Meet Panther (he's the one on top):



On Saturday, my friend Bryce (who, as you may have guessed, is being perched upon by Panther in the above pic) came over to help me put the spare tire on my car after I had a flat.  So then I offered to buy him dinner, but he wanted to go home and take a shower first.  He lives on the West Bank.  Anyway, I'm sitting around waiting and waiting for Bryce to call and tell me he's on his way, getting hungry and eventually breaking down and snacking on some Tostitos. 

Finally, Bryce called.  He said, "You're not going to guess what I have in my car!"
"What?" I asked.
"A kitten!"  He said.  "I found him in the road, I almost hit him!"
At this point I was a tad worried that he was going to inform me that I was to take care of this kitten, since everyone knows I love cats.  However, my lease specifies that I'm only supposed to have one cat...it is very mean to make your cat loving friend say no to a TINY KITTEN who was IN THE ROAD!
Thankfully, Bryce didn't say that.  Instead he said, "I think I'm going to keep him.  I'm calling him Panther."

Apparently, Bryce saw Panther in the road and swerved out of the way, pulling his car over.  Then another car didn't see Panther (or Bryce's frantic arm waving) and drove RIGHT OVER Panther, with Panther between the wheels of the car!  When a third car approached, Bryce went out into the road and halted the car, picking up Panther, who immediately clung to his shirt and looked up helplessly into his eyes...and the rest is history :)

Bryce has never had a cat, and didn't know what to do with Panther, so he asked if he could bring him over and enlist my help in getting him comfortable.  At this point, Bryce was attempting to drive while Panther clung to his shirt, so my first advice was that he go back to his apartment and put Panther in a box with a towel in it.  He did.

When they arrived at my place (I went out to the car, wasn't going to let Masha near Panther) and I peeked in the box, I was very surprised to see just how tiny Panther was!  We got Masha when she was 6 or 7 weeks old, and Panther was way smaller.  I didn't even know what we should feed him!  He looked up at me, with his big blue eyes, mewing his little head off. 

At this point, it was 9:30 at night, so PetCo was closed.  I called the Metairie Small Animal Hospital and they said we needed to feed him formula.  They said if we brought him in, they'd give us enough for the night.

Panther and Bryce had already bonded quite a bit.  At the vet's office, Bryce asked me to take Panther so he could go to the bathroom.  Panther clung to Bryce's shirt like a little burr with his tiny claws.  I would get one claw free and then he would just grab Bryce with another claw.  It was really funny. 

Bryce was hilarious, saying, in complete earnest, that he felt his life had completely changed now.  He planned to line up his friend who lives in his apartment complex as a cat-sitter in the future, and started asking me when Panther would need his shots, etc. 

The vet tech gave us a few syringes of formula, and we brought Panther back to Bryce's place to feed him. 

( MOAR kitten pics! )

Netflix started sending me annoyed emails because my debit card had expired.  Then I realized I hadn't watched a Netflix movie in a couple of months (since I started working on my novel), so I cancelled.  I don't have cable or a converter box or anything, so I haven't even turned on my TV set in a long time.  It does serve a purpose, though.  It gets Masha closer to the A/C!





By the way, The Dealership Formerly Known As Saturn of Metairie didn't bother to call me back before they closed, so I have no clue if anyone even looked at my car today.  

Last night while setting my alarm clock, I must have accidentally set the actual time on the clock an hour ahead.  I woke up feeling really groggy, having a hard time getting out of bed.  I finally did, and got completely ready for work, and it wasn't until I was pouring some coffee into a travel mug on my way out the door that I noticed on my microwave that it was an hour earlier than I thought it was.  Confirmed it on my cell phone and computer.  Gah!  I could have slept more!  Oh well, at least I know I'll get to work on time.

Now that I live 3 blocks from Whole Foods, I do all of my grocery shopping there.  Yes, it's expensive, but I'm pretty good at finding bargains (two boxes of Quorn nuggets for $7!).  However, when I got home from Whole Foods the other day, and was unpacking my reusable grocery bag, I just had to laugh at myself.  I think I bought the most uber-hippie food ever: Ginger Hemp Granola.  I mean, come on...Ginger. Hemp. Granola.  It's kind of ridiculous.

It actually tastes really good, though.

I'm off to Jamaica in a few hours.  Happy holidays, everyone! 

Meet the Belladonna snowman:



He was made by my co-worker Rob.  Note that his scarf is a Belladonna ribbon, and his bag is a Belladonna jewelry bag.

P.S. Also note new icon!

I was reading in a book about the concept of unconditional love while taking a bath just now.  Masha jumped up on the edge of the tub, and I realized that I probably have unconditional love for my cat.  I can't picture Masha doing anything that would make me stop loving her.  Then again, how evil can a cat really be?  Then I realized with amusement that this object of my unconditional love, my dear cat Masha, certainly does not love me unconditionally.  In fact, I have always doubted the ability of cats to truly "love" by the human definition of the word.

This doubt was based on how closely Masha's "love" for me depended on circumstance, and necessity.  When it's cold, she wants to snuggle more.  When she's hungry, she rubs against me and purrs to get my attention.  When I moved into the new apartment with her, and she didn't have another cat (Zeo) or another person (Becca) anymore, she suddenly got much more affectionate with me.  I assumed this was because I was now her only possible source for attention and food.

But then I realized...is this necessity based love something we humans are really above?  Babies literally need love, or they die.  If no one cares enough to attend to their needs, which they are completely incapable of taking care of on their own, they can't survive.  But are adult humans really that different?  Can a person truly live without receiving ANY love?  Don't we look to our romantic partners to fulfill our various needs?  And when, say, we get dumped, it can feel as though we won't be able to live.  We like to think we love other people for their unique and special qualities, but there are deeper forces involved as well. 

Harville Hendrix, the author of some relationship books I've read, says that our subconscious mind confuses our romantic partner with our parents (or other early caregivers).   We therefore believe, on a subconscious level, that if they don't love us in the way we feel we need to be loved, we will die.

Is a cat's love, then, really so different from a human's?  What do you think?

What's the awesomest Caribbean destination of the following?
Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Nassau, Grand Cayman...or elsewhere?
Aruba is "too far" in the opinion of the person who is paying for the trip.  We're trying to get a reasonably short flight.

I've never been anywhere in the Caribbean so any input is welcome!

THIS IS THE BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVER!

I like to hit the snooze button a few times before I get up.  I've gotten to the point where I can do this without opening my eyes.  I know how far I have to reach to hit the clock on my bedside table.

Unfortunately this morning I reached over in the wrong direction, and poked a sleeping Masha in the belly.  I opened my eyes because something felt wrong, and the beeping hadn't stopped.  My eyes met the glare of a very annoyed cat.

Oops.

Does anyone know if John Lennon's song #9 dream has ever been covered by a female vocalist?

It was so nice to wake up this morning (I went to bed relatively early last night...as soon as it was certain Obama had won) and see such happiness on my friends page.  So many of us have felt completely disgusted with the government for years, and now there is a chance for something different.  It is great to see people feeling inspired and hopeful instead of cynical and bitter. 

I was also happy to see that Massachusetts voted to ban dog racing, that was an issue that was on the ballot when I was in college and I organized a big event and worked really hard for it, but unfortunately that time it was not banned.  So I'm happy to see that it happened eventually.  Also, decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana...a very good move.  All of this makes me miss Massachusetts!

Here in Louisiana, I am disappointed that William Jefferson beat Helena Moreno.  UGH.  The guy is a complete crook, and apparently his whole family is.  We need him out of there. 

I'm also disappointed that bans on gay marriage were passed in some states. 

You win some, you lose some...and overall, last night we won a lot!

1. I voted!  It felt so great to give my support to the amazing John McCain, he is so inspiring and I hope he wins.  KIDDING.  Of course I voted for Obama :)

2.  Here's the T-P review of the play, I got a brief but nice mention.

Last night I had a dream that I met a guy and we realized that we could literally do magical things together, like make an ordinary rug into a magic flying carpet.  We would hang out and try out new tricks.  I wanted us to have a romantic relationship, but he wasn't sure...he kind of liked one of the estheticians from work.  In the end, I convinced him to go out with me instead of her.  It must have been the magic powers that made me like him, because he had really horrible acne.

We did another performance of the play...the crowd was small, but it went well.  Four of us in the play are from Massachusetts.  After the show was over, we rushed to 45 Tchoup to watch the end of the Red Sox game...which was disappointing.  But it was still fun to hang out with my cast mates, eating pizza and drinking beer. 

Then we played Settlers of Catan which I hadn't played in YEARS and it was awesome.  I won. 

It was very bad of me to stay up this late, though.  I have to work tomorrow...but I have an all-day training, which will hopefully be easier than my usual workload. 

My play opens Thursday!

Here's all the info:

Erik The Fourteenth
By August Strindberg
Performed by Cripple Creek Theater Co.
2900 Grand Route St. John
Thurs-Sun, 10/16-11/2
$10

If you haven't seen me in a play in a while, which...you haven't...because the last one I did was in April...COME SEE ME!  I have a small role but it's fun.  I look ridiculous.  Come see!

Speaking of looking ridiculous, I have a ton of white goop caked on my hair right now.  I play an old lady, so this is something I'll have to wash out of my hair 4 nights a week for the next 3 weeks.  Yay!  

Between work and rehearsals I have had no free time.  I'm happy that I don't have to work tomorrow, because I need to catch up on laundry and stuff.  Also, Masha is clearly upset that I'm never home, and my cat's displeasure bothers me far more than it probably should.

I'm currently sporting a pink and black polka dotted spandex mini-dress, black tights, silver shoes, a side ponytail, and far more blush and eye shadow than is advisable.

Why?  I'm going to an 80s party!

Actually it's an 80s "prom" party, but I really only have one 80s dress...so I guess I can be the trashy girl at prom. 

I actually am looking more Jane Fonda workout video than prom-ish....

Sorry, no pics, I haven't unpacked the camera yet!  Haha.

I twisted my ankle a week and a half ago.  It still kind of hurts, and right now it is VERY swollen. 

Am I going to get gangrene and die?

I have a brace for it but I packed it somewhere and I'm not sure where it is right now. 

It just seems kind of strange for it to be this swollen so long after I hurt it.  But I have been moving stuff, maybe I aggravated it by carrying heavy things?

Trust me, I would LOVE to sit back and elevate it for a few hours while watching a movie or something...alas, I have to get the last of my crap out of this apartment so I can't do that :(

So...my car is acting up.  Specifically, it decided it no longer felt like going in reverse.  Strange, and not very helpful.  So, it is at the dealership, where it has been for over 24 hours, and they apparently don't feel like telling me what the deal is.  When I bought it, I bought this ridiculous warranty that covers everything, so that's good, and it also covers a rental car, but I don't know yet when my car will be done, and if I need a rental car.  Every time I call I end up in someone's voice mail box.  Once they called me back, but neglected to leave a message (I was with a client). 

Today is one of 2 days off that I have before I have to be completely moved out of this place...so not having a car is not cool.  Also, I have a performance and then a rehearsal tonight.

Grr.

NOLA PLAYBACK THEATRE PRESENTS:

"YOUR STORIES…OUR BODIES…UNLESS THEY'RE PUPPETS"
.....where your stories take the stage….

WHERE:  VOODOO MYSTERE LOUNGE  718 N. RAMPART ST @ CONGO SQ

WHEN:  WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24TH 7:30

CONTACT:  504-304-1568 (Voodoo) and 504-258-0335 (NPT)
        www.nolaplayback.org

Tickets:  $7

WHAT:  Playback Theatre is a form of improvisation where audience stories and experiences are transformed into collaborative performance on the spot. Directed by Anne-Liese Juge Fox.  Rotating ensemble: Caitlin Corrigan, Bridget Erin, Enchante Franklin, Roscoe Reddix, Karel Sloane, and Chris Williams with musician, Lloyd Daly. NPT is part of the international network of Playback Theatres (www.playback.net).