Monthly Archives: November 2006

Pets

Hazel…

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Our new cat… and how she got her name.

Many of you may remember my post about the little kitty who approached me outside Monkey’s school and told me to take her home. Well I did, and she is a happy and healthy new member of our household.

We decided to name her Hazel, though that name took a lot of time to develop.

First of all, my dad suggested we name her Fancy, after the Bonnie Raitt song. It seemed to fit, both her situation and her personality, so we gave it a try. But it was pretty clear early on that it wasn’t working. Sometimes a name just doesn’t fit a cat. So I sat down to study our new feline friend, and made some crucial naming obsevations. 1. She came to us the day before halloween. 2. She is black and pumpkin colored. 3. She is fairly intense in attitude and appearance. She needs a serious name.

I look up her colorations online and find an almost exact photo likeness of her on wikipedia. She is a tortioseshell cat! Great!

I continue to research, this time focusing on her breed. It appears that a stray tortie fortells bad luck… hmm… luckily she is no longer a stray. Historically, tortoiseshells have been to be able to tell the future and are likely to give the gift to a lucky child in the household. Hmmm… okay, so now I have a clairvoyant black and orange cat who came to me the day before halloween. Well clearly a name like ‘fluffy’ or ‘paws’ simply won’t do.

I decided to look up the names of oracles and other future tellers,but none of them fit. Dione was too pretentious, Delphi too odd, Artemis too much. Then I was sitting there staring at her rather intense gaze and realized…. Hazel is an herb used in divination, and a golden, reddish, brownish color. I say… “Hazel?” Lee responds, “Okay, that name works.” Hazel starts to purr. (She has a purr that can be hard for miles)

She is learning her new name, and has settled in amazingly fast. She is completely comfortable in her new abode, and is a very snuggly creature. As to which child she will bless with future-telling? Only time will tell.

Monkey, women's rights

Updates

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A brief update, then a political message…

The new cat, named Hazel for supernatural reasons, is adjusting well to us. So well in fact, that it seems more each day as though she chose us. She is already snuggling with us, hissing at the dogs, and playing with the other cats. She is thrilled with the copious amounts of food. She is in great health, though she will have to have most, if not all, her teeth extracted due to poor nutrition. (Poor thing).

Monkey has been ill that last two days, so we have been home, with me trying to work while she rests. It is interesting. In an attempt to stave off boredom today, I created several tracer paper sentences for her to write, and told her a treat would come with each completed, and read to me, page. She is currently working on “A bug is snug in the rug”

Okay, update over!! On to Politics!

Take a moment and write something for choice….



The petition site has a petition to support pro-choice candidates. In addition to signing your name, you can also write your own message. Being an argumentative and mouthy individual, I did just that. I encourage you to do the same.

Here is the message I sent with my signature:

In our culture women are still predominantly left with a child’s care. Our culture does not saddle men with equal responsibility for sex. Men are encouraged to engage in sexual behavior, women are not. However, who are these men encouraged to have sex with? Our culture is not pro-homosexual, so these men are not encouraged to have sex with each other.

Men are encouraged to have sex with women, and then treated like heroes if they pay a modicum of child support and see their accidentally concieved children once a month.

Women are expected to change everything about their lives and raise these unexpected children, but instead of praise, they are condemned for having had children out of wedlock. They are disparaged for having had sex.

Women and men both choose to engage in sex, (except in cases of rape) yet women carry most, if not all, the responsiblities. Men group’s fight against parental responsibility in cases of accidental conception, and now, men’s groups are fighting against child support in cases of accidental conception.

Women bear most of the burden of accidental children. Are we now going to make them bear it against thier will?

How good of a mother do we create when we allow the father to run off without penalty, and force the mother to have a child and raise it without support?

How good of a family environment are we creating for the child?

What kind of future can this child expect to have?
Choice is the only decent, humane way.

And if you sign now…. you get a stickie!!
(Or more than one)

A what you say?



A stickie, to place on your own blog, website, whatever!!



Monkey

The darkest night…

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All Hallow’s eve, Samhaim, The Darkest Night, A precurser to a Dental Visit….

Monkey was a rainbow fairy this year, after wanting to be the Invisible Woman again and changing her mind. This costume allowed her to wear a shiny dress, huge wings with a sparkly in the center of them, and mommy’s makeup. The combination of the three proved too tempting for her to resist, and I have to admit, she was pretty darn cute.

We felt Halloween would be different this year, as we live in another state, and still basically know no one except those who moved with us, and live 40 minutes away. So in an attempt to look on the bright side, we thought “this year will be a healthier Hallloween! We will get less Halloween candy!” We were under this delusion primarily because Monkey would miss out on the traditional massive donation given at Nana’s and Papa’s, she would not get a huge handful at Roby and Heather’s, and Nama and Da would not be tempted to shift their leftovers into her bag.

Sadly, this year’s take was actually better (or worse depending on your point of view) than previous years!! Her little plastic pumpkin was so full she couldn’t fit a single additional piece into it! After only five or six blocks, and 40 minutes, she was bravely dragging her little jack-o-lantern by it’s handle instead of jauntily swinging it to and fro!

This is what our brave, orange friend looked like this morning. This is after Monkey ate five treats last night, Lee and I removed and consumed some of her loot, and several lollipops were absconded with this afternoon! In addition, we had two trick-or-treaters at our house, and were therefore left with a huge bowl of our own candy to get rid of. I am going to have to simply toss a great deal of sugary goodness.

Despite the immense amount of tempting empty calories now resting easily within reach, we really enjoyed ourselves. The neighborhood we are in is a great place to trick-or-treat. There was very little traffic and all the neighbors decorated and handed out candy. There was even a cat, named Phil, who greeted each trick-or–treater as they walked to his house to get their loot. (He was pretty cute, seemed to say “I’m on point!!”) The weather was warm and Monkey had a little pumpkin flashlight to carry so we could see her when she inevitably ran off ahead. (It worked really well.)

We missed everyone back home, but it was a pleasant change to only have one neighborhood to visit. This the first year we trick-or-treated without anyone else, just Monkey and Daddy and Me. It was very special, and we really laughed and smiled a lot. There was a lot less hassle then previous years, and we all relaxed and enjoyed it more for it’s simplicity. So while I regret not having the usual routine, I think the change was good for us.

Happy Halloween to everyone back home!! If you want candy, email me and I will send it to you!!