....Sigh....

I don't know why I check my blog every day to see if anyone commented.  It's kind of uber pathetic... like Roberta Sparrow in Donnie Darko who just kept hanging out next to her mail box waiting for a letter from the future (or was it the past... I'm still a little fuzzy on that.)

I guess I just have these lingering dreams of grandeur that someone somewhere will read this stupid blog and say: "Oh my stars and garters!  This person is delightful!  A breath of fresh air in this blog heavy world!"  (Hey!  I'll write the review for them!  Although, I think if someone said 'stars and garters' they aren't really my target audience in the first place.... sigh sigh.)  Anything to help me continue to make my "living" in the arts.  I've even started submitting original LEGO designs to the LEGO gallery as my new obsession... in the vain hope of being discovered as an unknown LEGO savant.


Help me LEGO wan Kenobi... you're my only hope. 

I've always wanted to write a children's book... write and illustrate.  I've seen some of the people out there who get published and it's a real head shaker sometimes... like, it can't be that hard if our local crazy-church-arsonist-bag-person-scary-psycho-dude can get books published... can it?  And I don't just mean do-it-yourself publishing... I want real royalties, and a real agent, real money... I'll even let it go the e-book route.

Speaking of e-books... I'm not sold on them yet.  The e-book readers are cool gadgets (see previous "Whore" blog) but there is nothing like holding a real book, smelling the book, feeling the pages, tucking the book away in a pocket, opening a book and finding a pressed leaf as a bookmark, treasuring the book... somehow, that mystique is lost when you e-read.   Also, what about book sharing?  With licensing you can't just send the file to a friend and you can't give them your e-reader cause then you'd have nothing to read or it may get broken.  Vicious circle of solitude there.

I have comfort books.  Books I could read over and over a million times (and probably have).  Books that are like a soft blanket.  I have books that I like to smell at times - just smell... the smell makes me feel better, makes a day seem ok, reminds me of the first time I ever found that book and the joy of reading it.  Some books can do that by just sight...  G.C. Murphy's in town used to have books downstairs in the basement.  Every time we'd go to town, I'd make mom take me there... records were upstairs, books and toys down.  My ultimate goal was to see if the latest Trixie Belden paperback had made it to Murphy's.  The first one I ever bought was number 14 - The Mystery of the Emeralds.  I was hooked.  My OCD kicked in and I managed to purchase all 34 books of the original series at Murphy's before they disappeared - all the same cream colored goodness with the oval picture on the front page... sigh  :)

Murphy's only carried a couple different titles of Trixie at a time so I had to keep going back - although this did give me a chance to earn more money.  A paperback, Trixie Belden book was... wait for it... waaaaiiiiitttt for it...

$0.95

Yep.... NINETY-FIVE CENTS!  BRAND NEW!!!!!!  Even with the price increase, they never got to be more than $1.50.  You can't even get a can of pop for that amount of money now!  And that was a lot of money to me.  I can't say that I bought every book myself, but my parents saw how much I loved to read and how much these books meant to me, so I can safely say they helped me get my fix in the '80's.

A lot of years later, my very first ebay experience would be Trixie Belden.  I had just quit my job and was depressed and low... very very loooooooooooowwwwwwwwwww.  I saw, on ebay, a set of the original hardback Trixie Belden Books... like the ones I used to check out of the library until Murphy's had the paperbacks in stock... the ones with the smell, the feel, the weight, the pictures... the Deluxe editions.  A complete set - books 1 to 15 (all that were published in that hardback edition).  I had to have them.  I had to feel better.  I had to hold them and smell them.  So, I bid... I won!  I spent money that I had saved and when those books came to my house I was ecstatic.  The world was ok, I was ok, I had Trixie.

I'm pretty sure an e-reader will never ever give me that sensation... and I don't think I want it to, either.

There Is Nothing Wrong With Snow

People living in Northwestern PA should realize by now, that we will have snow in the winter.  I am so tired of everyone complaining and getting all pussy about it!

When I was growing up, we went everywhere in the snow, we had school in the snow, we played outside in the snow, we liked the snow.  Now, it's getting ridiculous.  Everyone panics if a flake falls.  Everyone freaks out if there's even a prediction of snow.  I can remember sitting in a classroom in elementary school waiting for buses to get there and we could hardly see out the windows because the snow was so high!  I remember pushing snow with my car to get to a practice in town only to find out that it was cancelled.  It didn't bother me at all, I just drove back home and enjoyed the ride.

Walking outside in the snow is like being in your own world.  Everything is hushed and still.  The large flakes falling around you make you feel as though you are living in a snow globe.  The chill makes every sound crisp and clear.  It is peaceful, beautiful, magical.  I love the snow.

Where Have All The Jingle Balls Gone

So the cats have like 12 jingle balls, 3 felt mice, and one chirpy thing.  Plus two things on sticks and a springy tether ball.... so you'd think that I could find a jingle ball to play with the cats.

No.  Nada.  Nope.  Uh-uh.

I have looked under every piece of furniture, behind every appliance, and even in the chair cushions.... I can find no jingle balls!!!  I know they can't possibly be eating them (well, I'm reasonably sure they aren't eating them....hmmmmmm....)

There's probably some secret stash that only the cats know about:

Mya: Mew!  Mrroup, meow meow meow!!!  (HA!  The large one is looking for our jingle balls!!)
Wally: Rrrrrrrp?  Mew mew mew meow... Mrrrroop!  (Really?  She'll never find them...Mwah ha ha!!)
Mya:  Meow mew mew mew!  (Let's get one out and make it jingle then put it back!!)
Wally: MEW!  Rrrrpppp mew meow mrrroup!!  (YES!  That will drive the large one crazy!!)

I love my animals!!

I Am A Technology Whore!

The title says it all.  I love technology - all those useless gadgets that whir and beep and are sooooo darned expensive!  I just spent 15 minutes playing with a 12 year old's iPad.  sigh  I wish I had an iPad.  I'm a bit like the ADHD kid: "Jeez, I really think I should.... SHINY!!"  When I was 12, I played with Barbie and thought the Little House On The Prairie books were Nobel Prize winners.  Now 12 year olds (and younger) have iPads, iTouches, iPhones, iMacs, iPods, iEverythings!

I had the Atari 2600 as a kid which eventually led to the NES and the Sega.... then a dry spell until the PS1.  Of course, every upgrade was a bit of a shock to the system - all those buttons.  When I started gaming, we had a button and a stick.... that was it.... and we LIKED it that way!  I was in my 30's before I had my first GameBoy, and had I not won my XBOX 360 in an online contest, I probably still wouldn't have one.  Something about gaming is soothing to me and I'm proud to be a girl gamer.

A few years ago, I finally caved and bought an iPod.  I had resisted because I thought it was unnecessary when we had perfectly good CDs around.... how wrong I was.  I'm a fickle music listener.  I never know what I'm in the mood for and when the craving hits.  The iPod is genius!  Of course I had to keep buying bigger ones so I could hold all of my music, but now.... everything I own is at the touch of a button!

Other than the iPad, my new jones is the Nintendo 3DS.   slobber  And not because of the 3D (which is soooooo overdone these days!) but because the games coming out for that game system look so damn cool!  So, I've already decided that will be my birthday present.  :)

Well, the 12 year old has handed me his iPad to "protect."  And by protect I mean play!!!!

It's That Time!

Merry Christmas everyone!  It's my first Christmas with multiple animals and I have been "enjoying" the "thrill" of having a cat (or two) in the house with a Christmas tree... Wally is the "innocent" one under the tree...

MERRY CHRISTMAS 

EVERYONE!!!  

Kristen, Zoee, Mya, Wallaby, Sushi, and Dilly

Some random thoughts on the last Pitt home game

So, Pitt lost the "Backyard Brawl."  It was quite disappointing and disheartening but, in the end, it's only a game.

I've come to love the experience of a big time football school.  I went to Grove City where the only thing that was really a big time thing was the idea that you were a heathen if you had not been reborn.  Not my favorite sport.  The feeling of camaraderie and unity and excitement is totally intoxicating.  It also makes me feel sad that I will never get to experience that thrill, that belonging, that pride.  I guess I'll just have to treasure my little contact high and make it my own.

Now... some total non sequiturs.

- It's a football game.  Leave the mink at home..... Sir.

- It's a football game.  Leave the pajamas at home.

- It's a football game.  Leave the 4 inch heels at home.... oh... sorry!  You're working!!

- The Pitt Band ROCKS!  This is not a music school.  There is no music major yet the band is absolutely fantastic!

- The new football unis are meh.  From the stands they were very clean looking.  Up close, it looks like they're wearing a backwards bib.  Oh well, they could be worse.... I guess.  The scary part of the uniforms was the poster that was handed out.  I thought I had escaped the poster when a sad, quiet man came up to me, poked me with the poster, handed it to me, and walked away....  guess he didn't want his either.

- I would think that alumni who spend money year after year for season tickets really care about Pitt football.  I am apparently wrong.  There is a family that sits in front of me that is the most annoying, pretentious, idiotic group of people I've seen in a while... well, at least outside of Venango County.  The Grande Dame sashays in and takes up 3 seats with all her shit - shit I have never seen her use, ever!  Then she stands and undoes her coats/visors/scarves/hats/sweaters/blankets/socks for like 15 minutes.  She also sweeps her hand through her hair and I get to watch the strays float my way.  Did I mention that they come late?  Yep, late every game.  Daddy just goes for food and visits with all the other usual suspects in the section.  There are three kids that come and all they do is eat and whine... and those are the ones in their 20's!  So, I'm trying to watch the pre-show and they're holding court.  "Hi Bob.  How are you?  How's Janice?  Great!  Have you seen Steve and Stacy?  They had to move their seats.  Yeah, they had a little girl!  Blah blah blah blah... wha wha wha whaaaaaa.   Bleargh?  Harrrrrr hourrrr haourrrr.... Ho!  Mwah mwah mwah... magondy.  Sleeertttttttt."  You get the point.  And she's an imperious, pious bitch.  Her shit don't stink, I'm sure.  I won't miss them!  Plus their friend the "Jesus Christ, I can't see the game!  Sit down!" guy.  The first time he said it, it was amusing.  The tenth time, it was an eye roller.  The 2,099,503,948,096,809 time it's just plain FUCKING ANNOYING!!!!!!!!!  SHUT UP!!!!!  YOU ARE NOT FUNNY!!!!!  NO ONE THINKS YOU ARE FUNNY!!!!!

- There was a picture on the Jumbo-tron of the 1910 championship Pitt football team.  Unbeaten, Untied, Unscored Upon.  The guy next to me said, "Wonder if we could get those guys to play today."

- When the temperature is in the low 30's and the wind chill is in the 20's, wear pants... they are the wave of the future.  If you are not wearing pants, you deserve to freeze your nards off you miserable sack of water.

- Along with Shorts Boy is Pretty Girl.  Yes, we know you're pretty, but when you wear your little hip hugger pants, flip flops, tank top, and little cropped jacket with the useless hood (and I call it useless because you don't wear it - you are too worried about your hair!!!!!!), I have absolutely no sympathy for you.  Wear some damn clothes, dammit!!!!!!!!!

 - Hey!  Justin Beiber!  Your hair looks ridiculous... put the hat on and don't be so damn stupid and vain!!

- Surprisingly, I missed my annoying section buddy.  His voice is akin to a steel bar being smacked against your head as lemon wedges are squirted in every open orifice while the sounds of cats scratching metal plates are amplified and piped directly into your ears.  No one knows his name.  He has a single seat.  He only has one hand.  He is a Pitt fan.  Hail to Pitt.

I AM the Crazy Cat Lady!!!

I love animals.  That's all there is to it.  Especially the fuzzy defenseless animals.  The cute abandoned, sad, needy animals.  The pitiful, big eyed, forgotten animals.

When I was a kid we always had dogs, Brittany Spaniels (as they were called "back in the day."  They now go by the name "Brittanys."  Very Cher/Madonna/J-Lo of them.)

Misty was my first dog, a brindle Brittany Spaniel - unfortunately you don't see many brindled around any more.  She was an outside dog, but she had a house with carpet and a blanket door and straw in the winter so it was ok.  She was so calm, so laid back.  She never jumped on me and she was just the nicest dog.  She hunted also - kinda pointed/leaned toward prey - and she always smelled like lilacs cause her house was in a lilac bush.  She passed away of old age... so sad.

Then when I was 5 or 6 we got another Brittany... Rusty.  He was rust and white and a boy.  I named him.  So original!!  He was a jumper and scared me until I got taller.  My biggest memory of Rusty was that he had the talent.... skill?.... to pee himself out of his cage.  That dog could pee 24/7.... ironically he died of kidney failure.  :(


Then we had a long dogless dry spell.  Finally we got a yellow lab named Candy.  Candy was my first inside dog.  What a revelation!  It was fantastic!  We taught her to stay in two rooms downstairs and she also became my dad's hunting dog.  I loved her!  You could lay on her, play tug, hold her... the nicest dog ever.  She had a stroke at the age of 11 and had to be put down.  It was one of the few times I've seen my parents cry.  I can't find a picture of Candy and that makes me sad.

A few years later we got Aggie.  A HUGE yellow lab she was also an amazing dog.  Hunter, pillow, blanket, you name it.  She also had this weird little hair thing going on on her forehead where the hair grew backwards.  She survived a torn ACL and bad hips.  She lived to be 10 which is amazing for how huge she was.  I miss her.



When I moved out of the house I felt lonely and went to the shelter to find the perfect dog.  I found him and named him Buddha.  A great dog, we were together about 10 months before I had to give him away.  A large dog in an apartment just wasn't working.  Add to that the fact that we had to go down umpteen steps and leave through two locked doors - it wasn't working.  I felt terrible... like a failure.  I'll never forget my friend Jimmy telling me not to feel bad, and that pet ownership was like dating:  "sometimes you have to break up with them for everybody to be happy."  Buddha and I broke up and it was a couple of years before I tried the dog route again.  I hope he's happy running around in a great big house with a great big yard.

Then... along came Zoee.  My sweet tiny Shih-Tzu!  She's litter box trained, sleeps with me, and is so damn cute!!!!!  She is sort of my Doggie/Kitty.  I never had a cat or a small dog so it was all a learning experience.  She doesn't shed either which is WAY cool!  She's 6 now but because she's so small she looks younger.

Then... it happened.  Jennifer knew of someone with a litter of kittens. I was excited but a little scared.  My biggest fear was that Zoee would hate me and run away from home!  So, after much thought and much stress, I got Mya.  Sooooooo sweet!  Best thing ever!  And slowly, I moved from being just a dog person to being a cat person.  She's so shiny and fluffy and loving.  She actually likes to be around people and she's not stuck up at all!  Her favorite toys are a paper bag and a fish on a bungee.  She pulls so hard on that thing that the suction cup keeps popping off the door!  She and Zoee had a love/hate relationship for a while.  Zoee hated Mya and Mya looooved Zoee.  :)  Now they are at the point of calm indifference with the occasional beat down.

I thought I was set.  One cat and one dog (oh... I didn't even mention the fish!!  Sushi the beta and Dilly the goldfish!!  Can't forget them!!)  Then, it happened.  I came home from practice one night to see a little cat in the parking lot... so cute and it looked so cold and so alone and it had a wound on its shoulder.  :(  I sat outside for like 4 hours just trying to get it to come to me.  The next day, I deployed food.  Kitty came a little closer.  The third day, I deployed food and tried to get kitty into the airlock... that was a big fail.  Kitty is fast!!  I acquired some battle scars, but kitty got the food and freedom.  Over the next few days I tried to catch kitty with tuna and food and a normal crate and had some help from Jennifer and Dicky.  Then, the plan.  Dicky brought me a live trap and within 6 hours, kitty was captured!  I brought kitty in and started to feed him.... (there was a ball sighting so he is officially a he).  His wound started looking better and he was loving and cuddly and everything was going well.  Then Sunday morning.  His wound looked different... kinda like a blood blister.  Well, it was different.  I picked him up to put him in his cage when suddenly....
 
SpLurT!!!!  PlBbbttTTttt..........

The wound!!!!

That wound exploded!  All sorts of icky came flying out of it... and onto my foot.  My bare foot.  In between the bare toes of my bare foot....  uh...... EW?!  Immediately we rushed to cleaning mode and I called the service and spoke with a vet.  We kept an eye on him and did warm compresses and such.  I have to admit, it was fairly disgusting.  It was gaping and looked like a pouch or a pocket.  So the wait was on to take him to the vet the next morning.  The really sad part about this was that he didn't even have a name yet.  Poor thing... he was called everything we could throw at him.

Next morning, No Name and I were at the vet where it was determined that he needed stitches.  I came back later to get him.... and finally..... after a week of pain and ick and stress and mini animal strife and introduction to the inmate population...

Meet Wallaby - Wally for short.   :)