra...and the eight-week-old-kitten looked up at me and mewed as if to say,

"That's My Name."

And so it was.

And who am i (since that's her name and all) to change it? She's answered to it ever since.

looking for love in all the wrong places

so, i had a minor epiphany today:

i think.
it might have been the continuing misery of this sinus-infection/digestinal-flu/cold/black plague thing that i have been forced to endure

or

it might have been the lack of sleep related to the above

or

it might have been the chemical imbalance of the rampaging cold-related remedies i have been ingesting, combined with the fact that my regular pharmaceutical regime has fallen a bit off-track of late

or

an indication of my commitmentphobic tendencies

or

it could just be my own lack of sanity

But,

As i was, in my state of misery, seeking comfort of the furry, purry variety, following my youngest cat, Demetra (i Have mentioned my three cats before, right~just checking) around, begging for just a little affection, when a question suddenly occurred to me (no, Not how many commas can i insert into this sentence, but:)

What, exactly does it mean, that i am desperately trailing the one currently, emotionally unavailable feline around pleading, "Love me, Love me, Please, Baby, Love Me," when there are two, even fluffier, emotionally Available felines just waiting for me to pick them up???

Well it could mean so many things.

but it is very interesting nonetheless

donchathink?

"Pack em Up and Move em Out"

is a catchy little tune from an old Strawberry Shortcake movie that my little sister absolutely loved and used to watch over and over and over again (among other Strawberry Shortcake cartoons~she was a Shortcake fanatic that one) until i (accidentally, mind you) recorded over her tape with some Days of Our Lives episodes (yes, that addiction is twenty-five years old~thank you very much). My sister still remembers this~nor will she ever let me forget it (tho she does not remember the cartoons i erased~perhaps my penance is the fact that whenever i am moving, putting things into boxes, or in any way starting a new kind of venture i can't get that damn song out of my head~tho i must admit, i do kind of like it...)

Which brings me to the subject of today's post: i've been assigned to another library. Imagine that.

I was late on my very first day of work because Demetra, dear that she is, decided to somehow get herself stuck in the basement wall (something my mother claims is impossible because it is a solid concrete wall and i claim is possible just by the very fact that she did it). I fed the cats this morning, the sound of which usually brings all three running, but didn't (should have clued me into something, but didn't) Then, just before i'm to leave for work, i hear i big crashing noise from the basement; i do a quick head count and start calling for the littlest brat. When she makes no appearance, i venture into the deepest dark, see ceiling tiles on the floor and hear feline cries from above and beyond.

So i crawl atop the perilously stacked piles of stuff and call her name, locate her inside "the solid concrete wall" (just her tiny head and paws are visible) and try to coax her out. She just cries piteously. So i try to help her. This provokes hisses. Eventually she moves further back which leads me to the conclusion that she is not horribly broken and is just trying to ruin my "first day impression". So i decide to go to work and check back on her on my lunch hour (which of course leaves me with periodic guilt pangs throughout the day).

I go home on my lunch hour and there is no black and white cat to greet me, just more crying from the basement. Once i find a stool to try and extricate her she decides to remove herself, after who-knows-how-many hours and for what. I must of course cut my hour short because i was late at the beginning of the day. She is very hungry because she's been hanging out in the wall all day (somehow she seems to act like this is my fault). She appears entirely uninjured. And so it goes... just a little feline interlude for the first day at the new job.

So, here, i am, in my new, smaller, closer to home, (further from any junior-high-school) oddly quiet library, alone at the reference desk (hmmm... somehow that feels a bit familiar...) wondering what to do with myself (well, not really...)

it all feels...

just a bit...eerie... really

curses on those children's librarians and their picture book displays

because i stumble across so many lovely books like Lucia and the Light by Phyllis Root (illustrated by the most talented Mary Grandpré) that i then simply must possess!

Lucia and the Light is inspired by Nordic lore and is set in the mountains of the Far North (and of course the cold, cold, dark, dark winter) which is made even darker and colder by the fact that the sun has gone away. Lucia can stand it no more and decides she will go in search of the sun though her grandmother warns of trolls.

When she opens the door to leave, her loyal (i stress this word, because yes, it is possible for creatures of the feline persuasion to possess this trait) and beautiful milk-white cat "jumped from the windowsill into her hood and went out into the swirling snow with her. Lucia was glad for the company and the warmth of the milk-white cat around her neck."

Lucia laboriously skied her way up the mountain and met the inevitable trolls who threatened to eat her up. But the beautiful and brave milk-white cat saves the day in the end. to learn how you must (absolutely must) pick up this enticing and oh-so-alluring book for yourself!

anything not nailed down is a cat toy*

I would love to play the part of the completely jaded, cynical, and always ready to rampage librarian, but as i am sure you have noticed, i do have a certain weakness for cute little fuzzy things. Such is the case with Rachael Hale's photography (and yes you've seen a few of those pics here.)

*and in my house many of those things that ARE nailed down are as well!

Well, i must also confess to possessing photo albums, cat journals, and two books: 101 Cataclysms: for the love of cats and Smitten: a kitten's guide to happiness (and for those of you whose adorable taste runs more to the canine than feline--or just less feline and to cute animals in general--she does have too much cuteness for you as well).

Now, in addition to pictures there are wonderful quotations~and i do love quotations~i have quotations scribbled everywhere~anytime i see or hear something that strikes as especially witty, interesting, nonsensical, or whatever~i feel i must jot it down~don't know what i will do with them all, but they just seem so profound somehow...

101 Cataclysms includes quotes like "Dogs believe they are human. Cats believe they are gods," "The more people I meet the more I like my cat," (both anonymous) and, of course, "If man could be crossed with a cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat." (Mark Twain) Smitten offers "Consciousness: that annoying time between naps." (anonymous) and "Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy." (Guillaume Apollinaire) as well as so much more.

So, if you ever feel the need for a Cute coffee table book, or know someone who does (or have need for a Cute book you might need to hide under the bed~tho, here again, in my house things hidden under the bed are the cats' domain {i like to pretend that things elsewhere are my domain but as i'm sure you know it's ALL the cats' domain~i just live here~or, more accurately~i'm just cat furniture}~or some other appropriate hiding place to keep that jaded mask in place) Rachael Hale is a perfect source!

(and for a quick fix there is always cuteoverload)