It’s Furious Balancing

Click the mosaic for a better view.

Dear Mr. Bush:

Thank you very much for the Economic Stimulus Payment. It was a pleasant surprise to see it sitting, unbidden, in The Husband’s and my joint checking account.

I’ve since transferred my half to my ING Orange Savings Account. It will sit there, earning a whopping 3% interest, until there is a Democrat sworn in as President.

Well, this is not entirely true. I may relent and send some of it to Senator Obama’s campaign.

Early Sunday morning web trawling yielding this little gem of a video. If you’re a Cat Person, or a Geek, or even a Geeky Cat Person, this is well worth six minutes of your time. Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy.

These are not my pictures. These kittens haven’t stopped bouncing around long enough for me to take a halfway decent picture of them. I sniped these pictures from the Ann Arbor Cat Clinic’s site. To the Unknown Cat Photographer, I tip my hat. You did a most excellent job, and I want to give you ample credit.

Here’s Aaron in one of the planter at the clinic. This little boy has the plushest fur. I don’t know if he will develop a thick undercoat like Gregor had, but his kitten coat is extra soft and dense. He’s not so much gray as silver. The Husband described his color as “gunmetal.” That’s pretty darn close, and look at those amber eyes!

Christopher is very tawny and has the most striking tabby markings. I love his “freckles” at the base of his whiskers, his eyeliner, and the rosy nose.

Two very sweet, very energetic kittens. Emma and Thomas need to warm up to them still. Thomas is being particularly curmudgeonly and cantankerous. I imagine him shaking his paw at the new arrivals and spitting, “You meddling kids! Get Off of My Lawn!!”

This amuses me no end. I want to interject the phrase “cat-toast equilibrium point” or “cat-butter paradox” in my daily conversations. This has probably been out around the Internet for ages and ages, but I just found it. So there.

A more detailed write-up on can be found here.

I think these are forget-me-nots. I’m not really sure, but they’re blue, and small, and currently camping the birdbath (the The-Husband-Made birdbath inscribed with “Bathe Filthy Birdies”). The neighbors immediately behind us have a small field of these, so they more than likely migrated from there.

The spiderwort in the kitchen garden bloomed for the first time this season. I wish I could get a better photo. It’s not that violet, and has more of a blue color. I’m not talented enough with Paint Shop Pro to make it look right.

The iris(es) are going crazy, and I should have pictures up soon, when he’s in full flower. I counted 3 separate stalks with about 5-7 imminent blooms (total). Considering he hasn’t bloomed once since I planted him 2 or 3 years ago, it’s about time, I say. The sweet woodruff next to the iris has died off for a reason known only to itself, and I’m not certain if I want to put in more irises — since I’ll be dividing the Monster Iris when it’s done blooming — or look for another groundcover. I’m going to the nurseries up on Wagner Road sometime this weekend, and I’m sure something will inspire me.

My attitude towards gardening is pretty haphazard. I know there are some plants I will never consider (hostas, forsythia), but most of what I randomly select is Because It Looked Good at the Time. I’ll wander around the nurseries and see what grabs me.

In honor of my 42nd birthday, I thought I would make one of those long, rambling blog posts to help anyone out there who might be reading know more about me. I’m complex, truly.

1. Every New Year for the past three years, I’ve resolved to floss my teeth more frequently. Sometimes that’s the only resolution I make. I still don’t floss enough.

2. The last time I watched television was 9/11. The last time I sat down to actually, on-purpose watch a TV show was 1994. The Husband and I have a TV; we use it to watch DVD’s.

3. I like to read blogs written by people radically different from myself. My current favorites at the moment (besides Crazy Aunt Purl) are The Panopticon (gay male Buddhist Chicagoan knitter with a penchant for books) and a little pregnant (which the writer describes as “madcap misadventures in infertility, pregnancy and parenthood”). Her post on her imagined conversations with her fertility monitor is beyond hysterical.

4. I can’t remember my real hair color. I’ve been a faux redhead for 10+ years.

5. I won’t eat salmon.

6. My high school’s fight song was sung to the tune of “On Wisconsin.”

7. I have two tattoos. I got the first one for my 30th birthday, and the second for my 40th. I plan on getting another for my 50th (or maybe my 45th if I can’t wait that long).

8. If I never have to hear another word about Paris Hilton or Britney Spears, I could die happy.

9. My favorite paintings are Monet’s studies of the Rouen Cathedral.

10. Whenever I travel on an airplane, I bring Lovecraft’s The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath to read.

11. When I have a choice of desserts, I almost always choose the one with the most chocolate.

12. It’s my considered opinion that people who pronounce forte as “for-TAY” (instead of the correct French pronunciation – “fort”) are sub-literate cretins. There are so many of them I’ve developed an unfortunate facial tic from biting my tongue.

13. I’m named after my mother — in Real Life, that is. “Laiane” has been my online pseudonym for many years.

14. I always dressed up as a black cat for Halloween, except the last year I went trick-or-treating (1975?). Then I was a ghost in a bedsheet with a scary plastic mask.

15. Even though I read a tremendous amount, I don’t retain much — of the fiction anyway. I suppose that’s why I keep and re-read many of my books.

16. Favorite (non-Lovecraft) fantasy book? Tigana.

17. I rarely suffer from that female malady of Pleasing Others Before I Please Myself.

18. In terms of “fashion,” I can’t stand pastel colors or ruffles. I didn’t like them when I was 22 and I certainly don’t like them at 42.

19. Lilacs and violets are my favorite spring flowers, and I love chrysanthemums in the autumn (especially the yellow ones).

20. Even though I’m bookish and introverted, I enjoyed my visit to Las Vegas (when The Husband and I were married). It was very surreal. Vegas, not getting married. (1)

21. I’ve never sent a text message to anyone.

22. I haven’t read the operating manual for my digital camera yet. I figure that if I take 10-12 pictures of something, one of them has to turn out okay.

23. I don’t care for how Borges ended The House of Asterion with that coda about Theseus and Ariadne. The story can easily stand alone on its own.

24. I use whatever is handy for bookmarks. Unused tissues or napkins. Post-it notes. Pieces of yarn. I’m even known to dog-ear books.

25. I’m one of the few people I know who is able to get out of bed without hitting the snooze button. When I’m up, I’m up.

26. Even though I say that I’m not a morning person, that’s when I’m my most productive. I tend to hit the wall in the afternoon.

27. I try not to use obscenities or curse words very often. I save them for when I really, truly mean it.

28. I don’t worry about drinking the suggested 64 ounces of water a day since one of my medications gives me dry mouth. I’m almost always sipping on plain water or sparkling water (unsweetened) .

29. I wish I knew more about physics. I admire Stephen Hawking and wish I could understand his books more thoroughly.

30. It’s impossible for me to leave a book store empty handed.

31. I’m very picky about the pens I use. I like fine-tipped ones with sharp points. Liquid ink, not paste ink.

32. I’m a sucker for Reeses Peanut Butter Cups.

33. I HATE THE MALL. I can buy just about everything I need online — except groceries.

34. Even though I’m no longer a vegetarian, I still eat tofu sometimes (especially stir-fried).

35. I say that the Internet is “my oxygen.” It’s my primary source of entertainment, news, and information. I’ve been online since 1994 — back in the days of LISTSERV’s, kermits, and gophers.

36. My computer’s name is “Squeaker.”

37. I prefer watching college sports to professional sports, not that I watch sports much at all.

38. I find that I usually have to read something before I’m able to fall asleep.

39. I would rather rule in Hell than serve in Heaven (special bonus points for those of you who catch the literary reference; and, yes, I’ve read it).

40. If I had a choice between going back to Paris (for the third time) or going to another grand European city, I would still choose Paris.

41. I have visited the grave sites of Marcel Proust and Franz Kafka.

42. I have never EVER had the least desire to have a baby or adopt a child. If I feel the need to be maternal towards something, I have my cats.

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(1) Las Vegas at night photo under Creative Commons license (Flickr photographer mandj98) and may be distributed, copied, and shared with attribution.

Gregor (Mr. Squeakypants, the Mama’s Boy) will never be a supermodel. It’s not that he isn’t amazingly handsome (he is), and he certainly has plenty of prima donna qualities; it’s just that he’s simply not, um, stationary. I’ll get the camera ready to take his picture, and he’ll decide he wants to come over and see me for cuddling.

Out of the dozen Gregor pictures taken this morning, these are the only “usable” ones, and some would argue that two-thirds of these aren’t usable at all — except to make a point. Thomas, on the other hand, is extremely photogenic.

Another Emma picture.

I’m testing out adding a 1-pixel border to my photographs so they stand out better on the web page. Not terribly exciting stuff, but I think it works fairly well. [Yes, I know Emma is fat. Yes, I know her health can suffer because of it. I'm trying to do my best by her and help her lose weight, but it's a slow, slow process.]

Thomas is very busy this Saturday, as you can see. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING can be done in this household without appropriate Cat Supervision. Thomas decided that since this was a larger photo, it needed a 3-pixel border. All of a sudden this cat is a graphic designer…

Sometime on Sunday afternoon, Queen Emma decided that Kitty Pi 2 was somehow acceptable to Her Royal Self. I think her foray into Kitty Pi-ness lasted all of 15 minutes, but I have photographs! Proof!

I’ve claimed all along that I have three cats…

This is a recent photo of the president of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz.

Now, I know nothing about the World Bank. Before I saw this picture, I couldn’t have told you anything about the World Bank. I couldn’t have told you anything about Paul Wolfowitz. I’m not the sort that reads The Economist for kicks.(1)

I am terribly amused by this photograph, but I’m not sure I can articulate exactly why I’m amused. It’s something along the lines of feet of clay. Here is this Very Important World Bank President (who can probably afford hand-made Egyptian cotton shirts and silk ties and could go out and buy 1,000 pairs of expensive socks as easily as kiss my hand) with holey socks.

All sorts of interesting ideas come to mind:

* The man clearly has more things on his mind than making sure he’s wearing presentable, photo-op socks every day.

* Did Mr. Wolfowitz’s mother nag him about wearing clean underwear just in case he was in a car accident?

* I wonder if his wife is appalled by this picture and is complaining right this second of how she can no longer hold her head high at the weekly bridge game since her Very Important Husband has been Seen In Public with holey socks.

* My walking around the office today wearing my grey slacks with a large grease spot on the left knee (which I didn’t notice until lunch time) is, comparatively, pretty small potatoes.

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(1) Now that I’ve actually looked at their web site it looks more informative than I thought, and I ought to put The Economist on my list of online media sources to attempt to read on a semi-regular basis — as if I didn’t have enough reading to keep up on to be a Reasonably Informed Citizen. Oh, bloody hell. I hate when I do this to myself…

Well, technically, it IS winter because it’s January, and cold, and horribly dark in the late afternoon, but I can’t recall having a single snowfall where we actually had accumulation. Not an inch. People are talking about El Nino and global warming and such; there were several 40-degree days last week! I dislike it because I enjoy seeing the crystal patterns in the snowflakes when they fall on my winter coat. That, and it just smells so much cleaner after a snowfall. Small things, admittedly. This winter has really been a long, chilly prelude to spring.

We did get ice today (click on the photo to enlarge).

It’s just not the same.

Between my hobbies and my job, I haven’t had much to post about lately. I’m still knitting furiously, have picked up my Morrowind mod for a lot of dialogue work, and am in the middle of three or four books (not sure…). I’m having a lot of problems today with my chronic pain issues, so I’m about to abandon the computer and sit on the couch for a couple hours (with cats, knitting, books, club soda, and other accoutrements.) The Husband is cooking King Ranch Chicken Casserole; if you’re lucky, I might post the recipe.

But now, it’s time for a gratuitous cat picture! Oh, come on now, you knew it was coming. He’s almost smiling in this picture.