Saturday, May 26, 2007

no good deed goes unpunished

There is a strange cat hanging around outside the house, and it drives Pepper crazy. His tail puffs up, he carooms from window to window, doing that fast snuffle-snorting thing...

...and if the strangercatsmellsbadintruder vibe gets too much for him [especially if intrudercat is sitting right outside the window taunting him], Pepper can go into berserker mode. He forgets himself, his surroundings, and just attacks the first moving thing he sees. Once it was a pillow that I put in front of him to block his view of the intrudercat, once it was my leg [thankfully fully clothed in sturdy denim jeans], and this afternoon, it was poor, hapless, just-walking-by Bean.

So I intervened, and paid the penalty:

Owee.

Bean is fine, if freaked. Pepper is calming down. My arm is throbbing, but ice for the swelling, aspirin for the pain, some antibiotic cream, and a tight bandage will take care of it.

It's always interesting when we get these little reminders of the underlying nature of our mostly-domesticated roommates. Even humans have their berserker sides...though our claws are shorter.

Friday, May 25, 2007

ice ice baby

Just bought tickets to see Vanilla Ice... <grin>

Monday, May 21, 2007

happy birthday, mom

I love you much.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

and another...

From the same place:

"When I was young, I was afraid of being different. Now I'm afraid of being the same."

a great quote from ze

Ze on fear:

"You know, there's nothing to fear but fear itself."
"Mmmmyeeaahhhh, that's called *recursion*, and it would lead to *infinite* fear, so *thank* you."

http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/archives/2007/05/best_of_022207.html

Monday, May 14, 2007

bean is cranking along

She's through this latest flare-up and doing better. I have pain meds for her when she needs them; right now, we need to establish what a 'normal' pattern is, so we can recognize when it becomes abnormal [flash on Marty Feldman and "Abby Normal"]. It's iterative: watch for trouble, act on it, wait, keep watching, if it continues, act differently, tweak medication, rinse and repeat. But for now, she's back to doing the normal things a cat does and seems to have suffered the indignities with grace and aplomb [well, aplomb at least...she's not terribly graceful].

Thanks for asking, youse guys...you rock.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

the songs, they remind me

Journey songs remind me of Greg and more innocent times.

The 'Very' album by the Pet Shop Boys brings back memories of my time at FTP's Santa Clara office.

Killers remind me of At the Drive-in, which reminds me of Steve.

Great Big Sea reminds me of Ope and Kristen and love and acceptance and sharing.

70's funk reminds me of Jim.

Sir Mix-A-Lot reminds me of Susy. So does Men at Work.

Gwen Stefani's 'Hollaback' reminds me of Jen [because we mutually mock it].

Traditional Celtic music makes me think of my Dad.

Milla's album 'The Divine Comedy' brings back Todd and Wakefield.

Papa Roach, Linkin Park, Staind all bring back my 'anger metal' phase in the 'waking up' period after the divorce. Ahh, catharsis...

Peter Gabriel makes me think of Lisa. And the concert I went to with Vicky.

Erasure makes me think of Lisa too.

The Saw Doctors make me think of fun times and release and dancing and being part of it all.

'Electric Avenue' takes me back to that summer at the Dresden pool, hanging out with friends, growing up, trying to figure out life, the universe, and everything.

Chris Isaak's 'Wicked Games' makes me think of Amy, and Greg, and those blurred, painful, dark times in mid to late 2000.

Chris de Burgh brings Ian to the forefront, and memories of a person who helped a stranger who was hurting, who became not-a-stranger because of that selfless giving.

Pachelbel's 'Canon in D' always brings peace.


And the soundtrack of my life goes on...
Memories I thought were lost
Brought forward by a note, a beat, an intro
To a song I heard yesterday
Haven't heard in years
Last heard through tears
Or smiles or in quiet contemplation
In moments shared
Moments alone
Moments solo in a crowd
When a line makes it through
The noise and the murmur and the drone and the hum
Of everyday life and everyday thoughts and everyday distraction
Then the music filters through
And it takes me somewhere else
For a bit, for a beat
And the soundtrack of my life goes on...

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

back to the vet

Bean has had a relapse. Emergency clinic has me giving her pain meds tonight, and I've got to get her into the vet first thing in the morning.