November 24, 2007

Mickey the Cat


Mickey the cat went to be with her friends;
Sully, Shadow, Fuzzibutt, and Beamer
on the morning of November 24, 2007.

She was a very friendly cat who would always
choose whose lap to sit on,
liked playing with her reflection in a full length mirror,
would stand on her hind legs and dance (a little bit),
liked meeting and talking to people,
did "OK" with Mom Chaney's dog, Scooter,
enjoyed couch armrests that were built cat-wide,
kept a close eye on the birds outside the window,
and always came to the front door to greet us
when we came home from work.
She was a barn cat
who was found as a very tiny kitten
abandoned by her mother.
A little bit of a tiger-striped,
matted tail kitten who looked more like
a baby mouse than a cat.
That's why we called her
"Mickey" (mouse).
As she got bigger at the barn,
she was the one of the 13 cats
who would stand in the middle
of the trough of cat food
(long story - just imagine what chickens eat out of,
then imaging how to have
13 cats eat out of one long cat dish...)
- well Mickey would climb
into the trough of food and
play king of the mountain -
shoving the adult cats out of her way
while she ate her food,
growling and puffing up her fur
to look bigger and badder.

She came to our house
and ended up being a
dainty eater.
Go figure.
She spent the summer of 2007 at
summer camp
with her friend Jenny
and Jenny's cat, Reanna;
a special needs cat who
Mickey worked with
to show her how to
play like a cat.
She also had a favorite aunt, Lisa,
who always smelled like other cats,
but had neat drawstrings
on her coat for Mickey to play with.

She was seven years old.
The doctors believe it was probably
a brain tumor
that was taking her favorite things away.
M

November 16, 2007

Food Stuff

I'll admit it, pumpkin pie is my favorite food during Thanksgiving.
Although pumpkin pie done badly
can make a person swear off it for up to a year;
the nutty, spicy flavor of perfect pumpkin pie filling,
mixed with the highest level of flakiness and buttery taste
of a pastry-chef-quality pie crust,
topped with a finale of light-as-air
whipped cream
allows for heavenly dreams through New Year's Day...
Pumpkin pie will forever remain
my favorite part of November.

How about you?
Favorite food?
Favorite holiday-related food?
Weirdest holiday-related food?
White meat or dark meat?
Sweet potatoes or mashed potatoes?
A food item you would not miss if you never saw it again?

Let me know.
M

And wherever you are...Have a great Thanksgiving.

November 04, 2007

Go Outside and Play!

Our computers at home have to suffer through a dial-up internet connection. This area of town is scheduled to offer high speed internet soon, but in the mean time with online course requirements, I have been exploring the free wireless network options around town. Originally we enjoyed Wi-Fi at our favorite coffee house, but management changed, and belts need to be tightened. Now I have discovered that Panera Bread offers free wireless. I am cheap, I will NOT use pay-for-internet services at that world wide, monster-sized coffee business that shall remain unnamed, or at any other chain locations that charge for the service - when I can find it for free...





While in Europe we enjoyed free wireless through the art school, and while traveling we had a subscription to Orange-WiFi, which seemed to be the primary server throughout France.





I am hopeful that soon whole cities and towns will allow for quick, efficient, free wireless access, much like what is currently available in most USA hospitals, colleges, and universities. Just a quick question: Where do YOU get your internet; at home (quickly or slowly?), pay-for-service out and about, or at free locations?






Perhaps I am just spoiled, and should go back to my slow, unreliable dial-up - which encourages me to get off my computer more, and go outside an play - where everything is always free, quick and efficient.