Archive for January, 2009

Jan 11 2009

HD HTV

Published by under Cats,Henry,Weather


Audrey and June watch Henry TV

It was an exceptionally beautiful day today. Clear blue skies, around 65 degrees (or 17, if you prefer – I always think Metric makes everything sound worse. Temperatures are colder, and distances longer). I had the doors and windows open most of the day, and it was nice to hear the drone of lawnmowers (not mine, though I really should do something about that grass before it starts raining again), the rush of cars on the freeway, the lonely hoot of a passing train. I still have them open, even though it’s nearly 6 in the evening and the sun just slipped into the Bay in a dazzle of pink and violet. I have noticed this past week that the sun is staying around a little later, instead of hastily packing up its things and dashing off at five, like a bored office worker.

The kittens love having the doors and window open. They can watch passing birds and people and smell the grass and flowers. They can keep a much better watch on Henry, too.

Ever since he moved onto the porch at the start of the winter’s rains, they have been fascinated. He’s like a Wii or something to them. They spend a lot of time watching him, from my desk (which can get crowded when I’m trying to work, but has the best Henry view), or the window in the kitchen. I’ll know if he moves from the couch, because the girls hit the floor and I hear their busy little feet running into the kitchen to watch him.

The past couple of days are the first ones this winter that have been warm enough to open the house, so it’s been very exciting for June and Audrey to have just a screen between them and Henry. It’s HD Henry TV!

4 responses so far

Jan 10 2009

Moonlight Adventure

Published by under Uncategorized

It was a particularly beautiful day today, despite starting off with Audrey clawing my feet first thing in the morning. You’d think she’d be more grateful, considering the fact that I rescued her only the night before.

Kittens* have such short memories.

I virtuously tidied up the kitchen after dinner, even going so far as to take out the recycling and a bag of garbage. On my way back into the house, Audrey streaked past me and vanished into the night.

The kittens had lulled me into a false sense of security by not attempting to escape the confines of the house for months. Audrey must have realized she had me fooled, since she saw her chance and grabbed it. Her timing was impeccable: I had left my flashlight at my sister’s over Christmas, which made finding a dark, stripy cat at night even more challenging.

Fortunately, the moon was very bright, and its beams soon revealed Audrey’s eyes in the dark. She ran under my neighbor B’s car, and it was so hard to call her softly instead of yelling at her! She managed to get past me again and went toward the other neighbor’s house, where I caught her by the tail as she hid behind a clump of pale daffodils.

I picked her up and went back into the house, hugging her and kissing her soft fur as she struggled to get away. She hates being held, unlike June, who insists on being picked up at least once a day, and then purrs her subtle purr while placing a white paw against my face. June sniffed Audrey cautiously and thoroughly while Audrey bragged about her adventure.

As I poured a restorative glass of wine, I was so thankful for the presence of that bright, beautiful moon. And my naughty kittens.

*I really should stop calling them kittens, since they’re a year and a half old now. But they’ll always be kittens to me – especially since they still act like kittens!

One response so far

Jan 09 2009

The Sorrow and the Pity

Published by under Uncategorized

I don’t usually write about serious topics. Wars, politics, and other grave issues are for wiser heads and greater pens than mine. Critics of the late Duchess of Windsor have pointed out that her letters written during wartime omitted this huge fact in favor of things like gowns and parties, and the same thing can truthfully be said of this dilettante featherhead. But this is so close to home and so upsetting that I just have to speak up.

I mentioned in passing that there was a shooting at my local BART station on New Year’s Day. Shootings are not a rarity in Oakland, but this one caught my attention because it was the station I always use, whether I’m going to the city or downtown Oakland, and it’s only a mile and a half from my house. I guess it’s human nature to give more attention to news items that happen in one’s own neighborhood.

Things went from bad to worse when it was discovered that the young man who was killed was unarmed, lying on his stomach on the platform, and surrounded by BART police and others. Cell phone video shows the officer taking out his gun and shooting the 22 year old father in the back.

The officer in question had his lawyer hand in his resignation at the exact time he was to face an internal affairs investigation. At the very same hour, his victim was laid to rest as family and friends shared their terrible grief at this senseless loss.

Protests followed, and escalated into violence, with police cars overturned and storefronts burned. There were 105 arrests, but there were more protests, more peaceful, the following night. A makeshift shrine is still in place outside the BART station. When I go to work, I walk past the candles, flowers, and messages to the man who died on the platform where I wait for my train, wondering that such a tragedy could occur in such banal surroundings of uninspired concrete, commuters walking over a grave.

4 responses so far

Jan 08 2009

Cat-astrophes

Published by under Cats,Henry

Click clickety click click squeeeeak!

I open one eye.

Click clickety click click squeeeak!!

I open both eyes, remove my Marilyn sleep mask, and feel around for my glasses. Looking over at the window, I see June clawing at the glass, behind which Henry sits in oblivious glory on his couch. If you think nails on a blackboard are bad, try claws on glass first thing in the morning. Telling June to knock it off, I put on my amethyst velvet slippers with the embroidered toes and stumble out to the kitchen to make coffee.

On my way through the living room, I can’t help but notice that Audrey is batting away at the metal blinds, making them clang unnecessarily loudly, especially this early in the morning. I pause to pull the blinds up, giving her an unobstructed view and hopefully stopping batting practice. Instead, she reaches up to bat at the folded blinds, which of course have much better resonance.

While the coffee is brewing (hurry up!!), I reach into the refrigerator for the pink Brita water jug, and notice that the package of chicken I left to thaw overnight on top of the refrigerator has been tampered with. On closer inspection, it appeared that the kittens had decided to see if it was thawed yet, and then to do some serious quality control. I had foolishly thought they couldn’t get up there. Sighing, I put the mangled poultry into the refrigerator, which I hope the cats still can’t open.

Once caffeinated, I fed the naughty kittens and went out to the porch to feed Henry.

Henry wasn’t there, but he’d left me a lovely parting gift.

A very mysterious parting gift.

Both his bowls were empty of everything other than strange black dirt. The plastic storage bin where I keep his food was lying empty at the bottom of the stairs, but the lid sat quietly on the porch. Not only was it full of food, it also contained the “I (heart) NY” mug I use to measure the food, lying on its side with food still in it. How he did this is completely beyond me.

Wonder what they have in store for me tomorrow?

One response so far

Jan 07 2009

Better Red

Published by under Uncategorized

Sadly, Santa did not see fit to bring me a Barbie (there’s always next year!), but he did bring me a shiny new microwave. OK, I ordered it and it arrived right after Christmas, but I can think of myself as Santa’s personal shopper if I want to. A girl can dream (or totally lose her grasp on reality; you decide).

When I went shopping for a microwave, I was surprised by how expensive they are. So this was the both the cutest and cheapest I could find, because if I have to look at something every day, it had better be cute (even men would agree with me on this point). You can see that it is indeed quite cute, and goes very nicely with the coffeemaker (pictured) and the vintage radio (not). I’ve had it for over a week now and have yet to kill it, which is quite encouraging. Maybe new appliances have a longer life expectancy than the old ones did. Even with the Suzy Factor.

This post brought to you by our friends the parentheses (and a little caffeine).

4 responses so far

Jan 06 2009

Epiphany

Published by under Henry,Jessica,Special Occasions

I finally put the tree away under the house this morning, after, appropriately enough, laying the wreath on top of the box. Henry was the only mourner as I interred the white box under the house. Rest in pieces, shiny tree. Maybe I’ll see you in the hereafter.

As I write, I’m eating a green apple Jolly Rancher from my Christmas stocking. Given that Twelfth Night is upon us, I’d better stop acting as if it’s still the holidays and perfectly acceptable to eat candy all day, especially in the morning. I should probably take off the remnants of sparkly polish Jessica applied to my nails on Christmas Day, too. But if I do, the fun is officially over.

Maybe I’ll wait until all my candy is gone.

3 responses so far

Jan 05 2009

Partly

Published by under Uncategorized

Given the New Austerity (and, frankly, tired of taking it), I’ve started looking for a part-time job. It’s harder than you’d think to find a job that really is part-time. I have learned that what most employers really want is essentially full time workers, but with enough hours that they don’t have to supply benefits. So “part-time” jobs are 30-38 hours a week, which is impossible for me, since I already have a job.

And don’t get me started on how employers also want applicants to have a string of degrees and qualifications and then work for $12-15 an hour with no benefits.

Another thing I learned about from perusing the want ads is a job I didn’t know existed before: family assistant. Apparently, this is someone in addition to one’s nanny to do the boring housework, pick up the kids, ferry them to soccer practice and ballet lessons, help them with homework, etc. I thought that was a parent’s job, but what do I know, being child-free and all. They probably get the family assistant to vet schools, plan the graduation party, and the weddings for the kids, too.

Since I’m not cut out to be a paid parent (or an unpaid one), here are some possible part-time jobs for Suzy:

  • Cosmetic namer: I love it when make-up has names instead of numbers. It’s so much more fun to know your lipstick is called Cherries in the Snow than Number 342. I’m sure I could come up with some fabulous names for girls like I.
  • Showgirl: Time might be against me on this one, but I’d love to wear one of those wonderful headdresses and be the toast of Las Vegas. And it wouldn’t interfere with my day job.
  • Starlet: A vanishing career, but perfect for someone who’s frivolous and not particularly talented. I could write my own tabloid stories about myself. Two part-time jobs, no diapers! Sign me up!
  • Ball Girl: How fun would this job be? And I’d have the winters off to recover from my arduous tasks on the beach in say, Bora Bora. I’ve heard good things.
  • Beauty Queen: Time is probably against me on this one, too, but I’ve been studying the red carpet for years and nobody knows gowns like I do. Also having a best friend who was an international model in our mutual youth taught me a few things about make-up, named or numbered. And no-one would enjoy wearing a tiara more than I would, except possibly a friend’s relative, who wears her small town beauty queen tiara to Thanksgiving dinner.
  • Personal shopper: Really, kids, can you think of a better use for my champagne tastes and love of shopping? Not to mention my flawless good taste and ability to spend other people’s money. This one would be a win-win.

All ideas, comments, and suggestions welcome!

4 responses so far

Jan 04 2009

Conspiracy Theory

Published by under Uncategorized

No matter what I do (or don’t do), my sink is always full of dishes. Even if I’ve just been eating take-out, or zapping up a Lean Cuisine, there seems to be an endless supply of cutlery, china, and even pots and pans, the bane of dish washers everywhere.

The only dish washer I have is me, which may well be why there are so many to be washed. It must be nice to have a dishwasher to hide the evidence in, though it always seems to me that by the time you’ve scraped and rinsed the dish, you might as well just finish washing it.

I have a new theory: when I turn off the kitchen light, the dishes get together and start procreating. “Come here often?” “You’re so…shiny!” As soon as I turn the light on, they act like nothing’s happening, just like you did when your parents suddenly came home and found you and your boyfriend on the couch.

I drank not wisely, but too well, last night, and on entering the kitchen in search of coffee, wondering why the sun had to be so sunny and how it got to be quite so late, noticed that the dish population had seemingly exploded overnight. Clearly they had been enjoying my absence both wisely and well.

The thought of clearing up the overpopulated sink enough to start making more dishes was even less appealing than usual, so I decided to go and get some pizza, hoping that the Dish Fairy would magically appear and make the dishes disappear while I was out. She must be a little on the shy side, or wants to enjoy my surprise and delight, so she won’t show up while I’m actually in the house. Just to give her some extra time for the extra dishes, I got lost a couple of times finding the pizza place in Berkeley (there is no decent pizza in my neighborhood. Same goes for Chinese food).

When I got home with my hard-won carbs, I peeked in the kitchen. The Dish Fairy had not yet appeared. Maybe it’s because I haven’t been good, or because even the Fairy herself is daunted by the size of her task and decided to go somewhere easier, like the kitchen at Boulevard.

Maybe I’ll think about it tomorrow.

One response so far

Jan 03 2009

Cave In

Published by under Cats,Henry,Special Occasions

I already took the Christmas tree down, and I already miss it.

I used to wonder what was the matter with those people whose trees were at the curb the day after Christmas. Now I know: they have kittens.

Mine started their siege as soon as the battle of setting up the tree was finally over. They merrily chased the string of lights as I wove it through the branches. They relentlessly hunted the gorgeous glass peacocks (with real feather tails!) without a license. What was I thinking? If the cats live to be 22, as a friend’s cat did, they’d still be after those birds. I still regret their gorgeousness hidden away in a box, possibly forever, when they should be delighting Me and passers-by on an annual basis.

~sigh~

The entire time the tree was up, minus nap time, was occupied with pouncing on the tree, chewing on the tree, trying (and succeeding) in pulling the tree over, jumping on it, and driving Suzy to despair. Armed with a plant mister, I squirted them with water during the tree attacks, which diverted them temporarily, but only temporarily. Yelling at the cats and squirting them made me so sad that I just packed it all up, even though everyone knows that packing up the tree before Twelfth Night is bad luck. And I did want one more night with the tree sparkling and the candles in the fireplace flickering, but being a grown-up is one big disappointment, and you’d think I’d be used to it by now.

Henry fled as I dragged up the heavy trap door in the floor of the porch where he was comfortably ensconced on the couch. I have noticed that cats, quite reasonably, frown on any kind of housework-related disruption to their otherwise civilized lives. I got the box out, and dismantled the tree far more quickly than I had assembled it, though the kittens’ participation was equally enthusiastic on both occasions. June even jumped into the box of tree parts for one last desperate chew.

By the time I was finished, I couldn’t face the perilous journey under the house in semi-darkness, so I left the box on the Henry-vacated porch, where it remains to this day. After I put the box outside, I had to vacuum up tree residue, which made the kittens flee in terror of housework. They’ll have to think of other ways to drive me crazy, and I have total confidence in their abilities. Henry has returned to his comfortable porch and seems to have forgiven me, since he let me pet him two days in a row when I fed him (my only petting opportunity).

I’m still clinging to my wreath for now.

One response so far

Jan 02 2009

Belated Happy New Year!

Published by under Uncategorized

Belated happy new year, everyone! It’s no less sincere for being fashionably late. Many of you probably think the lateness is due to the traditional New Year’s hangover, but it’s actually just sloth. And no, I haven’t resolved to be less lazy this year, since there’s no chance I could actually keep that one.

In fact, my glamorous niece informs me that having resolutions could be hazardous to one’s health. What a fabulous reason not to have any! I’m going to be healthier by not having any resolutions!

It was a quiet New Year’s Eve. I sipped Piper Sonoma by the light of the sparkly white tree and glow of the white candles in the fireplace. I watched the 100th ball drop in New York (how could I resist the world’s biggest piece of Waterford crystal?), but dropped the ball on west coast midnight. I realized I had missed the witching hour when I heard people out in the street tooting little horns and calling out new year’s greetings with the muffled sound of fog-bound fireworks in the background.

The new year certainly started off with a bang at my local BART station. I’m starting to think about moving, especially after being in downtown Oakland on New Year’s Day (where I actually got some good Chinese food! Yay!) and enjoying the beautiful old buildings and the bustling atmosphere. I’m a city girl at heart, and though I can’t afford San Francisco, I may be able to find a place in downtown Oakland where I’ll be happier.

As I strolled through Chinatown and admired the Victorians by the lake, it occurred to me that I’ve lived here a year and still know next to nothing about this city. So I’ve decided to live dangerously in 2009 and resolve to get to know Oakland better.

My other resolution is to write more. I’d like to ask for your help with this one. I seem to be lacking inspiration at times after nearly eight years of blogging, so let me know if you have some ideas. Is there anything you’d like me to write about? Questions? Suggestions? Leave them in the comments, or email me at speakall at earthlink dot net. Thanks for reading all these years, and may this new one be a fabulous one for us all!

6 responses so far

« Prev