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Ode to Spot

Felis catus is your taxonomic nomenclature,
An endothermic quadruped, carnivorous by nature;
Your visual, olfactory, and auditory senses
Contribute to your hunting skills and natural defenses.

I find myself intrigued by your subvocal oscillations,
A singular development of cat communications
That obviates your basic hedonistic predilection
For a rhythmic stroking of your fur to demonstrate affection.

A tail is quite essential for your acrobatic talents;
You would not be so agile if you lacked its counterbalance.
And when not being utilized to aid in locomotion,
It often serves to illustrate the state of your emotion.

O Spot, the complex levels of behavior you display
Connote a fairly well-developed cognitive array.
And though you are not sentient, Spot, and do not comprehend,
I nonetheless consider you a true and valued friend.

Yes, I am watching that episode right now.  No, I am not ashamed.  I’m waiting to do some testing for work at the moment and I’ve run out of Google Reader articles.  I feel so empty.

Today we ate lunch at Whole Foods.  Shortly before we arrived a transformer blew and left the power out in the entire Town Center area.   The entire store was dark and had a sort of of post-apocalyptic feel. If it weren’t for the planes going overhead every 10 minutes, I’d have started barricading the windows in preparation for angry mobs of civilization.

Alas, the angry mobs never showed and I was forced to return to work.  Drat.  And I had this great potato gun idea.  An organic potato gun.

2010 01 13 Nita My Life
Spot & Salem Comments (2) Permalink

The Pied Fluter of Vegas

Chris bought me a flute for Christmas.

I have not played a flute since I graduated from high school.  It sounds like it.  Nevertheless, I’ve enjoyed annoying cats and neighbors alike as I attempt to make a Mendelssohn flute concerto sound like…well, a Mendelssohn flute concerto.

Clears the cats off of the couch in two seconds flat, anyway.

2010 01 10 Nita Oboe Comments (0) Permalink

Pumpkin Pie Postscript

Thanksgiving isn’t all about me and my problems.  I have a lot to be thankful for.

My sister.  My cousin Paul (and Mark!).  Chris (he hasn’t run off yet).  Seeing my Grandma JB.  Surviving the worst of the recession.  Still have a home.  Financially stable.   Learned a new skill set at work.  My old friends.  My gamer friends.  Spot and Salem.  Long drives in my car.  Books (fuck yeah).  Seeing a zoo for the first time. Going home in the summer.  Going home in the winter.  Hearing my niece say “I love you, Nene”.  Getting Chris on a snowboard, and him actually liking it.

It’s not been the best year of my life, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

2009 11 26 Nita Miscellaneous Comments (0) Permalink

Turkey Day Memorandum

Late last month I got a last-minute call from my Dad telling me my uncle brought my Grandma JB to Gardnerville for an extended visit.  I immediately took a day off and bought a ticket to go spend time with her, as I have not seen her for years.

Going home always has its own difficulties.  Going to see Grandma was nerve-wracking.  She’s 92 as of Tuesday, and she’s senile.  She didn’t recognize me.  When I told her my name, she’d be excited fro a few moments, but 10 minutes later she didn’t know who I was.  She saw me as a benevolent stranger who was kind enough to help her down the sidewalk so she wouldn’t trip, or fetch her a cup of tea.

Her humor is still there.  She also misses her alcohol – she asks for highballs at least 6 times a day.  She is lonely.  She wants to talk to people and go out to do things.  I wish I could do something to change her circumstances.  There are so many factors influencing her quality of life in negative ways, but it has been made clear that I am an outsider and consequently no voice in her care.

I’ve been depressed about it for over a month now.   I can’t do a goddamned thing to fix it, thanks for asking.

I can only say what I think, which is this:  You can’t ask people to treat you better than you treat others.  Every day you show those you love how you want them to treat you in similar circumstances.

Things I Learned This Week:

I will always help my worst enemies.  And then I’ll hope for better from them, even if it never happens.

Tivo + Netflix is awesome.

In 2012 cell phones are so awesome that they will work up to the minute the world ends.

2009 11 26 Nita Family
Things I Learned This Week Comments (0) Permalink

I’ve got nothing.

I’m still working ridiculous stretches, and every day when I leave work I always feel like I could get caught up if I could just pass up on sleep for a couple of days.  I also know that at some point, for the sake of mental health, you just have to walk away from the poo-pile and just enjoy some time vegging.

Enter the vacation to New Orleans.  First of all, when I booked it (in a fit of desperation to recover some semblance of relaxation in my life), I thought “October, hmm…should be nice.  Not too hot, no hurricanes.  Cool.”  Yeah, I was wrong.  Eighty degrees and ridiculous humidity.  When the sun came out, you felt like you were boiling in soup.  When the sun drifted behind clouds, you felt like somebody took the soup off of the burner, and at night, it felt like soup that was put in the fridge briefly.

Despite the mediocre weather, the trip was fantastic.  We went to the Audubon aquarium and zoo.  Rode a ferry.  Saw museums.  Ate at Cafe du Monde every day.  It was enough of a break to return me to good humor.

I’m so ready for the next vacation.

We’ve had some craziness around here.  Our mailboxes were broken into 3 times in the last month.  It’s not been a great concern because I get very little mail, and we pick it up regularly.  However, the third time was in broad daylight.  I got home at 5:00pm, went inside to change, grabbed the mail key and walked out, only to discover that they had been broken into, again.  In the 30 minutes I was inside my house somebody had pried the boxes open with a cheap screwdriver and taken everything.  A lady was standing there talking to the cops.  Cops who refused to even file a report because it was “a federal crime”.

The USPS finally replaced the boxes with newer heavy duty ones last week.  When I went to get my key they suggested we either hire 24 hour security or buy a P.O. box.  So much for federal crime.

I think the most the thieves made off with were a couple of ULTA coupons and my DMV registration reminder.  Still putting a lock on my credit.  What a pain.

Moral of the story is people suck and I should take more vacations.  I hope you thieves rot in hell.  Sincerely, Me.

2009 10 17 Nita Annoyances
My Life
World Travels Comments (2) Permalink