And now it's time for some more - Unsolicited Advice so, listen up, young'uns
If you have to have your cat put down, try to do so at a time in the year such that, when said cat's ashes are returned to you in a little metal box, the ground outside isn't frozen solid and covered with snow.
I wrote the above bit about a week ago, but hadn't had the nerve to post it until now. Meanwhile, D.C. is still upstairs in her little metal box, having the last laugh, because now there's no way she'll be going into the ground until Spring. This is actually a good thing, because she always enjoyed getting her own way.
And, speaking of dead cats, my mother (having, of course, heard all about D.C. and seen the pictures and read the blog entry) sent me a card today and included two pictures of me from the '70s holding the original D.C. Yes, I lifted my own cat's name from the cat we had when I was a kid. It wasn't plagiarism, it was an hommage. Anyway, against my own much better judgment, something deep inside of me decided to go ahead and scan these photos and post them on the intarweb.
So, unless you really want to see some incredible 70's-style geekage (holding a cat, of course) do yourself a favor and do not scroll down the page.
Remember, I warned you.
Okay, here you go:
Wow. Now I know why I got picked on so much back then. Oh lord, here's the other one:
Well, okay. I guess I always was a cat person after all.
Yes, and a geek, too.
I know you were thinking it, but you didn't have to say it out loud like that.
Errata - 2/9/03 After speaking with my mother today, I find I must correct one small misstatement - these pictures are, in fact, of me and the second Abyssinian cat we had, who was, of course, named Ali Baba. D.C. was earlier, probably in the late '60s. I can only offer in my defense the facts that: (1) it was either around 25 or around 35 years ago, and in either case that's a looong time, and (2) all Abyssinian cats look the same anyway.
Things have been entirely too downbeat around here lately, so we'll attempt to lighten things up with a few rounds of the ever-popular (but sadly predictable):
Actual Search Queries that Have Led People to This Site:
David Alan Coe racist "david alan coe racist music" (just in case the first one didn't work, no doubt)
Anasazi kokopelli name kokopelli wallpaper kokopelli bathroom theme (which probably includes wallpaper)
tootsie roll recipies max headroom sound max headroom episode download picture of a mushroom that is labeled mushroom cut out pictures the name of mushroom on latin (as opposed to in latin)
fungus jokes dialysis and pulltabs aluminum pull tabs charity miss gothic massachusetts (over half a dozen separate searches for this one - I am the M.G.M. king)
One very specific one:
"chocolate hockey pucks" -NHL -recipe (by which our seeker means he wants to know about chocolate hockey pucks, but not that NHL kind, and certainly not how to make them)
And a few of the more disturbing variety:
pedophilic pic (eeeyew!) thyroid jokes (the real knee-slappers) duck foot insert rotten steak smoking effect kidney before after exhibitionism parties in DC (wha...)
And finally, two that probably would be better names for this site after all:
fungus house identification pillow pictures of food for the elderly
Poetry. I'd change the name in a minute to either of those, were it not for the multitudes who have already linked to me under the name "Insert Better Name Here". Oh, well.
There's a little sign over the salad-bar-that's-not-really-a-salad-bar-because-it's-full-of-various-baked-goods station at the Stop & Shop. I want to stress that, although I'm paraphrasing the last line of the sign, it is in fact a pre-printed sign straight from company HQ and not a hand-lettered jobbie. The sign reads as follows:
ROLE SALE Six for $1.99 Choose from sesame, classic Italian, etc., etc.
This is either a heck of an opportunity for budding thespians, or an affirmation that there is free will after all, and we are all able to choose our own destinies. At six for $1.99.
I went to a periodontist yesterday. Being that a periodontist was, before yesterday, only one of the things and/or people I had never before personally experienced, I wasn't sure what to expect, but it sure wasn't that much sawing. The hammering was also a little off-putting.
I had sort of thought that a periodontist was just a fancy type of dentist, and after he was done with whatever it was he does, I'd be back in the office by lunchtime. So, after the sawing and hammering was done I got my jaw stitched up all good and tight (another thing I hadn't been expecting), and as I was still completely numb I headed home to see about eating something before I headed back. SInce any kind of hard foods were definitely contraindicted, I had a yogurt and a butterscotch pudding. Yum. I then puttered about for a bit, just to be sure I was okay, before I went to the office. I should have waited a little longer. As is the case with a lot of things, it's not what happens while you're all numb that bothers you, it's what happens after the numb wears off.
On the plus side, I got to take vicodin. I recommend it.
Well, that explains it. I was wondering why I couldn't find a single tube of black lipstick anywhere in the area - it's the Miss Gothic Massachusetts 2003 Pageant tonight at the famous (or at least well-known) ManRay nightclub.
We will be displaying the loveliest and most morose finalists chosen from a wide range of the Massachusetts Goth Culture. ... Each Contestant gets 30 seconds to answer a question much like- How would you help the Goth community using your Miss Gothic Massachusetts Title?
"Fascinating, Captain. An entire sub-culture of disaffected youth that continuously replenishes itself, and defines itself with equal parts self-loathing and disdain for all others."
"But don't you SEE, Spock? They've EVOLVED! They're DEVELOPING a sense of IRONIC HUMOR! They're now able to LAUGH at THEMSELVES!!"
(Kirk raises his chin ever so slightly, and peers into the near distance)
"There may be (pause) HOPE for these people (pause) YET."
And what's with this poseurs stuff? C'mon, enetation. Get it right. I'll give you a big clue: I. Am. Not. Canadian. Je ne suis pas un canuck!!! So, knock it off with the poseurs, okay!?!
* breathes deeply for a few minutes *
* finally says "well, why don't I just fix it instead of bitching about it" *
* goes into settings page on enetation.co.uk; sees what's wrong; fixes it *
Hmm, that's better. Okay, I think we may have learned something here today.
At the end of the day tomorrow, I will be two weeks smoke-free. Assuming I make it that long, of course, and my wife doesn't kill me before then. Oh, she's one week smoke-free herself today. This past weekend, then, was our first weekend together without either of us smoking.
It was a wee bit tense.
As in Malta Talks, or Cuban Missile Crisis, tense.
Hey, but it's all going to be worth it, right? More money! More air in the old lungs! More restaurants, shops, and businesses we can walk into without being unable to smoke! More ... time. Jeez, what do non-smokers do with all the extra time? This last Friday night, I finally read the first Harry Potter book (my secretary gave it to me, said she couldn't believe I hadn't read it). Well, that took four hours; what else is there to do?
I'm sure it'll work itself out in the end, because even though it really does seem very, very, very, boring without being able to smoke, and it seems to me (and to Chris, too) that there's just nothing to do, in reality there is and we just don't want to do any of it right now. Hopefully, that's something else that will turn around after the first few weeks.
Hey, I wonder if I could find the next couple of Harry Potter books anywere around here?
A Japanese rabbit named Oolong died this week (hold your cursor over the pictures for a brief English translation)
And who was Oolong? And why should anyone care? Well, that's kind of hard to say. But here's a very good primer on the whole Oolong story, if anyone is interested.
All I know is that some nameless soul half a globe away is very sad to have lost their beloved rabbit. And that the fact that the nameless soul has lost their beloved rabbit makes me very sad also.
We are all together here. The world is a very, very small place when we look at it from within one pair of eyes at a time.
But first, a few more D.C. pictures, since (a) we found them, (b) I wanted to be sure I got them scanned okay, (c) it's my own damn weblog and I can put up as many D.C. pictures as I want, and (d) today would have been her 19th birthday.
Happy Birthday, D.C. We miss you. Thank you again for all the love and joy you put in our lives.
