A week before Easter Sunday, I was pulling out of my driveway when my headlights caught two shiny circles looking at me from in front of the forest. I got a closer look as I pulled forward and told my boyfriend Nick that it was a dog! He disagreed and said it was a coyote. I drove along side of it slowly, and it just kept looking at me. So… we went on our way.

Fast forward to the morning of Easter Sunday, 2009. It was cold, wet, rainy, and sleeting from time to time. I pull out of my driveway again and see the same dog/coyote! The daylight confirmed my original belief- it was a dog. A cold, hungry, tired dog with no collar walking down the street, looking at me with sad eyes. I go on my way again, but I keep thinking of this dog!

About 45 minutes later, I pull into my subdivision. I drive around the couple blocks slowly, looking for this poor thing out in the rain. I finally saw it curled up against the corner of our neighbors house. My phone suddenly rings and it is my mother, telling me that she saw a dog in our yard, so to be careful when I come home. I tell her the story as I am pulling in to my driveway. A little while later, we look out our window, and low and behold- this dog is in our backyard again! It was a tan color, and about medium size, about 40-50 pounds. It was actually a really pretty dog, it was just soaked from all the rain.

Now, our backyard is pretty big. It was roaming all around our backyard in the rain, just sniffing all over and exploring the terrain. We figured it was hungry, and we just so happened to have some dog food left over from our beloved rottweiler Baby who passed away on Halloween of 2008, just 5 months before. Me and my mother agreed to pile some dog food on a plate, put some water in a bowl, and set them both at the foot of our porch.

After about 10 minutes of watching it explore, it made its way over to the food and started sniffing around. It looked around cautiously, as if this was a set-up. It started scarfing down the food and I quietly cracked open the backdoor to get a closer look at it. As soon as I did, it ran away quickly. But, it came back after a short while to finish the food. This time I had the door open already, and was just waiting, watching and remained completely still. Then, something so amazing happened. It walked up the stairs of the back porch, walked against our balcony doors, around the corner, and right up to the side door that I had been watching it from. I squatted down and looked at it through the glass. It stopped and came right up to the glass door. We stared at each other for about 10 seconds, nose to nose, with only the glass door separating us. Then it walked away back down the stairs.

We put some more food out there and it kept coming back over the next hour to eat what we put out there. After three plates of food, it went and laid down in our backyard next to the fence, and just laid there in the rain for the next 3 hours. It didn’t move; it was just still as could be and slept. I kept thinking of it looking at me from outside the door. I had wanted to let it come in the house so bad, but I couldn’t just let this random dog into our house! My father was still sleeping at this point and was completely unaware of our hours-long dogwatch.

It continued to lay still in our backyard, with squirrels running around, rain coming down, and birds flying overhead. All of a sudden, something spooked it, because it got up and ran out of our front yard and away down the street. As soon as my father woke up, we told him about this dog. He got up and looked out the window, but there was no sign of her. He started his morning routine, and while doing so, this dog came back in our yard! He grabbed the binoculars and looked at her; he just stood there watching her and said, “Wow, that’s a really cool looking dog!” I just thought, no way! Could this be our next dog?

The dog ran away again, but we soon saw it up against our neighbors fence that backs up to the side of our backyard fence. It was just laying there still, cold and soaking wet. My father and I walked outside with two pieces of bread and a slice of cheese in between. We decided to try to feed the dog through the fence to see how it reacted.

Stay tuned to find out what happened next!

Ok, so here is the final session of 2009….

As usual, there’s a good slab of fresh drum & bass, this month from artists such as Spectrasoul, Blu Mar Ten, Rockwell and more. Following on from last month, there’s a little bit of Bat For Lashes too.

Also, in keeping with the diverse nature of these mixes, I’ve included a bit of 70s Underground Disco from Two Man Sound, and a Fender Rhodes jazz-funk anthem courtesy of Gil Scott Heron. A special thanks must be given to DJ DMT for sourcing the Edú Lobo track for me. I’m very grateful, I love that song!

M83 – America
Craig Armstrong Feat. Antye Greie-Fuchs – Waltz
Bat For Lashes – Moon And Moon
Craig Armstrong – Amber
Two Man Sound – Que Tal America (Extended Mix)
Edú Lobo – Upa Neguinho
Rockwell – Underpass
Unquote & Mr Sizef – Hours Have No Reverse Motion
Spectrasoul – Suppression
Blu Mar Ten – Grey Area
Stray – Timbre
Spectrasoul – How Strange
Spectrasoul – Guardian
Heinrich Mueller – Drone FX
Instra:Mental – Leave It All Behind
Gil Scott Heron – Peace Go With You Brother

…as with all the other podcasts, there are a number of ways you can obtain this one. Firstly, via itunes. Alternatively, you can download the mix via Beatplexity, or MixCloud.

After weeks of squatting extremely uncomfortably in front of the food i leave for stray cats, I finally gained one’s trust enough to pet it. It must not have been a stray as much as a don’t-feel-like-going-home-er, since it promptly started to twine around my ankles and purr outrageously. Sigh. My attempts at single handedly rescuing the homeless feline population has been reduced to a large black cat that may or may not be the tom we owned a few years ago, and a small black kitten not yet at the gangly stage. So far, my efforts aren’t that impressive.

I love cats and I’ve been taking care cats since I was a kid.  My heart has a soft spot for them and it hurts me to see dead cats on the road.  For me, cats deserve and have the right to live.

I’ve had many cats.  I don’t have imported or breed cats.  My cats are the local, stray cats found in the neighborhood.   Some of them already died.  Some of them just left.  Some of them got lost.  Last Friday, my kitten, Beto, got lost.  He was following me and mom because he thought that we had his food already. We were trying to tell him to go back to the house because he might get lost.  But mom and I were already late to work.  So we left him and called my auntie to call Beto.  But my auntie wasn’t able to see him anymore afterwards.  Until now, we are still trying to search for him.  My mom already asked some neighbors if they saw a small, brown kitten.  We miss him so much!  For the past few months, we lost Bupei, Little Buragao, Medyas and other kittens.  :( But they will always be part of our lives.

I know that taking care of cats means a lot of effort, time and money.  I also know that mom and auntie are sometimes getting tired of taking care of my cats.  But the three of us really have a soft spot for cats.  For me, I will never get tired of taking care of them!

Daily Bible Reading, Thoughts, and a prayer for November 21st

Today is the 21st of November.  This is the Daily Bible Reading, thoughts, and prayer starter for today.  Today we are reading from the Contemporary English Version Bible.  We’ll begin today from Ezekiel 42:1-43:27.  We will continue with James 5:1-20, Psalms 119:1-116 and Proverbs 28:6-7.

Ezekiel 42:1-43:27

 ^1-2After the man and I left the temple and walked back to the outer courtyard, he showed me a set of rooms on the north side of the west building. This set of rooms was one hundred seventy feet long and eighty-five feet wide. ³On one side of them was the thirty-four feet of open space that ran alongside the temple,  and on the other side was the sidewalk that circled the outer courtyard. The rooms were arranged in three levels ⁴with doors that opened toward the north, and in front of them was a walkway seventeen feet wide and one hundred seventy feet long. ⁵The rooms on the top level were narrower than those on the middle level, and the rooms on the middle level were narrower than those on the bottom level. ⁶The rooms on the bottom level supported those on the two upper levels, and so these rooms did not have columns like other buildings in the courtyard. ^7-8To the north was a privacy wall eighty-five feet long, ^9-10and at the east end of this wall was the door leading from the courtyard to these rooms. There was also a set of rooms on the south side of the west building. ¹¹These rooms were exactly like those on the north side, and they also had a walkway in front of them. ¹²The door to these rooms was at the east end of the wall that stood in front of them. ¹³The man then said to me:

   These rooms on the north and south sides of the temple are the sacred rooms where the LORD’s priests will eat the most holy offerings. These offerings include the grain sacrifices, the sacrifices for sin, and the sacrifices to make things right. ¹⁴When the priests are ready to leave the temple, they must go through these rooms before they return to the outer courtyard. They must leave their sacred clothes in these rooms and put on regular clothes before going anywhere near other people.

 ¹⁵After the man had finished measuring the buildings inside the temple area, he took me back through the east gate and measured the wall around this area. ¹⁶He used his measuring stick to measure the east side of this wall; it was eight hundred forty feet long. ^17-19Then he measured the north side, the south side, and the west side of the wall, and they were each eight hundred forty feet long, ²⁰and so the temple area was a perfect square. The wall around this area separated what was sacred from what was ordinary.

 ¹The man took me back to the east gate of the temple, ²where I saw the brightness of the glory of Israel’s God coming from the east. The sound I heard was as loud as ocean waves, and everything around was shining with the dazzling brightness of his glory. ³This vision was like the one I had seen when God came to destroy Jerusalem and like the one I had seen near the Chebar River.

   I immediately bowed with my face to the ground, ⁴and the LORD’s glory came through the east gate and into the temple. ⁵The LORD’s Spirit lifted me to my feet and carried me to the inner courtyard, where I saw that the LORD’s glory had filled the temple. ⁶The man was standing beside me, and I heard the LORD say from inside the temple: ⁷Ezekiel, son of man, this temple is my throne on earth. I will live here among the people of Israel forever. They and their kings will never again disgrace me by worshiping idols at local shrines or by setting up memorials to their dead kings. ⁸Israel’s kings built their palaces so close to my holy temple that only a wall separated them from me. Then these kings disgraced me with their evil ways, and in my fierce anger I destroyed them. ⁹But if the people and their kings stop worshiping other gods and tear down those memorials, I will live among them forever. ¹⁰The people of Israel must suffer shame for sinning against me, so tell them about my holy temple. Let them think about it, ¹¹then if they are truly sorry, describe for them the design and shape of the temple, the gates, the measurements, and how the buildings are arranged. Explain the regulations about worshiping there, then write down these things, so they can study and obey them.

    ¹²The temple area on my holy mountain must be kept sacred! This is the most important law about the temple.

gutter twenty inches wide and twenty inches deep, with a ten inch ledge on the outer rim. ^14-17The altar rested on a base and had three sections, each one of them square. The bottom section was twenty-seven feet on each side and three feet high. The middle section was twenty-four feet on each side and seven feet high, and it had a ten inch rim around its outer edge. The top section, which was twenty feet on each side and seven feet high, was the place where sacrifices were burned, and the four corners of the top section looked like the horns of a bull. The steps leading up to the altar were on the east side.

 ¹⁸The LORD God said:

   Ezekiel, son of man, after the altar is built, it must be dedicated by offering sacrifices on it and by splattering it with blood. Here is what you must do: ¹⁹The priests of the Levi tribe from the family of Zadok the priest are the only ones who may serve in my temple–this is my law. So give them a young bull to slaughter as a sacrifice for sin. ²⁰Take some of the animal’s blood and smear it on the four corners of the altar, some on the corners of the middle section, and some more on the rim around its edge. That will purify the altar and make it fit for offering sacrifices to me. ²¹Then take the body of the bull outside the temple area and burn it at the special place.

    ²²The next day, a goat that has nothing wrong with it must be offered as a sacrifice for sin. Purify the altar with its blood, just as you did with the blood of the bull. ²³Then choose a young bull and a young ram that have nothing wrong with them, ²⁴and bring them to my temple. The priests will sprinkle salt on them and offer them as sacrifices to please me. ²⁵Each day for the next seven days, you must offer a goat and a bull and a ram as sacrifices for sin. These animals must have nothing wrong with them. ²⁶The priests will purify the altar during those days, so that it will be acceptable to me and ready to use. ²⁷From then on, the priests will use this altar to offer sacrifices to please me and sacrifices to ask my blessing. Then I will be pleased with the people of Israel. I, the LORD God, have spoken

    ⁵While here on earth, you have thought only of filling your own stomachs and having a good time. But now you are like fat cattle on their way to be butchered. ⁶You have condemned and murdered innocent people, who couldn’t even fight back.

 ⁷My friends, be patient until the Lord returns. Think of farmers who wait patiently for the spring and summer rains to make their valuable crops grow. ⁸Be patient like those farmers and don’t give up. The Lord will soon be here! ⁹Don’t grumble about each other or you will be judged, and the judge is right outside the door.

    ¹⁰My friends, follow the example of the prophets who spoke for the Lord. They were patient, even when they had to suffer. ¹¹In fact, we praise the ones who endured the most. You remember how patient Job was and how the Lord finally helped him. The Lord did this because he is so merciful and kind.

    ¹²My friends, above all else, don’t take an oath. You must not swear by heaven or by earth or by anything else. “Yes” or “No” is all you need to say. If you say anything more, you will be condemned.

    ¹³If you are having trouble, you should pray. And if you are feeling good, you should sing praises. ¹⁴If you are sick, ask the church leaders to come and pray for you. Ask them to put olive oil on you in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵If you have faith when you pray for sick people, they will get well. The Lord will heal them, and if they have sinned, he will forgive them. ¹⁶If you have sinned, you should tell each other what you have done. Then you can pray for one another and be healed. The prayer of an innocent person is powerful, and it can help a lot. ¹⁷Elijah was just as human as we are, and for three and a half years his prayers kept the rain from falling. ¹⁸But when he did pray for rain, it fell from the skies and made the crops grow.

    ¹⁹My friends, if any followers have wandered away from the truth, you should try to lead them back. ²⁰If you turn sinners from the wrong way, you will save them from death, and many of their sins will be forgiven.

 ¹Our LORD, you bless everyone   who lives right

   and obeys your Law.

    ²You bless all of those

   who follow your commands

   from deep in their hearts

    ³and who never do wrong

   or turn from you.

    ⁴You have ordered us always

   to obey your teachings;

    ⁵I don’t ever want to stray

   from your laws.

    ⁶Thinking about your commands

   will keep me from doing

   some foolish thing.

    ⁷I will do right and praise you

   by learning to respect

   your perfect laws.

    ⁸I will obey all of them!

   Don’t turn your back on me.

    ⁹Young people can live

   a clean life

   by obeying your word.

    ¹⁰I worship you

   with all my heart.

   Don’t let me walk away

   from your commands.

    ¹¹I treasure your word

   above all else;

   it keeps me from sinning

   against you.

    ¹²I praise you, LORD!

   Teach me your laws.

    ¹³With my own mouth,

   I tell others the laws

   that you have spoken.

    ¹⁴Obeying your instructions

   brings as much happiness

   as being rich.

    ¹⁵I will study your teachings

   and follow your footsteps.

    ¹⁶I will take pleasure

   in your laws

   and remember your words.

Proverbs 28:6-7

⁶It’s better to be poor

   and live right,

   than to be rich

   and dishonest.

    ⁷It makes good sense

   to obey the Law of God,

   but you disgrace your parents

   if you make friends

   with worthless nobodies.

Daily Bible Reading, Thoughts, and a prayer

Thoughts from Prayer for November 21st Bible reading

There were a lot of things that jumped at me today; this 840 foot square that is the temple; I don’t know, sometimes when I’m reading those dimensions I’m trying to picture them in my head, but I can’t quite get a context I guess, but today when I saw the square I began to see, wow this is like a thousand foot square, that’s big, that’s a big building.  That’s all I got there’s nothing spiritual there.  LOL. 

But I really did see James being his blunt self; be patient until the Lord returns and I like this, think of the farmers that wait patiently for the spring and the summer rains to make their valuable crops grow, because I believe we are in the season of harvest, and I don’t mean than in some mystical way.  Literally this is the season of harvest and it’s drawing to its close.  And we go into the winter months, so I believe this is our season of harvest too, it’s our invitation to gather, but it’s also an invitation to prepare.  It’s our invitation to finish well which is what I have been saying for the last month or more, encouraging us to look into that context how do we finish this year strong as opposed to in utter chaos through the holidays?  How do we enter this season of celebration for the birth of our Savior without going crazy?  And the shopping; and the family, and in every other possible way, how do we enjoy peacefully, steadfastly, what we are really here for, what the purpose really is and then go into the new year without thousands of dollars of more debt and on and on and on, how do we finish well?  And this is different for everyone; so I can’t sit here and say this is how you do it, I know that the Lord is giving me personally strategies in my life and in my world the way that I live to finish strong, so I can begin strong next year.  And so it is a seasonal thing and I think that is what James is alluding to, process, but you have to begin the process sometime, right?  It doesn’t just begin itself you must begin the process.  So if you haven’t; start now, today’s good, now is good, right now is good, start now. James says in once sentence he sort of sums it all up; if you are having trouble, you should pray.  I like that kind of stuff about James.  He’s pretty direct and I’m not a super direct person, but I can handle that, and I like that.  So; if you are having trouble; you should pray, and let’s do that.

Prayer for November 21st

(Prayer) Jesus; thank You, every day begins with a thank You, we are so grateful, we feel such a heart of gratitude towards You, for all that You’ve done and I know that “all that You’ve done” has become a cliché, but God when we think of all that You have done in our lives, it has great significance.  You are the King of Kings; and You are our leader, and we march at your command, and we are looking for your instructions.  Lord; reveal to us by the power of Your Holy Spirit how it is that we individually finish strong this year.  How do we do this God in our lives?  We invite You Holy Spirit into our lives; into every part of our lives, show us where we are to go, we love You Lord, we worship You, and we pray these things expecting that You’ve already begun to speak.  In Jesus name we pray.  Amen.

Have a great day.  And I will be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Download today’s Podcast

Luckily, my barn is off from the road and I don’t yet have a problem with people dumping cats.  But over the years there have been a few stray cats who have made appearances.  Most moved on rather quickly.  John would always say, “Don’t feed them.”

I complied to some extent.  I figure a weary soul deserves a meal, but I didn’t make it a habit to feed the strays.  Back when Stray Grey first showed up, I would occasionally put out dry food for our cats in the barn or garage.  This practice was halted when I found a young opossum in the garage!!!!

Stray Grey decided to stay.  At first he was but a fleeting grey tabby shadow and would disappear whenever he saw you.

Stray Grey- exit stage right

Eventually, he lingered longer.  Over time he became my faithful barn helper.  He’d follow several feet behind me and talk to me with his deep gravely voice.

I’d never had a cat pick me.  Stray Grey’s interaction with people seemed to be quite limited… he obviously was not somebody’s pet.  He kept his distance and he didn’t trust humans.

I so looked forward to seeing my tabby friend.  We had a bond…. separated by a few feet… but a bond nonetheless.

If you got too close, he’d hiss and show his teeth.  He looked so fierce.  But he never ever tried to bite.

Stray Grey- looking fierce

Stray Grey- "Too close!"

He loved to sleep in the garage on the cat bed.  It was always such a treat to see him there.

Stray Grey on "his" bed

It became clear that he had picked Leaky Creek to be his home and me to be his human.  John didn’t protest and I think he looked forward to seeing him.  Stray Grey didn’t live long enough to grow to trust John.  John wasn’t bothered by it.

I have a rule with the strays, I have to be able to touch them before they earn their name.  Stray Grey let me touch him on a few occasions, but he never welcomed my touch.  Poor cat would cringe and on the rare occasion where I stroked his coat, he saw no pleasure in it.

I decided not to violate our trust and backed off.  I dreamed of the day when we’d cross the hurdle and Stray Grey would sit in my lap or come to me for attention.  Sadly, that day remains in my dreams… I hope that up in Heaven he’s met up with John and is getting his pets.

But, Stray Grey earned his name.  I always liked the name Toby for an animal.  So, he became Toby.  I think John thought that Toby was a dumb name.  He continued to call him Stray Grey.

Then came the horrible day when I opened the door to go feed and there was Toby sitting in the garage waiting for me and there was blood everywhere.  I was shocked.  It’s hard to evaluate injuries on an animal that you can’t handle.  My assumption was that he’d been in a fight.  It looked like his testicles had been shredded.

I didn’t even know where to turn to for treatment of a stray.  I called Doctor Foster and he said, if I could catch him and get him in here, he’d treat him.

Therein lay the problem…

For days we tried to catch him.  We did have him trapped in the garage.  John even got a live trap from the humane society and we tried to coax him in with food.  My friend, Erin, and I had a very ill fated attempt which ended up with a wild bleeding cat loose in the house.  Luckily, John was home and put his firefighter common sense to the task and we soon had him back in the garage.  Most men would have yelled and screamed.  John obviously wasn’t pleased that I’d let Toby get inside, but he handled the situation and dropped the issue.  Finally in desperation,  as Toby was getting weaker and sicker.  John suggested a snare.  He didn’t want to hurt Toby, but it was getting down to critical point.  Either we caught him and got him to the vet or he was going to die.

John fashioned the snare and we caught Toby.  Toby got loose.  John re-worked the snare and caught him again.  We loaded him into the cat carrier easily and got him to the vet.

Dr. Foster said he’d call us after he examined him.

In the previous post… I told you how compassionately Dr. Foster handled the situation.  It appeared as if Toby had been attacked by something.  It had basically ripped out his whole hind end… testicles, rectum, intestines.  The vet tech later told John that he’d never seen such injuries.

Dr. Foster offered us the opportunity to have Toby cremated.  Not thinking about it being February and concerned over the bill, I decided against it.

John always took care of things.  I’ll never forget how he insisted on overseeing his mother’s body placed in the body bag.  He wanted to make sure Ann was properly taken care of and handled properly.  He took care of the things I couldn’t handle.  He had a year earlier retrieved our other cat’s body and buried him.  John was my rock.  Being a firefighter he was used to handling things that the public never saw and he protected me from a lot of things.  I knew I could count on him when I needed him to be there.

John went and picked up Toby’s body.  I had told the vet that Toby was to come home to be buried.  Toby was a stray and he picked me and picked our farm to be his home.  We had a level of trust and an understanding and a bond.  Toby needed to come home…

Then for the irony.  After John brought Toby’s body home, I posted online that Toby had been euthanized.  I had posted trying to get suggestions on how to catch him.  Well, somebody replied that his injuries sounded like a raccoon had gotten a hold of him.

Not more than 15 minutes after reading that, I spotted some creature by the trees.  I called John.  We confirmed that it wasn’t a fox.  John went and got the gun.  Once he was sure it wasn’t a cat, he pulled the trigger.  One dead raccoon.  It had been nosing around a pile of bird feathers.

Toby died, but his death may have very well saved our barn cats’ lives.

John HATED to shoot things.  But, John was our protector.  He protected our animals and he protected his family… like any good man would do.

In this case John was glad the raccoon was dead!  I think it was the only thing that he was glad he killed.  Toby may have been my cat, but John was fond of him, too.

John went out to dig the grave only to discover that the ground was frozen solid.  John tried for a few days.  Good thing the temperature kept Toby “refrigerated.”  Finally, John went to Home Depot and rented some sort of “chisel pounder thing” and was able to dig the hole and we buried Toby.  I’ll also always remember how John decided to wrap Toby’s body in his cat bed pillow cover.  It was just so fitting.  John was always like that… he knew the right things to do at the right times.

John handled Toby’s escape into the house and his death and burial fiasco with such compassion.  Never was Toby “MY” cat.  Never was Toby a “stupid cat.”  John recognized that Toby was terrified, hurt, in pain, and afraid and he treated him with compassion.

Toby’s death devastated me- I never knew how much my buddy had taken hold of my heart.  Days later and even weeks later, I would think I’d hear his gravely voice when I went into the garage and went to feed.  I look for a cat and not see one.  I told myself that I was imagining things.  After my more recent experiences, I think maybe it wasn’t just in my head.

John was a cat lover… hopefully up there in Heaven he’s got Buttons, Salem, Spook, Kit Kat, and Stray Grey to keep him company.  And it’s Heaven, so they all get along!

Most men would have gotten angry and frustrated over trying to capture the cat and trying to bury him.  Most men would have yelled or screamed (I can’t said that some profanity didn’t come out of John’s mouth because it probably did).  Many men would have walked away.  Most men wouldn’t have done all of that for a stray cat… his wife’s stray cat on top it.  A cat that ran from him.   But… John wasn’t most men…

Wayward plants

A London art, plants and urbanist organization Waywardplants.org rescues unwanted plants– “discarded, abandoned, rogue, stray or runaway”– and discovers new homes where they will be cared for. This horticultural intervention has created adoption forms, placed itself in the Barbican Art Gallery in London, and encompasses a full life range from “freecycle” sharing to composting “cemetaries.”

You can watch a Wayward Plant presentation made at Pecha Kucha London. As all their talks, it is 20 slides at 20 seconds, for a total less than 7 minutes. They will also be participating in the Graham Foundation’s exhibit, “ACTIONS: What you can do with the city” that presents 99 actions “that instigate positive change in contemporary cities around the world” based on common activities such as walking, playing, recycling, and gardening. It’s in Chicago until March 13, 2010.

its a blowing a gale tonight!

i’m not even kidding. look outside if you dont beleive me, just watch your head… you know… in case it gets knocked off by a stray twig… or a flying sheep… to be honest, id be more worried by the flying sheep, theyre viscious and evil creatures.

brrrr. sheep.

moving on.

i found my phone. yay. it was in my other pair of jeans… to be honest i cant beleive i didnt look their!!!

bleh.

but we’re now reunited. oh yeah.

shit just remembered i was supposed to measure my room tonight for college tomorrow. damn. well im not doing it now. no way. its to late for that. ill just have to be late tomorrow. not like theyll notice.

i realy need to start finding something useful to blog about… i suck… sorry people.

ima gonna have a good brainstorm later… shit, you’re not supposed to say that anymore are you?!… :S

how about mindmap?

not sure… ok ill just stick with boring old think… ill have a good think.

meh.

im off to think.

Happy Thinking fellow thinkers.

xx.

We now have an intruder in the Noonette field.  This guy turned up a couple of days ago, looking quite comfortable, thank you very much, in the Noonettes’ little home.

He (we’re assuming ‘he’) was very relaxed around our guys – perhaps a learned strategy of slipping in under the radar.

Unfortunately he looks a lot like Nelson, and isn’t much bigger. When he came in and started eating their food, at first I thought, “Boy, Nelson. You’re hungry!”, that is until Nelson turned up to have a look!

He was so hungry that someone (me) felt sorry for him and gave him some food, which he guzzled heartily. (I did only give him the cheap stuff though, not the mega-expensive special kitten food – see, I was really tough on it!)

Any advice on what to do with this guy?  Since then I’ve realised that there are in reality only two options here: scare it away and keep the food away from it, or adopt it fully.  If we let it hang around as a ‘friend’ sooner or later it’ll get closer and closer to us and we’ll be faced with letting 3 cats in at night and turning 1 away… which eventually we won’t do.  So the halfway option is the same as adopting it essentially.

We’re now scaring it away when it comes, but we really don’t like doing it.  The right thing to do?

Cheers,  Rich

Animal Friends,

PLEASE, PLEASE help me with this situation. This starving mother dog (2^nd photo) and her SEVEN starving puppies have been abandoned at an empty house on the road where I live, near Commerce, Georgia. I took these pictures this morning after I dumped 20 lbs. of dog food in the grass for them. They look to be a shepherd mix, and based on the mother, may end up 40 -50 lbs. full grown and fed. I dont have anywhere to house them for any extended length of time, but they must be helped or they will end up as a dangerous, starving pack of dogs living on my street. I have over 20 personal animals (all former rescues) to care for and I cannot take on any more permanently. I am looking for anyone who would be willing to help to feed, foster, adopt or transport if they need to get to someone who can help to adopt them into safe, caring homes. I can catch them all and start to socialize them more, but I have to have somewhere for them to go soon, even if it is one or two at a time. Where I can put them in a pen temporarily is not big enough to keep them and I will have to find somewhere else to keep the mother so she can rest and recover from trying to feed them.

Please circulate this email for me as I desperately need to know I can get them and have homes in the works. They deserve a chance for a real life and this situation is definitely not it! I am very willing to help transport them out of state to a rescue if that is what is necessary for them to be adopted.

Please call or email me directly if you can help in any manner.

Sincerely,

Missy Shepherd

770-891-1074 cell

info@framingartistry.net

Have You Seen Smallville: Season 1 Episode 16 – Stray?

Episode Synopsis:

After escaping from his mean stepparents James Gibson and Sky, the boy Ryan James is hit by Martha Kent’s car on the road. She brings Ryan to a hospital, and the boy claims to have amnesia. The Kent family offers to lodge Ryan in their farm while waiting for the social services. The boy becomes friends with Clark Kent and his friends, and has the power of reading minds, and his adopted parents use him to commit robberies. Clark helps the boy against his stepfather while Ryan knows Clark is different when Ryan sees that he’s the only one whose mind he cannot read.

So what do you think of this episode?

If you missed it, you can watch it here.

In a land far away, in a time long ago, there was a man who had enough and had he not just enough, but to excess had he. His hours were long, his toils sincere, and his earnings quite dear. He ate well, he lived well, and he slept well. For this was a man with enough to spare and did he, with others share. For this, he was well regarded by his brethren, kin and neighbor, too. Even his foes kept a fond distance, for they were few and their character untrue, with only the cowardice of envy to spare. And so, the man slept well and he lived well.

It was common in those times, as in times now, for like to live by like. And so it happened that in a dwelling nearby lived a second man, well to do as he was. This man, too, had more than enough, enough even to excess. He ate well and he lived well, but he did not sleep well. Though his hours were likewise long, his toils were not sincere. The wind hums in question, how were his earnings dear? With cunning and not without conniving, this second man pondered and plotted his hours away. He left his toils to others near, that they may have reason not to stray. And stray they did not, their fear keeping them near. His foes were neither few and ever nearer they drew. Respect for this man fell away; in its place, stood only their contempt. And so, the second man, though he lived seemingly well, did not sleep so well.

It was true in those times, as in times now, that where a mountain stands tall, a valley lays nearby. And so it were that a third man lived not so far from the first and second men. But though he ate well enough, he did not live well and he did not sleep well. His toils were many and his hours even more. And whilst he would utter not such words, it was for the second man that he toiled so. Neither foe had he, nor friends with which to be. His hours filled with anger true and one part angst, and toil alone did he. And so, the third man did not sleep well, because he did not live well.

It was inevitable in those days, as in days of now, that where the sun shines upon a tree, never the land below is a golden ray to see. And so there was a fourth man, who served below all the others. Of excess and its meaning he understood not, knowing it to be a thing only that he lacked. His toil was not much, his time of rest neither more. For his hours were long and he never knew when, if, it would end. Foes he had not; for nothing did they fear nor more was there to envy dear. Friends were likewise few, too afraid of filth to stand even near. He ate not well, and by no man’s standard did he live well. But he did sleep well. With little to weigh him down and not a regret to hold him back, only the night was his friend, ever to return and always to keep him until the morn. And so, the fourth man did not live well, but he slept so very well.

With a heavy heart do we toil away what otherwise would we idle, or with light heart shall we rest when the day has met its end and bids farewell the eve.

This story of four men is but a tale of two: two ways to eat, two ways to sleep, and keeping true –there are but two ways to live.

Otis

Otis was found as a stray and brought to a shelter.  He has lived in his new home for many years.  His people wanted to know what happened to him.  How did he become a stray?  Otis answered, “I lived with a family with many kids.  We were at a large field while the kids played ball.  Everyone was loading the gear into the station wagon.  I saw another dog and ran off to play.  We were playing for a while and when I looked up the station wagon was gone.  I think they forget me by accident.  I then went looking for them.  I thought I knew the way home.  I went on a very busy road and then I got picked up and ended up in the shelter.  I don’t think my people knew to look for me there.  They for sure missed me.” After, I was told that Otis does love kids and that he had been hit by a car the day he got brought to the shelter.  It seemed Otis had blocked that part out, but he remembered the busy road!

But It Was So Fun

Here is me, Samuel.  This is me  after I played.  I think I ‘m dirty.  And muddy too.  I think it’s that.  What people call it.  Because I love to play.  And I don’t mind.  I don’t mind dirty.  And I don’t mind muddy too.  Because it is so fun. 

But then afterwards.  I had to take a bath.   Because I can’t stay that dirty.  And muddy.  Not like that.  I can’t.  It’s not allowed.  I think it isn’t.  Not at my house.  My Kind Friend says.  If you get dirty you take a bath.  That’s what we have to do.  Me and my Best Friend have to.  I used to be dirty like that a lot.  Before I went to the shelter.   Because I was stray.  That’s what they said.  The people who took me to the shelter.  I don’t know why they did that.  And they said I was stray.  But I think I was Samuel.   And I was running in grass and mud.   Running away from people.  People chasing me.  And frightening me.  And putting me in boxes.  And I was getting dirty and muddy.  And lots of burrs in my hair.  But there wasn’t any baths in the kitchen sink.  Nobody had any baths like that.  Nobody made me take a bath like that.  Because there was nobody there.  For me.  Nobody to help me.  When I was stray and mix and a shelter dog.  Except at the shelter they did give me my dinners.

But now is not like that.  Not any more.  Now if I get dirty and muddy.  Then  I have to take a bath.  It’s in the kitchen sink.  And now I have a kitchen sink.  And my Best Friend too.  He takes a bath.  But his bath is a shower.  Because he is too big.  He is much too big for the kitchen sink.   He doesn’t fit in there.  That would be very very silly.  To put  him in the kitchen sink.  That would be a very big mess.

Because I am not afraid  to take a bath any more.  So I don’t mind my baths.  I like them.  It’s nice the warm water.  Except after my bath I get a little bit cold.  But soon I get warm again.  From rubbing with a towel. 

And I am not afraid of many many things any more.  And I like that.  It is very fun that way when you are not afraid.  Like I used to be before I came to live with my Kind Friend and my Best Friend.  [See About Samuel.]  But some things I am afraid of.  Like the hair dryer machine.  So we don’t use that.

$2.49 4 × 8 inches 10 × 20 cm

$2.49  4 × 8 inches 10 × 20 cm

Two friends have now asked if I have become a crazy cat lady. One added, “You’re much too young for that.” The answer is no, I am not a crazy cat lady, but I reserve the right to become one in my old age should I so desire. But I doubt it. I don’t like furry homes. One cat is easy enough to pick up after, feed, pay attention to, and snuggle. Multiples bring crazy into the mix. Too many variables that way. So no, no crazy cat lady here.

I’m just temporarily feeding two kittens that were raised in my window-well. There were four at one point, but one day they were all gone. Later that morning, I went outside, and there was one of them, meowing pitifully. As soon as she spotted me, she ran at me and started nuzzling me. What could I do but pick her up? Feedings, a bath, and temporary room and board followed. (I’d like to add that I didn’t receive so much as one scratch while bathing her. Amazing.)

Halloween evening just after my roommate April was said goodnight to her beau, she came in and said she thought she had heard some kitten meows from outside. So I went out to the porch to investigate. Barefoot. And it was cold. But then we saw it– a kitten sibling, running in the general direction of the house, meowing up a storm. Not little kitten mews, but long LOUD drawn out meows of alarm. The little guy kept running toward us, but then got spooked, and ran under a parked car.

We used his sister as a lure and I caught him, but it cost me a long kitten slice to the thumb.

So now I have two little orange fluff-balls in my home. They aren’t staying, but I feel compelled to see to it that they have a life better than a stray’s. I’m not sure where their other two siblings are, but at least with these two I can make a difference.

I figure they need all the help they can get. The more tame of the two is so attached to us that she meows when we’re walking around and she’s not in our arms. The other one just meows from time to time as if he’s still confused as to the specifics of his whereabouts. Also, it took him two days not to hiss at us when we bent over to pet him. So, they need a little training and some more people-time before they’d be ready for adoption… They’re quick, so I think they’ll do just fine. They were totally litter trained after one day, so I figure the other stuff will work itself out.

So I’m taking care of a couple of cute if not odd kittens. . . but I’m no cat lady.

Three hours ago, a group of teenagers and I saved a stray; a stripe orange kitten that I named Happy Halloween.

I found her under a car in the neighborhood where I went trick or treating. While crawling on someone’s front lawn to look for the kitty, a group about six or more unfamiliar teenagers who dressed up in Gothic costumes came to me and offered to help. I agreed and the chase began. The poor kitty ran from house to house. She was scared and did not realize that we were her life savers so she continued to run. She went across the street and eventually ended up in a bush of cacti.

Dogs were barking as we were approaching the bushes and so was an adult couple. “What are you looking for?” Asked a man’s voice. I looked back and saw a big dalmatian and two smaller dogs smelling my legs. I recognized the man with the dalmatian because we had stopped here for candy earlier. “We are looking for a kitty.” Said I. “Is it your cat?” Asked a lady whom I assumed was his wife. I answered, “No. She is lost and we are trying to save her.” “Do you need a flash light?” Asked the man. “Yes!” We all responded quickly. The man left and returned shortly with a big flash light and handed it to one of the teenage boys. It did not take long at all to find the little cat since she was trapped in that bush of cacti. I pulled her out of there as someone said behind me, “Cover the kitty’s eyes!” I did and the kitten did not react much as I grabbed her neck. We were all excited that it turned out to be a successful chase after all our work. We said thank several times to the kind couple and handed back the man’s flashlight. I thanked the sweetheart teenagers for helping me save the kitty. I was asked by one of the boys that what I would do with the kitty. I told them that I would bring the cat home and then find a home for her.

I waited for my BFF to pick me up with the stray cat laying still and purring in my palm. I felt peaceful and proud!

Dick-brain can dominate male behavior, can be overcome

Here’s the beginning of my article on Humor Volcano:

FALLAS, TX –Although it had long been suspected, it had never been scientifically proven. Until now. Men think with their dicks. Not all of the time, fortunately. But under certain circumstances, the dick-brain does become dominant and can lead men tragically astray. So say researchers here at Longfellow University. More importantly, their results predict that very simple steps can overcome dick-brain dominance and should keep men happily at home.

Dr. T.T. Goodhead, Principal Investigator at LU’s Center of Disgusting Behaviors, announced her group’s exciting research results at a Roaming Horndog symposium this afternoon. Right off the bat, Dr. Goodhead gravely confirmed that the anecdotal evidence of dick-brain control over men’s behavior is substantial. “Clinton, Edwards, Sanford, Spitzer, and Phillips, to name a very few public figures, each one a happily married family man, were all caught with their pants down, so to speak, in illicit affairs.” The obvious question, “Why?” spurred Dr. Goodhead’s entry into the field. “What causes otherwise intelligent, rational men to stray from their spouses and their solemn marriage vows? We had to find out,” she said.

Read the study’s details and prevention conclusion here.

Here it is, kids!  My first shot at that book review game.  Feedback would be lovely!

Enjoy.

In Stray, Rachel Vincent introduces her audience to the world of werecats.  Shape shifters.  Simply put: werewolves with an affinity for catnip.

Our hero, Faythe Sanders, is thrown into a world of violent strife in this premiere episode of Vincent’s Shifters series.  Her story begins when she catches the scent of, and is confronted by, a fellow werecat.  This antagonising feline, who is described as a Stray – a human who has been scratched or bitten by a werecat (in traditional werewolf fashion) – begins the plight of Faythe and her Pride – a collection of (mostly) born werecats, most of whom are related by blood.  Faythe is stringently protective of her independence and is not, at all, pleased when her run-in with this unknown Stray catalyses a string of events that land her back into the lap of the family she has worked hard to avoid for the past five years.

Throughout its 618 pages, Stray provides edge-of-your-seat action and adventure from the playful antics of a Pride of werecats hunting on the family ranch to the climax of the novel wherein the heroes confront the villains.  There are few dull moments.  There is, subsequently, also not a great deal of character evolution.  Vincent has endeavoured to begin not only a single tome, but an entire series by writing in the first person perspective, utilizing Faythe as her narrator.  This is a dangerous gamble and difficult to pull off.  Unfortunately, Faythe Sanders is a shallow character and does not inspire much affection.  It was difficult to feel drawn into her world, or her plight.  Vincent’s supplementary characters, too, show no real depth and seem to exist merely for the witty rapport, and sexual tension, that unites most of this tale’s players.

Vincent’s writing style is basic, but clean.  She peppers her narrative with contemporary, witty descriptors:

Strays have a distinctive scent, which is easily distinguished from that of a Pride-born cat.  It’s like the difference in taste between Coke and Pepsi: subtle if you never drink either, but unmistakable if you’re accustomed to one and suddenly confronted with a mouthful of the other. (Vincent 234.)

It was also refreshing, given the adult Urban Fantasy genre, to see a story that did not require a smattering of four letter words to make its point.  There were curses, throughout the pages of this story, but their numbers were not strong and the tale thrived without gratuitous vulgarity.

Overall, I did not thoroughly enjoy this novel.  Vincent’s writing did make me smile once or twice in its description and (sometimes) surprising wit, but the story arc was as deep as the characters in it, and those characters tended to be more irritating and cliché than anything else.  I felt cheated by Vincent’s introduction of Faythe as not only her protagonist, but also her narrator.  She was spoilt, whiny and irritating; not at all someone I felt drawn to or supportive of at any part in her journey.  I hold high hopes that Miss Sanders evolves throughout the Shifters series, though I will likely not be continuing to join her in her journey for future reviews.  A final warning to those of you interested in picking up Stray for a quick treat to your busy, overworked, minds: beware the implied forced sexual interactions.  Rape is not described in immediate detail, but it does exist in this story and it is disturbing.

Apocalyptica – Life Burns

UNT.

PS. mephy proposed.  I said yes.  I has a fiancé.  w00t.

If you watch this video you will see what shelter rescue dogs  can do.   Those are dogs like me.  Except I don’t have any spots like that.  Because they are called Dalmatian Shelter Rescue Dogs.  Just like I am a Bichon Poodle Shelter Rescue Dog.  And they came from the shelter like me.  But not Sacramento I don’t think.  Because I didn’t see them there.  But the shelter doesn’t mind if you are Bichon Poodle or Dalmatian or other dogs.  Any shelter doesn’t mind.  I don’t know if the  Dalmatains are mix or stray.  But I think you will like this video.  We do.

Here it is.  Shelter Rescue Dalmations take Center Stage!  I hope you like it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/33499661#33499661“

Remember this little guy, the stray bundle of fur WK rescued back in May? All 2.25 pounds of him? We were worried about whether he would grow much bigger than this.

(We did find out after the original post that Scruffy was actually male.)

Well, we’re not concerned now. The manic, and he is reminiscent of the weasel in the old Foghorn Leghorn cartoons, is now a whopping 11 pounds and king of the castle.

Barn Cat
Several years ago my husband and I moved our small family to a new town and a new home situated in a rural area of the county.  Once there, it was determined that one thing was missing from our new lives. A cat. And so my eight year old son and I began scanning the papers looking for homeless felines to no avail. One afternoon  as we drove toward town, a sign caught the eye of my son. “Free Kittens”  was scrawled across a white piece of wood with an arrow pointing to a farmhouse in the distance.
Dutifully I pulled into the driveway that ran the long length of the yard and curved in front of the house, where the owner met me. “They’re in the barn,” she replied, when I asked about the sign., “Come on. We’ll get you one.”
I grabbed the hand of my son and we walked with excitement toward one of two horse barns that could be seen in the distance. I was ill prepared for what we were about to see. Then the owner opened the massive barn doors. My eyes widened with disbelief. Kittens were everywhere, playing, eating, climbing, and running underfoot.  Any one of them would have been okay. Then I looked at my son, who was surveying the situation. After all  he was the would-be owner. Then he spotted a tabby cat sitting alone in the middle of the barn floor. “I want that one,” he said  firmly. Knowing I would never change his mind,  and even though she was an adult, and  she looked old from a distance, I said “okay “ to his decision. With that, gleefully the owner walked through the sea of kittens to pick up a gray and orange tabby that she called ‘Skippy.”  We were both proud that day. He, that he was carrying his new pet, and I because my son had chosen for our family pet a cat that was least likely to be chosen.; a cat that was least likely to live.
In fact, Skippy was not healthy. She had pneumonia and a secondary infection, as well as a skin disorder that made much of her hair fall out. She did not, miraculously, have any of the dread diseases that cats can acquire, and after a week long hospital stay, was ready to come to her new home.
My husband said that she would make a good “mouser”  and suggested she stay outside. That suited me as well, but not Skippy. She was afraid of the dark, of dogs and of other cats. After her first fight with the neighbor’s big male cat, Skippy, who then became “Little Kitty,” came indoors to stay.
Years came and went,, our children became adults, but Little Kitty remained a part of our family. Each morning at five a.m. she served as my alarm clock, nuzzling me with a relatively loud meow to remind me of my feeding duties. I watched her as she moved through her mundane life, unaffected by outside pressures. She tolerated the antics of our young golden retriever and even shared her territory with her canine friend. She didn’t even seem to mind “Big Kitty” coming and going . She loved her bath, her food, her bed at night, and our brushing -petting sessions each day. I loved her unabashedly honest way of being my friend. Her ability to sense my moods ad emotions,  and to show up at just the right time to sit on my lap. Her quietness calmed me.
She became less active as she continued to age, but seemed content most of the time to perch on the arm of the sofa, or on an inviting lap. My vet said  she is old, arthritic, but seemed to be healthy and could live a long time  But she was 17, and her eyes disagreed. On a winter morning our cat began to say goodbye. What began as a seizure, led to the knowledge that she had cancer. Her systems failed quickly and we sat with her, loved her, and out of love, let her go.
We are so fortunate, we humans,  that if we embrace nature, hold it dear, and care for it, we  learn valuable lessons from it.  And what did I learn from this tiny stray cat? I learned the value of simplicity. That if all we wanted was good food at meal times, a stroke from the person who cares for us during the day, and a warm comfortable bed to sleep in at night, perhaps we would be a happier people. I learned that we need to care and be cared for;  protect and be protected,; as we have a most important custodial role on earth. Sweet life lessons from one of God’s creatures.
I sure do miss her.