Bonus Thor

For real folks, that's it. The wild wacky weirdfest that is the weekend has begun early.

Thor's Day!

We continue our whiskers in winter sunshine theme.

True Confessions

Like the native New Yorker who has never been to the Statue of Liberty, I had never been to Fort Sumter.

Monday, we made a quick stop at the CVS for dramamine and off we went into the wild blue yonder. Or Charleston Harbor if you insist.

I do get seasick, which is probably why I'd never made much of an effort to go before. But I only get seasick when the boat is still. It's that gentle bobbing in the water that does it. So I kept my head down, my eyes busy reading the tourist info brochure until we were under way. Then I was fine.

Along the way:


Our escorts:

Charleston Harbor Air Patrol, at ease:

Our destination:



Photographs by JAZ.

Thor sez: Fine, don't invite me! See if I care.

Whew!

I rushed home from yoga class this morning with just enough time to slide through the kitchen and flop down and grab the remote before the festivities began.

Thank you C-Span for allowing me to watch without the constant yapping of talking heads.

I thought I'd be excited and tearful and overjoyed but I'm not. It's more of a deep contented sense of relief that now, maybe, we can get to work on restoring our nation.

It's wonderful to see such hope and pride soaring across this nation.

Kind of like a seabird gliding above you.

Mohandas, Martin and Barry

Yesterday evening we watched the movie Gandhi. It's one of those movies I had seen in bits and pieces, but never the whole thing from start to finish.

About halfway through, Jason turned to me and asked, "What do you think of that Gandhi fellow?"

And I told him I thought that, like Martin Luther King, Jr, who followed years later, Gandhi understood humanity.

A truth will resonate with us. Truth, expressed simply, cannot be denied for long. One may attempt to deny it, but after some point, it must be actively denied. You have to willfully ignore the truth.

That is what Gandhi did, it is what King did: quietly held up a truth.

And on some level, it is what Barack Obama did during his campaign and continues today. I've read and listened to people willfully denying the truth since the election. They have become more and more rabid and are bordering on becoming incoherent.

Here is the simple truth. This is what appealed to me and, I believe, so many others in this nation.

We have the power.

We, the people, if we will just speak up, if we will just act, have the power to shape our government.

After years of feeling like our representatives had all the power over us, were ignoring us and acting in their best interests instead of ours, Obama simply reminded us that all we needed to do was take our rightful power back.

With our vote. With an email, a phone call, a letter.

The differences between Republican and Democrat aren't all that great. It's just that over the last 20 years or so, increasingly in the last eight, we've believed whatever the media told us and the media, seeking higher ratings, trotted out the most absurd examples of either end of the political spectrum and allowed the lunatic fringe to be the face of left or right.

We've stopped talking to each other. We call each other names and paste labels that hinder understanding and communication.

And deep down, on a fundamental human level, we know that is wrong. It is the simple truth that most Americans want the same things for this nation and their families that is finally being given voice again.

We want our humanity back. We want to be one nation. We want the anger and stress and strife to stop. We want to start working together again.

We want to be the America our forefathers dreamed of again.

The boyz say: Can't we all just get along?

Loki Sunday

Now that it is winter, the kittens seek out sunbeams more often. I've become fascinated by whiskers in sunlight.

Mousie in the Housie!

Not really. After Loki's Cat TV at Night Mouse Show obsession, how could I resist this little toy?




Neither of them seemed too impressed. But then, they are feline.

Updates

I know, I'm the laziest blog update person on the planet.

First, I've added a new link - Willow and Wicket - a super adorable cat blog. A personal I Can Has Cheezburger for thinking cats, if you will.

Second, I've updated the link to Joan and her wonderful Charleston strolls.

Third, I've pruned out old links.

Fourth, the voting for January Cat Blog of the Month is now going on.

Fifth, one of Thor's whiskers began growing out black a few months ago.


Sixth, Van Morrison is still the most awesome artist on the planet. Just so you know.

LIttle Lost Orphan

A couple days before Christmas, I received an email from the editor who had requested a copy of the manuscript of my poor little lost novel. He liked it a lot, he said. But.

The publishing house is going to focus on non-fiction this year.

So my poor little orphan is back home again.

Here's the problem. Every agent who has read the entire novel or just parts of it, liked it. But.

They say they can't pitch it. They say it has no clearly defined genre. It doesn't fit with chick lit. It's a bit too general (rather than literary) for women's fiction (which tends to be very literary - think Secret Life of Bees).

And all the advice I've gotten is to write something else, but the novel in progress will have the same problem. I don't write literary - my writing style is straight up tell the story and if I try to, it becomes a lumbering, self-conscious beast.

So I don't know what I'll do with either one of them. I'm either too lazy or not good enough to just go purposely write something with more commercial appeal because I can only tell the story that is in my head. If I try to 'make up' a story it will come out fake and shallow.

I polished off a chunk of short story that's been hanging around for several years and quite literally at the last moment sent it off to the Palmetto Fiction contest just to feel like I was doing something.

It's just annoying.

Loki sez: I think you should write a book about...uh...two cats who are...uh...brothers! And one is really a scaredy cat and the other is too brave for his own good and they can go on adventures.

Thor's Day!

Leaping Thorbee's




<

Left Foot Goes Where?

I survived yoga class! Yippee!

I'm glad Jason reviewed some of the poses with me because I am not a natural athlete or even remotely talented at anything that involves a series of movements. I would have been completely lost (and was, indeed, partially lost at times) if I hadn't done the poses before.

My left knee still will not flex completely so I was unable to do some poses such as Child Pose. But I just did what I could and didn't worry about the rest.

But, whew, my shoulders and chest are mad at me this afternoon.

I figure I'll keep practicing then take one more of the beginner's class. If I still can't move my knee correctly, I'll drop down to the gentle/restorative class.

I hope I can move tomorrow.

Thor sez: Try this one. I call it Flat Dog Sleeping.

Monday Morning Mish-Mash

Last evening we traveled to beautiful scenic downtown Goose Creek. That's extreme sarcasm for my out-of-town readers. Sorry if you live there, but for real. When we left, a guy was leaning up against a Hummer describing how his old lady didn't have enough money to get him out of jail so he told her to go get the car out of car jail.

We met up with some bloggie/twittery people at the Amazon Grill, a Brazilian restaurant. The buffet was yummy. There was also an option to have them bring something like 10 different kinds of meat on a spit to you and carve it off onto your plate until you exploded or told them to stop, but I passed on that. I'm no vegetarian, but that much protein sitting in my gut? No thanks.

Loki seems to be back to normal and they were actually left unsupervised last night and both survived. A young lady at dinner last night asked me if Loki was crazy (because of the influence of his name) and I asked her if she had seen the movie The Birdcage. She had. I told her that Loki was Nathan Lane's character.

I'm excited because tomorrow I'm starting a four week beginner class at yoga. After that, I will take a restorative yoga class that is for people with neck/back/knee and/or other injuries. Jason showed me some of the basic moves and I can do most of them. My knee still doesn't have full range of motion, so I can't completely do the poses, but that's the whole point, to get the function back.

Loki sez: I love yoga! Can you do this pose?

Loki Sunday

Oh, it's been high drama around here the past few days. Loki in a hissy fit is probably one of the most annoying things to deal with. Maybe talking to the robot voice on a customer service line is a tad bit more annoying, but it's a close call.


After several retreats, a couple of ruined moments (but can you really blame Thor for jumping on his brother's back and biting the snot out of him, I mean, Loki has been hissing and growling at Thor for two days now) and a few trips to the hissy fit basket, Loki seems to have had a break through.


At this moment in time, they are sitting together peacefully.

Loki sez: I love my brother. For now.

Day Trippin'

Being that it was sunny and 70 degrees today, we took a quick trip to Magnolia Plantation this afternoon.

The camellias were blooming.


We went for as long a walk as my knee would tolerate, actually finished the garden walk.

Then went to my favorite part, the petting zoo.


And Jason made a new friend.

Deer sez: Human has a flavor.
(Photos by JAZ, except the last one of course)

Frazzled Friday

There was a giant, funny looking black and white "squirrel" on the window ledge this morning.

Loki had a major hissy fit and separation protocols were initiated.

Unfortunately Loki's safe place in under the bed. And his calming behavior involves hours of licking my thumb.

And Thor gets frantic about where his brother is and why he can't see Loki. And meows. His meow that can peel paint from the walls.

Then there is me, trying to sleep so I can go back to work tonight.

We shall begin the re-integration process tomorrow.

Loki is a hot mess.


Loki sez: "I was just trying to save us all from the funny looking squirrel. They can be very dangerous, you know."

Thor's Day!

Nothing is safe!

Whining Wednesday

Giant needle inserting into a knee joint?

Not one of my favorite things.

Best fella in the world buying me wine and hunting down my favorite type of cinnamon tea?

One of my favorite things.

I'm bad at being a girl. I haven't had my eyebrows waxed since before Halloween. I finally went this morning to the hoochie-high-brow spa to have it done and while I was there, I asked if there happened to be any openings for a hair cut (since I last had a haircut, ummm...last summer?).

The very nice, extremely young and pretty receptionist with the rocking kewl kid 20 year old bod clothes checked and told me that there was an available spot with X, but that X wasn't a "master stylist".

Expectant pause.

Me, desperately trying to come up with some appropriate, spa-cool thing to say about that, finally motioned to my old fat gray haired self, so well groomed with my Brezhnev eye brows and Carol Brady shag, oh so sophisticated in my jeans, tee shirt and "Happy Bunny" zip up hoodie and said:

"Do I look like I need a master stylist?"

Which the proper answer probably was HELL FREAKING YES, YOU SLOB.

But I meant it like I don't really care, I just need someone moderately acquainted with a pair of scissors.

Then I had to sit there, listening to the oh-so hip crowd, dressed all in their college kid cool clothes talking about stuff I had no idea about, feeling like a big fat toad, swearing that I would mend my ways.

I'll buy grown up clothes. I'll stop wearing tennis shoes all the time. I'll put freaking make up on when I leave the house. Hell, I might even wear a bracelet or ring or something. I'll carry a purse.

That's why I hate those places, because I always feel like I'm doing everything wrong when I go there.

But my hair and eyebrows look great.

Loki sez: Bet they laughed at you when you left!

May Dreams

Once again, I turn my thoughts to my birthday trip. Last year's trip was postponed for a good cause and this year my imagination is fired up.

Oh, I've been looking at Eurorail passes and Bavarian forests and Swiss lakes and dreaming of long lost Irish relatives. I've been having envious thoughts about Samantha Brown. I'm longing for Greek Isles and little known Spanish villages.

Then I look at the air fare.

Yikes.

So I think we will resurrect the southeastern Utah trip. Moab. Arches and Canyonland National Parks.

I am to see the orthopedic doc this afternoon. I will tell him that I hope to be hiking in Utah in five months. We'll see how hard he laughs.

Thor sez: Can I go? I want to see a dinosaur bone!

Re-evaluations

In the spirit of the new year, I've been re-evaluating my charitable donations. In an effort to put my money where my mouth is: i.e. the importance of food, clean water, education and economic opportunities for those living in a type of poverty that we in America can barely imagine.

I've been looking at these charities this morning:

(All have been located via Charity Navigator, which rates the efficacy of how the charity uses its donations.)

Water for People. This charity helps develop local, sustainable water sources, sanitation and health/hygiene education. They got a 4 star rating from Charity Navigator and 84.3% of funds go directly to projects.

Women for Women International. "...supports women in war-torn regions with financial and emotional aid, job-skills training, rights education and small business assistance so they can rebuild their lives." They have a 3 star rating and 71.5% goes to projects.

Techno Serve. "...helps entrepreneurial men and women in poor rural areas of the developing world to build businesses that create income, opportunity and economic growth for their families, their communities and their countries." Their rating is 4 star and 82.7% goes to projects.

World Neighbors . "..focuses on training and educating communities to find lasting solutions to the challenges they face – hunger, poverty and disease – rather than giving them food, money or constructing buildings. Communities tell World Neighbors what their needs are, and World Neighbors, in turn, works with them to acquire the knowledge, skills and organization to solve their problems." 4 star and 74.4%

Living Water International. "..is a leading implementer of participatory, community-based water solutions in developing nations. In its 16-year history, LWI has completed nearly 6,500 community water projects in 25 countries, which provide safe, clean water to 9.5 million people every day." 4 star rating and 83.2%. (Note this is a Christian charity which may or may not make it more appealing to some. I do tend to balk at charities that link getting help with accepting the faith of the helpers.)

Root Capital. "...By supporting grassroots businesses that value environmental stewardship, Root Capital is strengthening sustainable livelihoods and transforming rural economies in poor, environmentally vulnerable places." 4 stars and 75.8%

Room to Read. "...partner with local communities throughout the developing world to provide quality educational opportunities by establishing libraries, creating local language children's literature, constructing schools, providing education to girls and establishing computer labs. We seek to intervene early in the lives of children in the belief that education empowers people to improve socioeconomic conditions for their families, communities, countries and future generations. Through the opportunities that only education can provide, we strive to break the cycle of poverty, one child at a time." 4 stars and 86.4%.

Trickle Up. "...offers grants, not loans, to entrepreneurs because we are committed to working with the extreme poor — people living on less than $1 a day who are unable to obtain a microloan. We focus our support on women. The majority report that, once they have launched their businesses, they are able to provide better nutrition, health care and education for their families. We also focus on providing support to people with disabilities."
4 stars and 84.7%.

I once had a conversation with a staunchly conservative Christian in which she complained that I didn't like her solutions and she didn't like my solutions.

What I wish I had said: It doesn't matter, we all just need to do our little bit. Your solutions will help some, mine will help others and between us, maybe we can help all who are in need.

The boyz say: Is there a charity that provides human grade tuna to neglected kittens?

Loki Sunday

The love seat in the front room is pushed up in front of the windows that over look the bird feeders. We call it Cat TV.

Loki loves Cat TV.



When the sun sets and all the birdies go home to roost for the night, we close the blinds and that is that until the next morning.

Until about a week ago. Loki became obsessed with Cat TV at Night. He wouldn't leave the back of the couch, not even for Jeopardy!

Loki sez: There's something out there!

He became so obsessed that when we shut him out of the front room, he would stand at the kitchen door and cry. One night he tried to leap up into the laundry room windows.

"It's a palmetto bug," I said.

Then one evening, he had Thor there at the window, staring. So I joined them. Plopped down and put my head on the back of the sofa between them and began looking.

And there it was, peeking out over the window ledge, a tiny little field mouse. Hopefully the same one that was in the air ducts, now living free.

Loki sez: No one ever believes me.

Saturday On the Couch

I got my orders from my doc yesterday: Plant my ass somewhere, ice the knee, and take anti-inflammatories until I get an assessment from the ortho doc.

Which isn't until Tuesday.

Now, sitting on your butt, watching TV and movies, reading books, pushing all the boring drudgery of chores off either to another day or another person may sound like fun.

But it isn't. After the first four hours or so, I'm wondering if I still have my crutches from my last knee surgery. That's technically no weight bearing, right?

And of course Thor knows I'm not supposed to get up because he is a cat and cats freaking understand English and are psychic, so he goes as far away from where I am as he possible can and starts up with his pathetic I'm probably dying but you don't care meow, knowing full well that I will only be able to tolerate about five minutes of it before I have to get up and hobble down the hall where I will find him belly up, maximum cute face on, paws kneading in the air, purr loud enough to be heard next door, his eyes begging me to play with him.

Thor sez: Like this?

Loki, on the other hand, is a good bed/couch rest cat. He will curl up beside me and lick my thumb until the skin is peeling off and I have a dozen pin-prick holes in my flesh from his claws.


Loki sez: What? I like to lick your thumb.

Flying While Brown

Jason and I have about the same conversation every time we fly. Just before boarding, I will make a ladies room run. He asks me why I can't go on the plane and I tell him that if the plane crashes, I don't want to be found dead in the head with my pants around my ankles.

Good thing I don't wear a scarf and that Jason is fair skinned and fair haired.

It just goes to prove that often people aren't suspicious of what you say, but how you look.

I have also made remarks on board about where the safest seats were located.

Difference? Oh yeah, I'm white and Americanized, not brownish and foreign looking.

Jason bought a book of photography the other day. It's called What Matters. I was struck by several photographs. One was of a filthy, balding three year old girl, her hands black from the labor she does at a battery recycling plant in Bangladesh, the other a three or four year old American girl at a day spa, getting her first mani/pedi.

There was another striking contrast in the photos of a young woman in India who was scavenging from a junk yard and a young American teen who was scavenging through the hundreds of articles of clothing strewn on her bedroom floor, looking for something to wear that day.

I know we can't undo all the injustices in the world. I like my luxuries also. But we, as a nation, need to really look and see how most of the world lives and stop being so wasteful and gluttonous and ignorant to the fact that thousands are dying every day for a want of the simplest things that we take for granted.

Like a glass of clean water to drink.

Like more than a mouthful of food a day.

Like more than a single scrap of clothing to wear.

Like not having our three year old daughters work cracking open batteries by hand so she can get a meal at the end of a 13 hour work day.

American pets live better than many children in this world.

We need to stop pretending, looking the other way, shrugging our shoulders and saying there is nothing we can do about it. We need figure out how to do something about it.

Poverty breeds desperation and desperation breeds anger and anger breeds terrorism.

Happy New Year!

We spent an exciting New Year's Eve watching Burn After Reading and sleeping. Whew! Party animals, that's us.

Thor sez: Must you type so loud? Just cos you went to bed early...

I'm not big on New Year resolutions but I looked back to see how I'd done on the ones I made last year.

Ha. Haha. Hahaha.

But that's why we celebrate the turning of the year, so we can try again, right?

So this year I resolve to:

1. Fix my knee(s). Which will help with resolutions 2 and 3:

2. Get my cholesterol level down.

3. Get my fasting glucose levels down to normal (Last tests showed I was pre-diabetic, which I totally don't get - I'm not overweight, and while I don't exercise regularly, I have an extremely active job - it's not like I'm sitting at a desk all night. Literally, I can walk several miles in a 12 hour shift).

4. Actually leave my savings in my savings account. It was embarassing, the number of transfers back and forth I did last year.

Thor sez: I see no savings in your future. I see more cat toys!

By the way, it's Thor's Day!

I've been annoying him by singing the Sparta song to him using "little Thor-bee" instead of "little Sparta".

Thor sez: It isn't the song, but your off-key screeching that is annoying.