Ho hum. I am waiting for the cable guy to show up and fix our television. Waiting around the apartment with no TV? Not so fun. Also, our DVD player broke yesterday. It was fine on Saturday. Nothing changed, no power surges or falling off TV stands. Just dead. Dead, dead, dead.
Ollie is being a complete cuddleslut right now, which helps with the waiting. He's usually up for a purr session. No matter what, he'll always give you five minutes if you scoop him up. Sometimes he has Big Plans, like batting at Fred's tail and nipping at his butt while he's trying to eat, so after those five minutes he'll take off. At least twice a day, however, I get a full-on, melty cat who purrs like a motorboat and sleeps on me for as long as 30 minutes at a time. He usually instigates these sessions, hopping up on the couch to stretch across my lap. It's so cute I can hardly stand it. Keeping him? Such a good plan.
A few people have asked how we chose the name "Ollie." Ollie is short for Ollivander, the wandmaker in the Harry Potter books. Fred is named after Fred Weasley, since he was with his equally troublemaking brother in the beginning, whom I had named George. Bella's full name is technically Isabella Lou!se M!tchell Sheffer G@ul J@ckel, in honor of all of her original co-owners. (She took on Joel's last name after her vision crisis. :) Bella is not technically named after HP character Bellatrix Black-LeStrange, but she is a black dog and Bellatrix is Sirius Black's cousin and he's an Animagus who transforms into a black dog and it all kind of (to quote my 11th-grade English teacher) "smacks" of Harry Potter. Yes. Ollivander seemed like a good choice to keep with the Harry Potter motif.
All three are getting along rather well. Bella can be a little bossy at times, growling and not always wanting to share her food. Ollie can be somewhat of a pest, sproinging and pouncing and grabbing wagging/flicking tails. Fred is just kind of doing his own thing, as per usual, but he gets more exercise chasing Ollie than any other way I've ever seen or tried. All in all, it's working quite well.
Come on, cable guy. This is my day off. I have errands to run. Please, be here soon.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Friday, November 16, 2007
Things I Hate (In No Particular Order)
1. Our cable is out. No TV until Monday. Have to waste time on my day off waiting for repair person, who will hopefully be literate and able to read the big sign on our door that says: DOORBELL BROKEN. CALL FOR ENTRY. This has eluded repair-folk in the past, many times.
2. There was a misprint on my latest batch of checks. Bills and rent and lots of other things are all late and bouncing now. Fees up the ying-yang.
3. Bella attacked a stack of wrapped Christmas presents. One of the gifts was 41% Cacao Brazilian chocolate. I had to induce vomiting with a piece of bread, diluted hydrogen perioxide, and 37 laps around the backyard. It was super-fun.
4. One of the gifts she opened had a mug in it. The mug itself is missing. Can't find it anywhere. Bonus: Induced vomit did NOT contain pottery shards!
5. Joel's mom is still angry that he suggested his parents get a cup of coffee at Dunkin Donuts when they showed up 20 minutes early. We've each explained that there were extenuating circumstances, i.e. the cat pee/duffel bag crisis and severe lack of pants on me. She knows those things. She acknowledges they were early, but she's not sorry and she's really not accepting Joel's apology. Also, next time we get together, she says she plans to be late. Okay!
6. Back in September, I had a run-in with a cop who tried to stop me from doing my job. He was completely in the wrong because 1.) First Amendment 2.) I was working a car accident on the Thruway and he's not a state trooper, so he has no jurisdiction over the scene and 3.) there was no police tape or perimeter to prevent me from being where I was. He threatened to tow my car and insisted I tell him which car was mine, which he has 1.) no right to do and 2.) no ability to make happen as I was on the Thruway and he's not a state trooper. I was polite. I was firm. I was RIGHT, and I refused to stop shooting just to indulge his desire to be a dick. I was relieved that there was no ticket on my car when I finished shooting. I remember that perfectly. (Also, it was 9/11/07, so I remember all my assignments from that day .) Today I got a violation notice for an unpaid parking ticket received on the Thruway that day. He wrote the ticket, but never put it on my windshield, just so I'd get dinged with a double fine. See above: Dick.
7. In the last 24 hours, I covered a car that went down an embankment off the Thruway, a 13-year-old boy who got hit by a bus, and a girl who got stabbed at one of the high schools I cover regularly. Sweet.
And that's all the news that's fit to print in this very, very idiosyncratic life. How are you? Are you good? How's your checkbook? Is it okay? How about your dog? Are all your mugs accounted for?
Love and Cuddles, :)
CPB
2. There was a misprint on my latest batch of checks. Bills and rent and lots of other things are all late and bouncing now. Fees up the ying-yang.
3. Bella attacked a stack of wrapped Christmas presents. One of the gifts was 41% Cacao Brazilian chocolate. I had to induce vomiting with a piece of bread, diluted hydrogen perioxide, and 37 laps around the backyard. It was super-fun.
4. One of the gifts she opened had a mug in it. The mug itself is missing. Can't find it anywhere. Bonus: Induced vomit did NOT contain pottery shards!
5. Joel's mom is still angry that he suggested his parents get a cup of coffee at Dunkin Donuts when they showed up 20 minutes early. We've each explained that there were extenuating circumstances, i.e. the cat pee/duffel bag crisis and severe lack of pants on me. She knows those things. She acknowledges they were early, but she's not sorry and she's really not accepting Joel's apology. Also, next time we get together, she says she plans to be late. Okay!
6. Back in September, I had a run-in with a cop who tried to stop me from doing my job. He was completely in the wrong because 1.) First Amendment 2.) I was working a car accident on the Thruway and he's not a state trooper, so he has no jurisdiction over the scene and 3.) there was no police tape or perimeter to prevent me from being where I was. He threatened to tow my car and insisted I tell him which car was mine, which he has 1.) no right to do and 2.) no ability to make happen as I was on the Thruway and he's not a state trooper. I was polite. I was firm. I was RIGHT, and I refused to stop shooting just to indulge his desire to be a dick. I was relieved that there was no ticket on my car when I finished shooting. I remember that perfectly. (Also, it was 9/11/07, so I remember all my assignments from that day .) Today I got a violation notice for an unpaid parking ticket received on the Thruway that day. He wrote the ticket, but never put it on my windshield, just so I'd get dinged with a double fine. See above: Dick.
7. In the last 24 hours, I covered a car that went down an embankment off the Thruway, a 13-year-old boy who got hit by a bus, and a girl who got stabbed at one of the high schools I cover regularly. Sweet.
And that's all the news that's fit to print in this very, very idiosyncratic life. How are you? Are you good? How's your checkbook? Is it okay? How about your dog? Are all your mugs accounted for?
Love and Cuddles, :)
CPB
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
The Unbearable Cuteness of Being
Here are some photos I shot on Monday night hanging out with Tanii and el bebe, plus some of Ollie, Bella and Fred.
I can't believe how much he's changed in just one month!
This is Baelin's and my first photo together. We're reflected in the mirror above his swing.
Ah, a preview of the years ahead when he'll be SO. TIRED. of his Crazy Aunt Angie and her everpresent camera. ;)
That's just spitty. (Ha!)
Changing topics now...
Everything you need to wrap Christmas presents: tape, scissors, paper, gift tags, labels, a pen, spare boxes, and of course, the ultra-necessary Cat-in-a-Bag. Yes, I've started wrapping already. Since I make a lot of presents for people, I have to start early.
This is what they mean by "Cat Nap."
Joel has all three monkeys in this one: Ollie in the crook of his arm, Bella on his feet, and Fred weighing down the covers so he's not tempted to move. I swear, they conspire to keep you there so they can mooch your body heat.
Joel is jingling his keys off the left, trying to get them to look up. it's clearly pissing Fred off.
Ollie: *I* am cute and snuggly! I AM cute and snuggly. I am CUTE and snuggly. I am cute AND snuggly. I am cute and SNUGGLY.
Bella: You're a natural, dahling, but it's MORE than just snuggling. True cuteness comes from *within.* Watch and learn, honey chile. Watch and learn.
I can't believe how much he's changed in just one month!
This is Baelin's and my first photo together. We're reflected in the mirror above his swing.
Ah, a preview of the years ahead when he'll be SO. TIRED. of his Crazy Aunt Angie and her everpresent camera. ;)
That's just spitty. (Ha!)
Changing topics now...
Everything you need to wrap Christmas presents: tape, scissors, paper, gift tags, labels, a pen, spare boxes, and of course, the ultra-necessary Cat-in-a-Bag. Yes, I've started wrapping already. Since I make a lot of presents for people, I have to start early.
This is what they mean by "Cat Nap."
Joel has all three monkeys in this one: Ollie in the crook of his arm, Bella on his feet, and Fred weighing down the covers so he's not tempted to move. I swear, they conspire to keep you there so they can mooch your body heat.
Joel is jingling his keys off the left, trying to get them to look up. it's clearly pissing Fred off.
Ollie: *I* am cute and snuggly! I AM cute and snuggly. I am CUTE and snuggly. I am cute AND snuggly. I am cute and SNUGGLY.
Bella: You're a natural, dahling, but it's MORE than just snuggling. True cuteness comes from *within.* Watch and learn, honey chile. Watch and learn.
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