31 March, 2007
WHEEEEEEE!!!!!!
WOOT!!!
Originally uploaded by Planet Vicster.
I'm going to see Morrissey!!! I'm going to see Morrissey!!! I'm going to see Morrissey!!! I'm going to see Morrissey!!! I'm going to see Morrissey!!!
~~ victoria on 1:14 PM ~~ 0 comments
30 March, 2007
Note to Self:
Avoid the Chinese food bar at Lee's Deli. Unless you have a tremendous craving for obscenely-priced, stale, cold food.
That is all.
Labels: gah
~~ victoria on 1:52 PM ~~ 0 comments
25 March, 2007
Simon Sunday: Guess Who ELSE Likes His Morning Cuppa?
Day Seventy-Six: He's Lucky He's So Cute
Originally uploaded by Planet Vicster.
This morning, just after I poured myself a cup of English Breakfast Tea and sat at my desk, Simon let me know that it was time to play with him. OK, no problemo, I hadn't spent much quality time with him during the week, so we sat down to a rousing game of Stalk The Pipe Cleaner.
Soon, Billie woke up from her post-breakfast nap and was intrigued by our game. She's not too much on "interactive play" but she gives it a go every so often. So she jumped down from her bed and ran over and patted the pipe cleaner with her paw (this is how she "captures her prey", evidently). She'd tap the pipe cleaner then run away before it could...oh hell, I have no idea what retribution she was expecting from a length of fuzz-covered wire.
While this was going on, Simon left us to play, which was kind of nice of him to let Billie have mom-and-me time with me (usually he insists on including himself which drives Billie away). As usual, Billie quickly bored of the activity and wanted to be left alone.
Simon walked past me, turned to look at the pipe cleaner in my hand and headed over to his pot of cat grass. When I looked at him, something didn't seem quite right. On closer inspection, he had a wet spot on his chin. A wet spot that, curiously, was THE SAME COLOUR AS MY TEA. No wonder he was being so kind to Billie: While she had me distracted, he helped himself to my cup of tea! My tea!
Now, I probably should have been concerned that the caffeine and whatnot might be bad for him, but he's gotten into so many bags, bowls, cups and dishes of my food and suffered little to no consequences that I long ago put away the phone number to the emergency vet clinic. And yet, this week pet caregivers have been given a sobering dose of reality that the stuff our furkids are "supposed" to eat can be deadly.
I wonder what kind of testing these pet food manufacturers do on the stuff that goes into the food they make. If they do perform quality and safety tests on food, would it have even picked up on the rat poison in the imported wheat? Incidents like this and the horrible spinach/e-coli contamination are a frightening reminder that our food supply is terribly insecure. It gives me pause every time I pour kibble into Simon and Billie's dishes, wondering if the corn used in their kibble has been contaminated with a deadly mold, or, when I prepare my own supper, I wonder if I've washed the greens in my salad sufficiently. The truth is, we've become so disconnected from our food supply that we have no idea what all is in our food and whether or not the meal we're sitting down to is going to make us sick. Or worse.
It's something to think about while shopping and preparing a meal, but not something to dwell too long on. But I give my thanks every day that I have Billie around so that maybe one day she'll be comfortable playing interactively with me (and, dare I hope, Simon). And I'm grateful for every mischievous deed Simon does; even if it means I have to make a new cup of tea.
Labels: Billie, cats, family, furkids, gratitude, Simon, Simon Sunday
~~ victoria on 9:13 PM ~~ 0 comments
22 March, 2007
WTF? It's not even EASTER yet!!!
WTF? It's not even EASTER yet!!!
Originally uploaded by Planet Vicster.
It's bad enough that people leave their Christmas crap up well into the new year (I once had a neighbour who kept the tree up into JUNE, the lights would come off when the tree became a fire hazard, then ornaments as the branches snapped off. By June, it was just the trunk of the tree standing in the window. shudder). And it's bad enough that we get bombarded with Christmas BEFORE HALLOWEEN.
Putting up Christmas decorations BEFORE IT'S EVEN FRIGGIN EASTER goes way beyond the pale.
Bah! Humbug!
Labels: ranting, San Francisco
~~ victoria on 11:03 PM ~~ 0 comments
21 March, 2007
42
The answer to Life, The Universe, and Everything. Also the number of candles on my virtual birthday cake.
Unlike last year, this was a very good birthday (even though I went to work today). I had a couple of hiccups early on: a dream where my alarm went off and I switched off the alarm but did not turn on the radio (as I do every morning to listen to the news). I sort of started waking up and suddenly wasn't sure if it really was a dream or if my alarm really did go off, so I jolted awake and looked at my clock. 3:16 a.m. Feh! I went back to sleep.
Then Specialty's didn't have any chocolate breakfast cake when I stopped on my way to the office. It was 9:00 in the bloody morning, were they waiting to sell breakfast cake for LUNCH? Gah! I haven't had that for more than a year and the one day I really wanted one...
But work was all right. My boss wished me a happy birthday when she got in and then at lunch she brought me the most gorgeous bouquet of tulips, orchids and gerbera daisies. And I got a lot of birthday greetings from my wonderful friends.
Then I met up with two of my most favourite people, Gwen and Pete and we went to visit the wild parrots over in Ferry Park (they're part of the Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill flock). I had cut up an apple to feed them and we had a good time feeding parrots (except for the BITING part, ow) and taking photos. We hustled for the 5:45 ferry back to Alameda and took Pete to the BART station. Gwen bought me a steak and cheese pub pie and a Black Kiwi (Guinness + Steinlager = YUM) and we had a really nice visit, something we hadn't done in way too long because things and stuff get in the way.
When I got home, my package from Olivia (BFF) was on my doorstep, an absolutely beautiful book called The Philosopher Cat and my kitties were extremely glad to see me, though I suspect that was more to do with them being hungry.
So, all told, 42 is off to a 100% better start than 41 and I really want to believe it's a sign of things to come.
Labels: friendship, gratitude
~~ victoria on 11:08 PM ~~ 0 comments
19 March, 2007
Site Stats That Make Me Pause
I noticed that someone visited my site from the search "cats becoming deathly ill after vet visit". Whoever you are, my heart goes out to you and your kitty. I hope kitty is okay.
Now, I'm gonna go hug my furkids real tight and tell them how lucky I am to have them in my life.
Labels: cats, eeek, furkids, Site Stat Gazing
~~ victoria on 6:59 PM ~~ 0 comments
18 March, 2007
Simon Sunday: Kitty Sings The Blues
Day Sixty-Seven: Been that kind of a week
Originally uploaded by Planet Vicster.
"I can't get no. Satisfaction. I can't get no. Kibble Action. Though I try. And I try. And I try. And I TRY. I CAN'T GET NO...OH NO NO NO!
Labels: cats, furkids, Simon, Simon Sunday
~~ victoria on 10:43 AM ~~ 0 comments
14 March, 2007
It's Pi Day
Have you hugged a Math Geek today?
Labels: whatever
~~ victoria on 7:13 AM ~~ 0 comments
12 March, 2007
I'm thinking...
I might be slightly less bitter about the idiocy that is Daylight Saving Time if we were to Spring Forward at, oh let's say 3:00p.m. on Monday instead of having an hour ripped out of MY weekend.
Bastards!
~~ victoria on 9:39 PM ~~ 2 comments
11 March, 2007
Simon Sunday: Serious Portrait Face
Day Sixty: For Tideswimmer...
Originally uploaded by Planet Vicster.
Labels: cats, furkids, Simon, Simon Sunday
~~ victoria on 2:11 PM ~~ 0 comments
04 March, 2007
Simon Sunday: Playing with his food
Day Fifty-Three: Stop-Action Shot
Originally uploaded by Planet Vicster.
I'm just gonna start this by saying how chuffed I am that I still have my Action Photography chops! Just look at how I froze that kibble as it was falling from the frame!
Ahem. OK.
So this week we've started a New Mealtime THING. I'll pour part of the first scoop of Simon's kibble in his dish, then grab Billie's dish and RUN LIKE HELL into the bedroom with it and get her eating. Then I RUN LIKE HELL back to the kitchen, hopefully before Simon finishes inhaling what was in his dish. I'll take the rest of the first scoop, and then the second scoop, and drop a few kibbles at a time into his dish. I'm hoping to accomplish two things doing this:
1) It gives his digestive system a chance to work more efficiently since we're slowing down his eating. I also admonish him to CHEW his kibble, which he does now at least a little more than he did.
2) It buys Billie some time to finish her supper so we don't have to defend her food from the Felis Kibble Thiefus. This seems to have reduced her stress and her appetite has really improved.
We aren't always successful in buying Billie time to finish her food and I still occasionally have to chase him through the apartment yelling, "BAD KITTY BAD KITTY BAD KITTY!" But, for the most part, this seems to work.
When I took this photo, Simon was really into the playing with his food thing. I held up the scoop and he would bat it with his paw or head-butt it, knocking a kibble or two to the floor where he'd chase them down and eat them. He also started this funny thing where I'd drop a kibble or two in his dish and he'd take his paw and sweep them out of his dish onto the floor before he'd eat them. Simon seems to appreciate the interaction (most cats would NOT appreciate further human interference with their eating). In fact, it's become another form of "interactive play"...with treats!
Labels: cats, furkids, Simon, Simon Sunday
~~ victoria on 9:32 AM ~~ 0 comments
02 March, 2007
Dear Neighbours on Santa Clara Avenue
You may have noticed that the stores have started displaying the Easter goodies. That should be a pretty good indication that you can TAKE THE DAMN REINDEER DOWN ALREADY.
That is all.
Vicster
Labels: impatience is my virtue
~~ victoria on 11:00 PM ~~ 0 comments
01 March, 2007
Just when I think I'm used to 'em...
We get a quake that shakes the whole damn building for an excruciatingly long time. I heard it, too, before I felt it. Given the neighbours' propensity for heavy footsteps and slamming doors (especially the next-door neighbour who I wish would have her door checked if it's so damn hard to close properly), neither I nor the furkids were sure what to make of it at first. But, as the shaking went on past 10 seconds, Simon and Billie scrambled for cover. I stayed at my desk and held onto my cup of chamomile tea, knowing I'd need to slam it to soothe my rattled nerves.
Looking at the map, there've been a fair few aftershocks too (I felt the first one). Yeesh!
Labels: earthquake, eeek
~~ victoria on 9:06 PM ~~ 1 comments
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OTHER THINKERS:
"I myself am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions."
--Augusten Burroughs
