estacey
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
  any of you watch tv funhouse?
ever see that 'the baby, the immigrant, and the guy on mushrooms' ?
if so, you'll thank me for reminding you; it'll cause a chuckle.
 
i thought of that 'cause i'm looking at an apartment tomorrow night.  a shared one.  but oh, so cheap!
i asked the lady, an older lady with an australian-ish accent, who else is living there.  "a young man, an immigration attorney."  but she's the one meeting me there.  and it's a three-bedroom.  so is she there too?
 
it just makes me giggle cos my friend mark lived in a house once with an older um.. how to say.. well, the way he described her, she was like an old southern waitress with cat's-eye glasses and big hair.  her name was appropriately dottie or something.  and then a big black guy.  and then mark, a laid-back white dude who was in the navy.  i kept thinking, what a strange houseful of people!  and it reminded me of the baby, the immigrant, and the guy on mushrooms.
 
so maybe i'll get into my own tv funhouse.  we'll see.  the cat lady, the immigration attorney, and the... ?
 
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
  who doesn't love the nerve.com scanner?
Best. Sport. Ever.
11/28/2005 10:43:38 AM

Taking the world by storm is a new hybrid sport: chess boxing. Players, like this attractive fellow here, must alternate rounds of boxing with games of chess. Not only does one have to be built and smart, one has to remain coherent after getting pounded in the head. In the immortal words of Lloyd Dobler, it's the sport of the future.
 
  Alright, cat owners, help me

Cat food run, originally uploaded by hale_popoki.

Now that I'm not feeding my kitties PLUS the five+ outdoor cats.. more like seven considering the neighbor cats would come out for an extra bite.. well, now I can afford more than the $10, 20-lb. bag of Purina Indoor Formula.

From what I read, all processed cat food is pretty bad stuff; if you want your cat to really be healthy, you have to make your cat's food yourself out of things you buy at the butcher's. However, my vegetarian ass is not going to do that for the cats.

So - any suggestions on cat food? I priced the stuff at Pet Supermarket and even the *good* brand aren't all that bad - $25 for 20 lbs. or so. I can afford that, if it's better for the cats.

Danke!

 
  alien deer

Gerenuk, originally uploaded by zombie squirrels.

my friend mike took this picture of a gerenuk. they are the coolest animals.. seriously, like deer from another planet. google image search it!

 
Monday, November 28, 2005
  Open Letter to Screenwriters of Romantic Comedies*
*Particularly those starring Meg Ryan

Dear Screenwriter:

I'm a single girl. I really don't mind it; it has a lot of good points. Dinner is whatever I feel like whipping up, whether it's something that requires cooking or, as was on Thanksgiving, a pint of Phish Food ice cream. I get all the hot water in the shower and there's no hair on the soap. I can wrap the blankets up around my feet like I like to do and don't have to worry about sharing anything. Of course, a girl misses kissing and making out and all that lovely stuff that follows.. including, on my most sentimental of days, hand-holding and head-scratching.. But, as I am a liberated and untethered girl, I am always welcome to pick a nice boy downtown that catches my vodka-induced squinty eye and make out with him at the bar. (For the record, I have only done that once since I've been single, but my lord was it fun.) Really, of all things involving the opposite sex, I have to rate zesty (to use Maude Lebowski's very appropriate term) making out very high on my list of favorites, and that sadly doesn't happen much when you're a couple anyway.

So, like I said, I don't really mind being a single girl.

But then I'll be flipping through the channels when I see Meg Ryan's angelic face on the screen and feel compelled to pause. {This long weekend, for example, I watched both When Harry Met Sally and the last 15 or so minutes of You've Got Mail.} And then I get sucked into the story. An hour and a half later, as the film is reaching its climax, I am teary-eyed and wondering why oh why I can't meet a guy like the Romantic Comedy guy. Tom Hanks, Kevin Kline, whoever it is.. he's charming, funny, and comes up with things that would make my heart stop if they were said to me. And then the Romantic Comedy seemingly star-crossed lovers realize how right they are for one another and then they kiss. Their first real kiss is in a flower-lush garden.. at a crowded party with confetti falling from the sky.. or in a picturesque vineyard. The kisses are fueled neither by lust or alcohol.. rather, just admiration, affection, and love. Now, I appreciate lust as much as the next person, likely more, but.. well, that idea of the sweet stuff is enough to make my eyes well up every time I witness it, via TNT. I mean, really, these people realize they love each other before they even kiss. CAN YOU IMAGINE?!




Alas, real life is not the movies. Unless you look like Meg Ryan, I'm guessing. So anyway, I would appreciate it if you start writing love stories the way I'm used to them - the guy has a belly and refuses to help around the house. Oh, and he usually cheats. Or, at the very least, ogles. And/or spends Saturdays watching NASCAR. OR, if he's smart and he's beautiful, then he has to break the girl's heart in a million little ways. Or a couple of big ways; you're a writer, you can be creative. But these things need to be portrayed realistically. That way, me and all the other single girls of the world won't be sighing for two days after we watch one of your damn movies just because we don't have that special man that doesn't exist in our lives.

I've just about convinced myself of this happy-single/like-a-fish-needs-a-bicycle thing, and it would really be best for all of us if I did; being frustrated about something I can't help anyway is just no fun at all. Your cooperation will be much appreciated.

Thank you kindly.

Sincerely,
Stacey T.
 
  Sailing Saturday

The Ruby, originally uploaded by estacey.

Standard report: beautiful outside, I love Florida, yadda yadda yadda.

 
  Fluffy + 5 years + FIV

Alli & I went to the 10th Life Sanctuary yesterday. I saw this guy, who looks much like my Fluffy.. he was in the FIV wing. Look at that tail!

Anyway, the cats all seemed happy & healthy. Well, minus the ones inside- my kitties had to be quarantined for a few weeks before they could be put in the pens. You can imagine how happy they are in cages. I got to say hi to everyone and have them glare at me.. I tried to pet Catherine and she hissed at me. I feel so horrible for her right now and wish I could tell her she gets out of the cage in a mere two weeks! Alas, cats don't understand.

I brought the cat sweater (with bells!) that my mom got me for my birthday last year. I figured that would be the only place I could get away with wearing it. I got cold in the car so wore it home.. Alli & I stopped off at Azteca, right by Ed's where he and I used to go eat. I turned around as we were getting ready to leave and.. WHO DO I SEE? Actually, it took me a minute. "That looks like Ed, but he doesn't have a beard. But those shoes.. that arm.. that HAS to be him." I snuck up behind him and popped my head in his face. Ha ha ha! So that was neat, running into him.. and wearing my old cat lady sweater, nonetheless!

Of course, seeing him and being happy to see him always makes me feel bad later - why on earth did someone that I like and liked me back.. Well, let's just say that it makes me feel very bad.

Anyway, they say the holidays bring depression, so I guess I should brace myself for the next month or so.

 
  :)

:), originally uploaded by estacey.

Thanksgiving evening, the cat lady came over to see if I had some "cat sand" for the kitten someone brought to her door that night. Apparently her neighbors were grilling out when a very hungry little kitten came over to beg for some food. They brought it to the cat lady, and she brought it to me. Her Assistant Cat Lady.

I had a migraine, so it was a good excuse to get me out of bed. We took a shower and the little kitten was super well behaved, even while I cleaned his little ears out and picked all the fleas off him.

Afterwards, I ran with the towel-dried little guy to my bed and set him on my stomach under the down comforter. He went from shivering to sleeping and content in roughly 30 seconds.

Ahh, what a great little cat! He slept with me all the while I slept.. as soon as I woke up, it was running back and forth on my pillow / attacking the cat toys around the house / attacking my hair / et cetera. The cutest was on Friday night. Alli fell asleep on the couch with the little guy right behind her. When I went to bed, I moved the cat lest she roll over on him during the night. I shut the TV off and turned around and somehow the kitten had scooted back over so he was again touching Alli. And they say cats don't like people!

Maury from 10th Life picked him up from me on Saturday so that a rescue group from Orlando will find him a home. :)

 
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
  :D how i love the google
every once in a while, i google old people i know.. doug, my first boyfriend, gets googled a few times a year..

look what i found this time:
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2005/04/19/news/02bagpipe.txt

i used to sit with him in the music room (which became the make-out room once the sun went down, muaha) while he practiced his pipes.. and let me tell you, the bagpipes is (are?) a strange, strange instrument. in case y'all haven't paid attention in movies like so i married an axe murderer, basically it's this big bag o' tartan under the player's arm. he blows constantly to inflate it, then makes the music with his fingers as the air.. um.. exhales from the bag. mesmerizingly weird to watch. and then doug's his cheeks would get all red and it was so cute.

yes, i just said that i thought my boyfriend was cute playing his bagpipes. how, i dunno, nerdily country can you get? :)

doug is an interesting fella. he may or may not still be running an art gallery in la crosse.. was in the paper running for the city council last time i was home.. much to my dismay upon a visit home, i learned that, since high school, he has stopped loving the low-brow humor provided by such quality shows as snl in the late-80s. that's how we used to make up after fights - one of us would just go, "remember the british toothpaste? made of honey and sugar? 'and it's good on crackas!'" and all was well.. now, television is evil. sigh.

oh yeah, story how we ended up going out? we worked on the newspaper together. i was horribly in love with the boy. i kept a journal. i left it in the computer lab one day. the next day at my locker, before i even realized it was missing, doug was handing it to me and saying, "i'm guessing you want this back." and the rest is history! :D
 
  ok, happy t-day y'all

Gobble, originally uploaded by Susan B..

oh, blessed four-day weekend! i plan on getting lots of sleep and sun and fresh air and, if the lord loves me, there will be a law & order marathon on tomorrow.

i'm thinking of moving into this little tiny apartment.. like a guest cottage in this dude's very private, fenced-in backyard. for those not in south florida, that's a pretty common thing. that way i get the benefits of a place alone and a yard without all the cost associated with that normally.. working things out with my landlord at this point but i can't imagine i'll stay in my current place past the new year. way too much ugliness has taken place there and i can only avoid the crazy neighbor for so long..

it will be hard to go to a smaller place but, really, i don't have much. and in the meantime, i can scout a future roommate for sharing a BIG HOUSE and SAVE MONEY. costa rica ain't free, after all.

so that's the plan for now. that and law & order. or csi. i ain't picky. :)

 
  personal ad
 
ha ha ha
http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/102805/iso-swm-mwm-25-35.gif
 
  florida right now

brrrr. it's 65 out now. no, 65 isn't bad in and of itself, but unfortunately in florida, many apartments don't have heat. (you know, because heat would only be appealing one week of the year or so.) so last night was interesting.. i fell asleep on the couch and woke up with mini on my lap, fluffy curled up next to me, and kitten sleeping on the end of the couch. i always feel so popular when the cats are cold. :)

for some reason, i think my allergies are worse when it's cold. i ended up not being able to breathe last night and had to sleep sitting up, after 10 or so desperate primatine shots. i think that's really bad for you, but in the middle of the night when you can't breathe, you don't really reason that out.

today is wednesday but it's like friday and that makes me quite happy. i really don't have any plans for the coming weekend, aside from saturday sailing. i am guessing some bike rides to take advantage of this beautiful, crisp weather - outside, with the sun shining, you couldn't ask for anything better. well, maybe five degrees. ;)

i had tentatively decided on a dive for tonight.. i am mannying out on it, on account of the weather. ugh - can you imagine being WET outside when it's in the 50s? ugh ugh ugh ugh.

hmmm.. only 5 hours to go...

 
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
  Random memory

Donkey (and honeybee) heaven, originally uploaded by Max xx.

Today, while sitting in horrible, horrible traffic when going to pick Jimmy up from the clinic (I took him in to get fixed for the cat lady.. he's now wobbling around my bedroom and very hopefully not peeing on anything), I remembered picking a handful of dandelions for my mom.

I remember bringing them to her and her dismissing them as weeds.

I hope I'm never such a grown-up that I can't appreciate a handful of wilting dandelions from a child. Or ever such a grown-up that dandelions cease from being cheerful and pretty just because they happen to be weeds.

I suppose there's a reason I haven't talked to my mom in a couple of months now..

 
Monday, November 21, 2005
  Just when you thought you saw all the pics..

Succumbed to temptation, originally uploaded by estacey.

An email arrives.

 
  Y mas photos..

Alli & Alex dancing, originally uploaded by estacey.

Friday was a fabulous time, too. They even played some Juan Luis Guerra, so I agreed to dance. Mostly, I just caused mischief with Paul. At the time, it seemed VERY funny. Like the sugar-cane thing. We found as much sugar cane as we could to put in Alex's basket. Yes. At the time, it was so funny that I wasn't able to speak from the laughing.. Ahh, rum. Good times. :)

 
  Kittens!

Cutest kittens EVER, originally uploaded by estacey.

Maury, the cat guy, had these in his van when he came to collect my cats.. They were painfully cute. Painfully.

 
  The picture of style and grace.

The anti-smoking nazi.. Smoking, originally uploaded by estacey.

This is me in costume Saturday night.

Link to the set: http://flickr.com/photos/jisou/sets/1414724/

I didn't get so many pictures as my battery died halfway through the night.. Matt luckily got some before we left for the bar.

It was a really good time, but oh my am I ever suffering. I need to accept that I cannot go out both nights of the weekend and remain functioning.

The cats are at the sanctuary. Phew.

 
Friday, November 18, 2005
  I love the South Park guys

"LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have signed a three-year production deal with Paramount Pictures, which released their most recent film, the 2004 puppet comedy "Team America: World Police."

The acerbic pair, best known for mocking pop culture icons, will need extra large business cards because they named their new banner Trunity, a Mediar company, a division of True Mediar, a Unity Corpbopoly."

Corpbopoly.  Ha!
 
 

Susan Mizzi, originally uploaded by sanukphoto.

The guy who took this donated $50 to the cat cause via Flickr. I added him as a contact. Then this beautiful picture came up. So I'm sharing.

 
  Tapirs are weird.

IMG_0213, originally uploaded by dfb.

 
  wah wah wah!

old pic of Cici, originally uploaded by Jeremy K..

ever get a craving for music you never normally listen to?

i had a selena-fest for about a week this month..
now i wanna listen to nothing but reo speedwagon & journey.
embracing my inner big-sister, i guess.
i guess i'll have to download some.

so anyway, yeah, the sanctuary is taking the cats for free.
i am not taking on some huge responsibility that i can't handle. i am instead trying to do a good thing for people that are doing good.
i am trying to reward their kindness by raising the money for them that they would have normally charged.
i have had nothing but good responses from my friends and even strangers about this.. don't contribute if you don't want to; that's fine. but i would like to think that people are willing to throw a few dollars towards a good cause.

if i may ask from y'all, drop the attitude about all this. what's done is done; all i can do now is try to make things good for the boys and catherine. this week has been rank, i am now up in the air about my current living situation thanks to difficult landlord and psycho neighbor. and there are a bunch of other things that suck that i'm not going into.. so negative thoughts are not what i need, okay? thanks.

i went and sat in the parking lot with them last night and rubbed bellies and, agh, i'm sad to see them go. but they'll be safer and happier there. i really feel bad, though, because catherine really trusts me. she doesn't even let the cat lady touch her and i can pick her up! i hope she takes to someone at the sanctuary like she has me.

sailing tomorrow. thank gosh - i need it!

 
Thursday, November 17, 2005
  to anyone who thinks i can't be agreeable under duress
i think i just got the landlord to give $100 to the cat sanctuary
 
!
 
  mas advice sought
my niece wants an mp3 player for christmas.  researching them makes my head hurt.
 
anyone know what the minimum these days is for one of those to be decent?  anything else i should be looking for?
 
as y'all know, i bet on a budget.  i was looking for something like $60.  she's only 12 and no little techie, so i would hope that would be sufficient for her tastes. 
 
hey, http://cgi.ebay.com/SAMSUNG-YP-MT6X-512MB-MP3-PLAYER-FM-TUNER-YPMT6X-SEALED_W0QQitemZ5831372472QQcategoryZ41006QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 
i totally was going to bid on this until i looked to see the shipping is $23.  gimme a break!
 
  alrighty, matthew
to address some concerns brought up in the comments section of this blog..

the cats were there before i moved in.
they were always in the side yard by our house. however, the cat lady fed them next door in the parking lot, so they would usually be there.
now i have been nice to them. i have fed them (although i do that next door as well). and i have 2 cats that come in and outside. so, for example, this cat named flaco is always around because he and kitten like to hang out / be miserable together.
if i come to my front door, catherine will come over so i can pet her.

so yes, i have attracted them to come into our yard more often than they did before by being kind to them.

and i have helped feed them, but unfortunately the cat lady is very poor - she's living in a total ghetto apartment with her husband and dog. she gives them food and means very well but doesn't have all that much.. so i make sure the cats have enough by giving them food as well.

to be honest, they haven't even been in our yard hardly at all that i've noticed lately. but i can't stop catherine or itchy/scratchy from bounding over in the grass when she sees me.

in addition, they like to go under our houses. we have crawl spaces. so they take shelter under there when it rains or storms. now the landlord has sealed up those spaces so they will probably not be around for that anymore.

if i moved, they may stay in the yard next door and maybe the landlord wouldn't be a jerk about the whole thing. but they still run around the neighborhood, exploring.. the neighbor claims one of them sprayed his car..

the point is that now these very sweet cats do have a way out. the poor black one gets wounds - maybe from fighting; he's not fixed. so then he limps around on three legs for weeks. both the boys had scabies when i moved in.. mamacat was getting pregnant one litter after another before i intervened.. and what happens when they get older? or a cat5 hurricane comes? or, like one of the fluffy kittens down the street, they cross the road at the wrong time and some jerk who's speeding runs them down? does that sound like an ideal life to you?

and if i stay, there is no way i can let them go hungry. even if it means giving extra food to the cat lady every day to make sure she can feed them plenty. but there is no no feeding the cats. i discussed this with maury. they may catch food, but they wouldn't survive long. we're not in the wilds of africa, you realize. the best they could do is lizards, bugs, and the occasional bird. not to mention, that would make our local wildlife suffer. maury told me about an area in jacksonville where the ferals are starving to death and you cannot find even one bug because they've eaten everything. (no TNR programs there.)

so maybe i have made a mistake by being kind to the cats. the thing is, the lady's landlord doesn't mind the cats there. nor do her neighbors. nor do 1/2 of my neighbors. i have just lucked out with having a neighbor that hates cats and a landlord who is for some reason threatened by cats that are scared of him. i had no way of knowing that me feeding and petting the cats was going to result in this. and not only do i think it should not have come to this, i think it's a horrible thing that people are upset that the cats exist. it's not their fault they live on the streets.

the cat sanctuary is only a good thing. these boys are young and healthy-ish now, but give them a year and who knows where they'd be..
and no, no more cats will come take their place. there is another colony down the street that we feed down there. they don't follow us back. and those i would like to TNR so that colony will stop growing anyway.

i never would have dropped these guys off at a shelter, even a no-kill. like you said, they're happy "outdoor" cats. but if you came to our neighborhood.. we live in basically the ghetto. last night my neighbors were arguing outside, calling the cops, peeling out of the driveway pissed off.. cars speed down our streets.. cars speed through the lots.. i've seen two dead cats on the side of our road in the past 6 months. and that's just what i've happened acrossed. the boys weathered hurricane katrina behind a bush. do you think that's any kind of life for an animal? especially when compared with this sanctuary? where they are "outside" but also cared for and loved?

if you can't tell, i'm a little annoyed by the implication that any of this is my fault. if being kind to stray, homeless, hungry animals is a bad thing in your eyes, i don't think we have anything more to talk about. somebody needs to care. had the cat lady not started to feed them a couple of years ago, they'd either be someone else's problem or dead. hardly seems that either of those options are something we should consider acceptable.

 
  ok, ok...
apparently i wasn't clear.
i have a library of songs on my computer here at work that i like to listen to.
unfortunately, although there are equal amounts of, say, jay-z songs to mamas & papas songs, i hear m&p every single day and jay-z maybe once a week.  meaning, the "random" feature isn't really random at all.
so are there are any programs to listen to .mp3s that are better than this windows media thing?
no need to get snarky.  :p
 
the cat guy, maury, came over last night to assess the situation.  we're catching them on sunday evening.  that means that they cannot be fed all day saturday nor sunday so they're good & hungry when we need to lure them into the traps.  it's going to be hard.  i'm going to have to hole myself up in my house so they don't come after me, crying.  heartbreaking!  but they'll be going to a great place.  it's sanctuary to nearly 600 cats.  can you imagine?!
 
oh, hey, on the radio this morning i heard that there was a survey conducted which said that 78% of people think women should be married by 28 or why bother.  so i have two months before i'm an old maid.  pressure!
 
thanks to all of you who have donated money to the cats.  something like $230 so far.  and those of you who have not?  go donate a little.. or trust me, i will be harassing you.  :)
 
 
 
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
  oh my god, me too!

i'm just being honest, originally uploaded by april2.

 
  happy hump day!


Hey folks.. Been a while since I had the time to do a real update here not involving the current cat saga.

This weekend - I was supposed to get to go diving on Friday night. First time in TWO MONTHS. Unfortunately, we all met up in LBTS and walked out to the beach and it was way too rough to dive. Rather, it was way to rough to dive and have fun. So we drank vodka instead. And some weird stuff made of cashew fruit. Fenny?

Saturday was sailing, as usual. It was GORGEOUS out. And rather than the 4-5 people we usually have, we had FOURTEEN. Two full boats! Some dolphins came up close and I guess were basically following the other boat the whole time.. Our boat got to see them surface a few times. Then off to Shuckers.. I got home at 6:30 and was beat, for some reason. Kitten & I snuggled up and went to sleep.

Sunday was very low-key. Alli & I did our thrifting routine. Watched Dr. No. I think that's about it.

This next weekend is going to be busy. Concert Friday night acting as Paul's date for some work event.. Alli is bringing Alex as her date and Andrea is bringing Matt, for some reason, so it should be a nice evening. Alex is there to Latina-watch (it's a Venezuelan bank, after all). Saturday is sailing. And then the costume party. I think by Sunday I will want to lay on the beach or do something equally exhaustive.

Anyone know a better program for listening to music than this Windows media stuff? I have it on 'random' but I keep having to hear the Mamas & Papas (on the network from my co-worker). Which is fine. But there are JUST as many Jay-Z songs yet I only hear him once a week. M&P play 10x a day. Makes no sense. Recommendations are welcome.
 
  By's cat

So like us.., originally uploaded by batorre.

Ha ha ha!

 
  help my neighborhood strays!
My Craigslist post.  I have so far had $150 donated.  I need $1-2k!  Please contribute something if you can and/or pass this on to as many animal and cat lovers you know.  Strength in numbers is the key here since I don't expect anyone to give that much.  Please help!
 


My landlord, thanks to a neighbor's complaint, is basically catching all the sweet outdoor cats and doing whatever with them. If he takes them to the Humane Society, the statistics give them only a 1/3 chance of surviving.. Animal Control, even less.  They are all friendly and love people.  They come to my door just so I'll come outside to pet them.  It breaks my heart they're being forced out of their home because someone is annoyed by their presence, probably only to be killed at an animal shelter.  Since I care very much for all of these animals, I have been seeking help for them on the Internet, and lucked out...

I found this great place - the 10th Life sanctuary in Clewiston, Florida.
They take in cats and care for them for the rest of their lives. It looks like cat heaven, too - go look at the pics at
www.10thlife.org
 
The sanctuary:

My strays:


It costs $400 per cat to admit them. However, I wrote the guy there about these cats.. and included that my neighbor has threatened to shoot them.. and he is going to work for and with me to get them in.  But I have to help with getting donations.  If you look at the website's pictures, you'll see why.  I was completely shocked that this guy is being so kind.  
 
My stray, Catherine
 

Please help them out. I donated what I could.. my friend donated $100 for the cause.. Even without my cats going there, it's a very worthy cause to support. So please send over $10 or $20 - or whatever you can.
 
If you donate via PayPal, either let me or Maury@10thlife.org know that it was for the Hollywood strays. 
 
If you want to send money instead, send to 10th Life, P.O. Box 970456, Boca Raton, FL 33497.  Include a note the donation was for Stacey T's cats.
 
My stray, Tarzan
 

THANK YOU!!!! And please pass this onto any cat lovers you know! This place is great!
 
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
  I just picked up Kitten.

Noi, originally uploaded by Arietta's.

And oh my gosh, she was SO HAPPY to see me. Oh, I guess I hadn't said here before - the landlord caught her last night. I went looking for her this morning and couldn't find her. I asked him about her. Yeah, he had her, he said. But he wasn't giving her back until I had signed an agreement that I would pay $25 per cat per month. I said, dude, this is illegal. He said, ok, $25 for "both." I said fine, I'll do that at work today. He said, Nope, you don't get your cat back until I have it. I stormed off SO MAD. Got to work, called the attorney I know.. Long story short, I got my cat back.

So Kitten was so happy to see me she was doing the happy paws thing.

I have to mentioned that she has done this three times EVER - the first time was when I first found her as a kitten. Second time was after she had to do Katrina UNDER THE HOUSE since she wouldn't come out for me. I picked her up in the grass the next day and she went crazy, purring and happy paws. The third time: today.

So, turns out, she really does love me. :)

 
Monday, November 14, 2005
  Awww!

The two Fluffies, originally uploaded by estacey.

The two Fluffers. Look how big Mini got!

I'm very sad to see Mini go.. she's supposed to be heading off to Atlanta before Thanksgiving.. Just as she's turned into a good cat! She slept on me this morning. :) On the other hand, I'm glad Byron won't be getting a bum cat.

And at least I still have Fluffy. :)

 
  Emergency! Mamacat needs a home!!!
Background, for those of you who don't know: I have stray cats in my neighborhood. I am kind to them. I pet them and feed them down the street. They sometimes hang out in my yard. I also am housing a Mamacat and the last of her three babies to go to a new home. I am so evil, right?

Last night, the landlord's evil cat-catching scheme was put into motion.. My insomniac 3-a.m. reading was interrupted by a cat crying. I went outside to investigate and found my Fluffy in a trap, covered in sardine oil. I let him out of the trap and into my house and then spotted Mamacat, who got out of the house for the first time in over 4 months yesterday. I went to catch her and then the landlord came storming out of the apartment he's been staying in to confront me about letting Fluffy go. Long story short, we argued for, like, a half hour.. during which my landlord completely lied about what is in my lease (as if I don't have a copy!).. during which my neighbor came out and threatened to KILL ALL THE CATS WITH HIS GUN all the while making throat-slitting gestures.. during which I offered 10 million times to take care of the cats once he caught them, just that I thought it was unfair they had to go in the first place so the trying-to-catch-them was too upsetting..
I kept my crap together pretty well until the evil neighbor came out of his house and started freaking out.. At which point I started to cry. It is so sad that people look at the poor homeless sweet cats as rats rather than have some compassion for them.
The landlord said I could have one cat. I said no way; so are you going to evict me? By the end of it, and after the neighbor guy's crazy rant, the landlord said that if I needed to, I could break my lease. Which is a thought - it's just.. I like my place, I like the location. But now I have a neighbor that basically scares me. What an uncomfortable situation.

An amusing thought, tho - I'm reading this book Affluenza and started to feel guilty around the part it said we don't know our neighbors. "We should have a cook-out," I thought. Meaning my little courtyard of apartments. Well, so much for that.

This morning, there was a knock on my door. The landlord had caught Mamacat. And he won't give her back. She is, after all, not "officially" mine - she was hanging out in my house til the last kitten left and I could get her fixed. So since I don't have her shots, she's not "mine." I couldn't argue with him too much, since I wanted him to let me help at least.. but that means I had to leave Mamacat in his trap, crying and pacing. I've been crying since. :(

I really need to find her a good home. She is very shy, but as sweet as can be. In fact, I linger in bed sometimes just so she hops up with me so I'll pet her. She's adjusted very well to being indoors and never, ever tries to get out - until yesterday, anyway. So I think she could either be an indoor or an indoor/outdoor cat.

Please pass this along. Not finding her a home myself is out of the question; she's far too sweet a cat to just drop off at the shelter. I would keep her myself, as I planned to while she was in the house and under the landlord's radar if I couldn't find her a loving home, but now.. Well, I can't get him to give her back.

Go look at what a great mama she was: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jisou/sets/642185/





PLEASE HELP! PASS THIS ON!!!!
 
Friday, November 11, 2005
  This set is just too funny!

Sunbath, originally uploaded by bayat.

 
  "I'm not fat. I'm American."

childhood obesity, originally uploaded by insearchofwater.

 
  ha ha ha - to the anonymous commenter
my life is like a soap opera?
after reading your comment, i looked at the entire month of october and found nothing beyond hurricanes and cats.
yes, i get sad about my dad dying.  and then there's the month of may.  beyond that, i think i have a pretty placid existence.  oh yeah, i also get mad at people who kill whales and surrender their pets to the shelter.  but i don't quite think that qualifies as a soap opera life.  no love drama, no work drama, and, as far as i know, i certainly do not have an evil twin.
 
amusing, to say the least.. :)
 
 
  Smokes beware!
Tobacco Use and Skin Disease

My sister is still smoking. She's, um, 31 now? Has been smoking since 15 or so. She keeps trying to quit but doesn't follow through.. I was giving her a hard time yesterday, as I tend to do, and she said to find her a reason to quit.

I hope this is enough. The statistics are shocking, especially for a woman who worries about facial wrinkles enough to slather on the sunblock above her neck as she cooks the rest of her body. Smoking ages you .4 years for every year you smoke.. and that's only for a 50-pack year. I am pretty sure she smokes more than a pack a week...
 
  agggh
frustration! i went home yesterday, half sleeping, intending to go straight to bed.
(i had a little too much wine the night before and, being old, should not do that on weeknights anymore.)

instead, i got to have a heated argument with my landlord.
why?
because:
1. he is blaming me for the outdoor cats being there. they were all there when i moved in. and i have pictures to prove it. (i moved in april 1, took pics on april 8th because i thought they were cute.) as i told him, the only cat that has shown up since i've lived there is the black one. "oh, and that one is the one who hissed at me the other day like it was his territory." ah yes, my fault. and that's bullshit anyway. the cat is scared of people, but is not aggressive at all.. unless he was backed into a corner; then i would believe it and not blame the cat at all. and he keeps saying he's given me plenty of opportunity to get them outta here. why is it my responsibility? not to mention, i've tried. the cats trust me and the cat lady next door - we can pet them and pick them up, but as soon as a carrier is in view, they get skittish. they don't let themselves be caught. the one time we CAUGHT one, it fought so hard getting into the carrier that i had to let him go. i'm not going to risk a cat scratch like i got the once or hurting the cat because he got a bug up his ass about the cats beint there all of a sudden.
2. he is claiming i said i didn't have any pets when i moved in. ha ha ha ha ha! ed was standing right by me when i said yes, i have a kitten. landlord said he likes cats and he knows they don't really cause damage, so he just looks the other way when people have pets. also, before i adopted elliot, the shelter called to OK it with him. aggggh. i cannot believe people even bother trying to tell outright lies.

i hate drama. i hate confrontation. in my personal life, if i argue with people, i simply stop talking to them. easy! but this guy is my landlord. i try to be nice and i try to be respectful - as in, ok, it is your property, if you need the cats gone, let me help. and then i get more blame and more lies.

frustrating situation, to say the very least.

so now i'm trying to figure out what to do once my lease is up if this crap continues. i love living alone, but looking at the RE ads, i could get so much more for so much less if i just found some good roommates. i will never go back into a roommate situation with strangers, but if i could find someone i know is easy-going and respectful, i'd love to get a house. love, love, love. a yard, can you imagine? split 2 or 3 ways, a house would work out to much less than the $750 i pay now. now if i could just find some easygoing roommates!
 
  So much for the patch.
Warning Issued for Birth-Control Patch - Yahoo! News
 
Thursday, November 10, 2005
  Oh, too cute!
Scotsman.com News - Scotland - Meet Sam, the dog on wheels
 
  King of Ravioli

Horrible logo, originally uploaded by PetroleumJelliffe.

 
  aww, look at the little norwegian kid.

how funny

 
  Oh my gosh.
Froogle Product:ROOMBA iRobot Roomba RED Cordless Robotic Vacuum Cleaner 4100

As soon as I have $120, I'm totally getting one of these.
I sweep EVERY DAY and my house is still forever covered in cat debris; stuff they shed, stuff they tracked in from outside, stuff they tracked out of the litterbox, stuff they felt like shredding. Yes, Mamacat, the phonebook does need to be disemboweled; thank you.

So, for me, this is the best invention ever. I guess it's time to donate some eggs!
 
  Akira, Fluff's long-lost brother

akira looking quite smug, originally uploaded by Huro Kitty.

This girl alerted me on Flickr that she knows a cat that looks a lot like Fluffers. I wonder if he has a squirrel tail too.

 
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
  Too cute

Confused dog, originally uploaded by Thewinechik.

Caption: "Lets go mom! After his beach swim he came back to my friend's car and jumped in the trunk. Did I mention he usually rides on the back of an SUV."

 
  ha ha
today i went out for lunch to the family dollar.  sad, huh?  but i don't want to eat out, have no food at home, and thanks to all the traffic lights being out, going anywhere far from home is a big-time hassle.  so i went to the family dollar and got some cereal (i had a choice of froot loops or raisin bran; i chose the latter).  i also shopped for other essentials: hangers, some of that carbonated flavored water that i'm always downing lately, etc.
 
when i got home, i noticed the tag on the hangers said: DRIP DRY HANGERS.  meaning, they're metal hangers but coated in plastic so that you can hang damp (i typed that first as wamp) clothes on them to dry.
 
and immediately i had a flashback to my childhood and understand why i have a fear of running out of toilet paper and, in years, have not done so.  what was the memory that flashed back?  my mom yelling, "just drip dry!"
 
i also never am out of hand soap (we never, ever had it) or paper towels (ditto).  and when i get sniffly, i make sure to buy the nicest tissue i can find.  too many red, dry noses from suffering a lifetime of allergies with only the quickly-depleting toilet paper to dab my nose with.
 
this is a pretty boring post, but i really am routinely shocked by the way i was raised.  just sharing.
 
  Best Cat Ever.

 
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
  Costa Rica, next year

Sloth cuddling Steve, originally uploaded by Mikeypix.

I totally want to go to Costa Rica to see sloths and dive next year.. Look at how tiny they are! And perfect! They look bigger in pictures, don't they? That may be a baby, but they're tiny compared to how they look..

If Alli can't go with me, I need to find someone else who won't ruin the experience for me. You know, someone who will shut up while I do my thing. Take them to the Everglades for a few test runs or something. Or go alone, I suppose.

Exciting idea, though - imagine, me going on vacation! To somewhere other than Wisconsin!

 
  Bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit!
Japanese Whalers Aim to Double Usual Kill - Yahoo! News

Fucking enraging.

Sorry if you saw that, Amanda.
 
  Interesting article by Maureen Dowd...
Andrea's Photo Blog... posted in its entirety here. What's a Modern Girl to Do?
 
  Cute.

Sleep little angel, originally uploaded by malias.

Note upside-down beer can.

 
  Ha ha ha!

Vernon County Church, originally uploaded by ken_dozo.

What my hometown looked like a month ago today! Well, this is by Liberty Pole, but close enough. :)

 
  aggh
Those cats want me to kick them out!
This morning, my last step before going out the door was to uncover the bird cages, which are still out on the porch.  I took off the covers and went inside to re-fill the water dishes.  I hear a big bang and ALL THREE CATS come tearing through the house, one using my toe as leverage to push off of as he ran by and scratching it.. I go outside and they had knocked over the cockatiel cage.  The birds were in a sideways cage, freaking out with their seeds had spilled all over the porch floor.
 
Seriously, the cats are so lucky that I love them or they'd be out the do'.
 
Then again, Mama was really, really affection this morning after the alarm went off.  Maybe she's still in heat and is trying to get kicked out so she can visit the big black tomcat outside.  Mm, those jowls!
 
 
Monday, November 07, 2005
  bahaha!

peet2, originally uploaded by bad news hughes.

someone dressed as the dude from reno 911! with the tiny shorts!

you have to understand, i think that man's little shorts are the funniest thing EVER. so funny!

 
  argh

Fan pics, originally uploaded by estacey.

i hate some of these pics. i look at them and am like, "omg! big!" not like i'm having some fat freak-out.. just.. omg! big girl! i mean, i'm all freaking norwegian from the fjords and all that, so what can you expect? but still. so big! aggh.. why do i have to live in mini latinaland? i need to start hanging out with basketball players so i can beam and feel like a tiny little princess. :)

 
  I like this picture, depite its headless nature.

Fan pics, originally uploaded by estacey.

Get drunk girls in front of a fan and forget about it! Diva mugging time!

If I gave you this web address the other night, to see the other pics, all you have to do is click on this one. Then email me to let me know you got here! ji_sou AT yahoo DOT com :)

 
  Whee!

OMG, originally uploaded by estacey.

Friday night was FUN! Alli, Paul, and I went out in Hollywood. We stayed out 'til 3! I'm so proud, especially considering we're home and reading Star magazines by 1 usually. :)
And the night ended in karaoke, which I only do if I'm well saturated..

Saturday was a sailing day, but unfortunately we had a last-minute SoBe emergency to attend to and showed up to the marina 20 minutes late. The guy that was filling in for Squid had already left and was refusing to come back. So me, Alli, Paul, and Matt of Boston stood around like, "Okay, what now?" Sailing had been our plan for the day. So we went to the beach and I dozed as Matt & Alli made fun of people. Then we had a pizza & a movie night.

Sunday was lots of sleep and Bond movies. I felt bad; I really didn't make it outside until dinnertime and the day had been GORGEOUS. I guess that's what happens when you get old and you try to stay up past 3.

 
Friday, November 04, 2005
  Syttende mai!

uff-da_dag2, originally uploaded by sillydog.

Ha ha, it says uff da! I find it funny that I STILL say uff da, even 5 years out of Wisconsin. I also say "y'all" more than I should, and the only reason I can think that I would do that is that I read too much about Britney Spears. At least I stopped saying the Canadian "eh" and "pardon" ! Anyway, I was so happy to see uff-da representin' on Flickr.

 
  My kitties

Mini, Mama, originally uploaded by estacey.

Look how BIG Mini got! And how small Mama got! :)

 
  Read the caption on Flickr to this picture.

Best Friends, originally uploaded by lucycat.

I absolutely LOVE Harvey & Jeffy. Their person is the same lady who documented all the baby bluebirds in the springtime. Such a sweet lady and a heartwarming story.. Thank goodness for people like her.

 
 

Byron in drag., originally uploaded by estacey.

I have no words for this.

 
  Bahaha

Me - New Years Foreverago, originally uploaded by estacey.

This is me & Shannon on the New Year's before I moved here. That's the night we found the bottle of brandy (sorry Shannon) and drank it all night even though it was disgusting because, you know, it was also free.

I posted a couple others. Byron should be amused with the ones where he's wearing my jean skirt (and argyle socks!). The rest of you should be amused by the pictures of me. :p

 
I'm Stacey. I'm a 31(!)-year-old Wisconsin girl living in sunny South Florida. The highlights in my life are my lovely boyfriend, my aloof cats, my adorable/adoring stepdogs, my two lumbering tortoises, select family members, being outside, being underwater, taking pictures, yadda yadda. Stay tuned for lots of babbling!

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Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States

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Making a difference

A small boy lived by the ocean. He loved the creatures of the sea, especially the starfish, and he spent much of his time exploring the seashore.

One day the boy learned there would be a minus tide that would leave the starfish stranded on the sand.

When the tide went out, he went down to the beach, began picking up the stranded starfish, and tossing them back into the ocean.

An elderly man who lived next door came down to the beach to see what the boy was doing. Seeing the man's quizzical expression, the boy paused as he approached. "I'm saving the starfish!" the boy proudly declared.

When the neighbor saw all of the stranded starfish he shook his head and said: "I'm sorry to disappoint you, young man, but if you look down the beach, there are stranded starfish as far as the eye can see. And if you look up the beach the other way, it's the same. One little boy like you isn't going to make much of a difference."

The boy thought about this for a moment. Then he reached his small hand down to the sand, picked up another starfish, tossed it out into the ocean, and said: "Well, I sure made a difference for that one!"


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