This nap is brought to you by . . .

It has been a really, really long time since I took photos of the kittens. Yes, I still have all seven of the littler buggers although there are only six in the photos which follow. Woolly Bear is missing. I have no idea where he was napping.


From left to right: Stripes, Chaps, Stash, Streak, Goatee, Miss Bette


Stash couldn't be bothered with me snapping pictures. He just kept on dreaming.


Miss Bette also couldn't be bothered by me or with me.


Streak, however, had no problem giving me the evil eye for waking her up.


Goatee was trying for the evil eye but she just wasn't awake enough. That's Chaps next to her.


Last but not least, Meli keeping an eye on the jungle out my back door.

Wizard of Id

Izzy's back

But you didn't know she was gone, did you? Well, she is and she is now un-sexed. She's been at the vet's since Tuesday getting her little self fixed so we won't have to deal with her getting out and producing another litter. She's glad to be home and she seems to be holding up really well. So far she's dealing with the surgery and the drugs better than either Mouse or Rainbow did that first day back home.

I've informed the Prodigal Son he needs to make sure she's not left unsupervised with the kittens so she doesn't do something or have something done to her that would rip her stitches. We'll see how well that plays out.

Oh, she weight 8.3 pounds. Thought you'd want to know that.

Snort

Get Your Monster Name

I like this one better

Get Your Monster Name

I'm a little monster, yes I am

Get Your Monster Name

Movies: 137* out of 239

The following is taken from Teresa Wetzler's blog. I was also curious…

“It’s been said that allegedly if you’ve seen over 85 movies you have no life. Mark the ones you’ve seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own blog, paste it in and put x’s by the ones that you have seen. Add them up, change the header adding your number, and post it.”

(X) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(X) Grease
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
(X) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
(X) Neverending Story
(X) Blazing Saddles
(X) Airplane
(X) The Princess Bride
( ) AnchorMan
( ) Napoleon Dynamite
(X) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
(X) White Oleander
(X) Anger Management
(X) 50 First Dates
(X) The Princess Diaries
(X) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

Total so far: 15 out of 22.

(X) Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
( ) American Pie
( ) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
(X) Harry Potter 1
(X) Harry Potter 2
(X) Harry Potter 3
(X) Harry Potter 4
(X) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(X) The Wedding Singer
(X) Little Black Book
(X) The Village
(X) Lilo & Stitch

Total so far: 25 out of 43. This is not looking good.

(X) Finding Nemo
(X) Finding Neverland
(X) Signs
( ) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
(X) White Chicks
(X) Butterfly Effect
(X) 13 Going on 30
(X) I, Robot
(X) Robots
(X) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
(X) Universal Soldier
(X) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
(X) Deep Impact
(X) KingPin
(X) Never Been Kissed
( ) Meet The Parents
(X) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
(X) Joe Dirt
(X) King Kong

Total so far: 42 out of 66.

( ) A Cinderella Story
(X) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(X) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
(X) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
(X) Surviving Christmas
(X) Flubber*
( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(X) Practical Magic
(X) Chicago
(X) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
(X) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
(X) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards

Total so far: 52 out of 90.

(X) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child’s Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
(X) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
(X) Gothika
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street
(X) Sixteen Candles
(X) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(X) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Sleven
(X) Ocean’s Eleven
( ) Ocean’s Twelve
(X) Bourne Identity
(X) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
(X) Bedazzled
(X) Predator I
(X) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(X) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George

Total so far: 65 out of 121.

(X) Independence Day
(X) Cujo
(X) A Bronx Tale
(X) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(X) E.T.
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses DaughterOb
(X) Maid in Manhattan
(X) War of the Worlds
(X) Rush Hour
(X) Rush Hour 2
( ) Best Bet
(X) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(X) She’s All That
(X) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
(X) Mars Attacks
(X) Event Horizon
(X) Ever After
(X) Wizard of Oz
(X) Forrest Gump
(X) Big Trouble in Little China
(X) The Terminator
(X) The Terminator 2
(X) The Terminator 3

Total so far: 86 out of 147.

(X) X-Men
(X) X-2
(X) X3
(X) Spider-Man
(X) Spider-Man 2
(X) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(X) Catch Me If You Can
(X) The Little Mermaid
(X) Freaky Friday*
(X) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
(X) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(X) Shrek
(X) Shrek 2

Total so far: 99 out of 165.

( ) Swimfan
(X) Miracle on 34th street*
( ) Old School
(X) The Notebook
(X) K-Pax
(X) Krippendorf’s Tribe
(X) A Walk to Remember
(X) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
( ) The 40-year-old Virgin
(X) Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
(X) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(X) Lord of the Rings: Return Of the King
(X) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Total so far: 111 out of 181.

(X) Base-ketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(X) Elf
(X) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
( ) The Jacket
(X) Kung Fu Hustle
(X) Shaolin Soccer
(X) Night Watch
(X) Monsters Inc.
(X) Titanic
(X) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(X) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard

Total so far: 117 out of 200.

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
( ) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(X) Hook
(X) Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
(X) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(X) Waterworld
(X) Kill Bill Vol. 1
(X) Kill Bill Vol. 2
(X) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
(X) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) The Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness

Total so far: 125 out of 220.

(X) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(X) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(X) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(X) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(X) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(X) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks: Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks: The Battle For Endor
(X) The Matrix
(X) The Matrix: Reloaded
(X) The Matrix: Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
(X) Red Dragon
(X) Silence of the Lambs
(X) Hannibal

Grand total: 137 out of 239 unless you count the fact movies marked with * have two versions each that I've seen. In that case it would be 140 out of 239.

Huh . . . I've always known I have no life. Now I have proof positive.

Guess who's got ringworm now?

You got it.

And not just me, but the Prodigal's girlfriend as well.

Mine is on the heel of my hand where Woolly Bear clawed the dickens out of me when he got trapped in one of the holes in the plastic crates I use for storage and I tried to get him out. I'm not sure where the girlfriend's is but it does involve lowering her trousers.

I was right!

I think it was at their first visit to the vet that I asked the gender of the kittens. Very early on, I'd looked and decided there were two boys and five girls. The Prodigal Son kept insisting there were six girls and one boy. Well, the vet sided with my son, so I haven't bothered checking again. I mean, surely the vet can tell better than I, right?

Not so much.

I picked up the kindle yesterday and the vet told me Stash was the biggest kitten, weighing in at 3.8 pounds. I commented I would have expected Woolly Bear to be the biggest since he was a male. That's when the vet told me Stash was a male as well. Will wonders never cease?

Saints preserve! The sun came out today!

It's not a myth after all. But it's not the sun I took snaps of on my way home from work. It was the clouds.

Everything is still grey

I'm beginning to doubt there is such a thing as the sun. I think it is a story we are told, a legend to wile away the hours. It has certainly become an elusive thing if it is real and not just imaginings.

Oh, well.

I've changed to the "new" Blogger which doesn't mean much since I host my blog at my own web site. It will be interesting to see what breaks now when the folks who offer this service "fix" things.

Oh, well.

Work has been a bitch. I've been busy learning something new. Like everything else in life, the folks at the office waited until virtually the last minute to decide I could do the job and they really didn't need to hire someone to come in and do it. So now we're cramming a year's worth of training into one month so the outside engineer can go home where he hasn't been since before I started working here.

Oh, well.

The kittens are recovering nicely from their bout of ringworm. Missing fur is growing back. They've discovered climbing and racing through the house like cats out of hell. They so enjoy being kittens.

Scientific American: Reversal of Fortune: Researchers Erase Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Scientists show possibility of reversing effects of a severe neurological syndrome in a mouse model by restoring full function to a gene formerly rendered inactive

Hippo birdie two ewe, Prodigal Son!

Everything is grey

Just got home from work about an hour ago. Verra, verra tired. Learning new stuff before other employees leave is keeping me busy - hence the working today.

The weather has been miserable for a week. No sunshine in all that time and this almost drizzle most of the time. And cold. Not fun.

And all the kittens have ringworm. Systemic, of course - that means it's in their blood. I have to force this funny looking brownish liquid down their throats twice a day. A couple of the kittens are very good about taking the dropper. A couple start out good but get annoyed. The rest are annoyed right off the bat and try to put up a fight. Despite being much, much bigger than they are, I'm the one with wounds to show. I have tiny little kitten scratches all over my hand.

We've also given the kittens the run of the house, and run through it they certainly do. They also tumble, roll, and hop through it. Izzy is locked up with one or two of the other cats all day and all night so the kittens will stop nursing. Right now poor Izzy is mostly miserable. The kittens don't seem to notice she's gone but they do notice right away when we give her the run of the house for an hour or so at night. Although all of them will still nurse if I let them, only one of them insists on nursing. She even tries to do it while walking along beside Izzy.

Woolly Bear may turn into Rambo. Every so often, that's the name that pops out when I talk about him or to him. I had a Rambo many, many years ago and Woolly Bear does not remind me of him at all so I don't know why Woolly wants to pick that for his name. Miss Bette will remain Miss Bette and I think Stripes is firmly Stripes. None of the others have names.

Oh, well. Gotta put food in my tummy. It's grumbling at me. Gotta feed all the furry monsters, too.

Later, 'gators!

Meet Moustache

Dinner time

Play time

Geostationary Banana Over Texas

New postal law lets Bush peek through your mail

Why we're so good at recognizing music

Oh, and I forgot to mention

The Prodigal was at the vet with the kittens as well. When the vet asked if we were going to keep any of the kittens, the Prodigal told him we were keeping three of them. That was news to me. It seems the Prodigal wants to keep Woolly Bear, Stripes, and Miss Bette.

And before I forget, according to the vet, Woolly Bear is the only male among a kindle of females.

First trip to the vet

The kittens had their first trip to the vet today. One of the nameless crew has developed a fungus and I wanted it treated so the whole bunch was taken in. They all have a sinus infection with attendant goopy eyes for which we have antibiotic and cream. All of them have good lungs and heartbeats. None of them have ear mites. All of them are a little underweight, but we just started them on solid food this week so the vet wasn't terribly concerned. They were given a dose of worming medicine each which none of them liked at all.

And now we're back home and they have been fed. They and Izzy are all snuggled down for a nice nap after polishing off three cans of cat food betwixt them.

!! Happy New Year !!

May the best day of 2006 be the worst day of 2007!

They've escaped!

We brought the kittens out of the bedroom and let them have the run of the house. Meli wants to play with them. Horus just growls and snarls at them. Rainbow hid. And Mouse sat on the window sill placidly observing the furry monsters from a distance.

A couple of the kittens were disconcerted by this vasty space and a couple decided they preferred it to the bedroom. Stripes and Woolly Bear are definitely the alpha cats in this pack.

No glamour shots this week, just a muddle of bad pictures 'cause the silly buggers just wouldn't hold still.

Not what I expected

Your results:
You are Green Lantern

Hot-headed. You have strong will power and a good imagination.
Green Lantern		65%
Iron Man		50%
Batman		50%
Robin		47%
Catwoman		45%
Hulk		45%
Spider-Man		40%
Superman		35%
The Flash		35%
Wonder Woman		32%
Supergirl		32%

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

Tarsiger.com

A Snopes.com article entitled Eagle vs. Fox led me to the Tarsiger.com website to check out the full series of pictures the article referred to. Tarsiger.com is a Finnish birding website which hosts some phenomenal photos of all sorts of birds. The site can be viewed in English or Finnish.

My personal favorite - the Gyr Falcon (Tunturihaukka).

We're in trouble now

The kittens have finally gotten their land legs and they've started exploring their surroundings in earnest. So far, four of them have taken to wandering all over the bedroom. Two are Stripes and Wooly Bear and the other two are of the as yet nameless bunch. We have to be very careful opening the door 'cause the little buggers can be anywhere. We've caught them exploring the door hinges and trying to see if they can get under the door to see what's in the Great Outside where people come from.

Poor Izzy. It was bad enough having to deal with seven when they were pretty much immobile, but now . . . No wonder she wants to spend so much time in the Great Outside where the seven aren't. She's happy leaving them alone for a couple of hours while she eats and sleeps.

The Prodigal Son sent me this photo he took of Izzy and the brood. That's Miss Bette Davis she's holding while the rest are nursing. He took the photo with his phone a couple of weeks ago but he didn't send it to me until yesterday.

Three weeks old today

Three of the seven have crib names. The first photo at the top is of Miss Bette Davis. The grey tabby is Stripes. And the last photo on the bottom is Wooly Bear.

You can see that they're just the tiniest bit a bigger handful than last week.

Kitty pile

Herding kittens

My peculiar aristocratic title

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Empress Seitherin the Introspective of Chortling Chesterton Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Math

I snagged this from purple is a fruit:

1. Grab a calculator. (you won't be able to do this one in your head)
2. Key in the first three digits of your phone number (NOT the area code)
3. Multiply by 80
4. Add 1
5. Multiply by 250
6. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number
7. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number again.
8. Subtract 250
9. Divide number by 2.


Do you recognize the answer?

Two weeks old

The Most Significant SF & Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years, 1953-2002

I stumbled across this list here. Like the poster of that article, I had to see how many of them I had read. I'm also not sure what qualifies these books - especially a couple of them - as 'significant'.

I've bolded the ones I've read and added comments where I felt the need.

1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien (I can see why this one would be 'significant' by just about any definition, but, honestly, the book bored me silly. It's been nearly 30 years since I read it and I just can't bring myself to pick it up again.)

2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov (Asimov is one of my favorite authors and is one of the first SF authors I read when I finally got into SF over 30 years ago. I remember nothing about these books except that I liked them when I read them.)

3. Dune, Frank Herbert

4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein (This is one of those books that everyone bows to as the greatest thing ever written. I thought it was crap when I read it 20 odd years ago.)

5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin

6. Neuromancer, William Gibson

7. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke

8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick

9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley

10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury (This is my favorite Bradbury. As a biblioholic, a time without books just terrifies me. I've read this one several times.)

11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe (I loved these books when I read them. I only know of one other friend who has read them and enjoyed these books as much as I did. Both of us are female. All of the males I know who have tried to read these books have not liked them.)

12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.

13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov

14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras

15. Cities in Flight, James Blish

16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett

17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison

18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison

19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester

20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany

21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey

22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card

23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson (I tried to read these books. I managed to finish the first one but couldn't bear the second. I don't have a high tolerance for whining self-obsession and that's all Covenant seemed to do.)

24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman

25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl

26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling

27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson

29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice

30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin (I have this book but I haven't read it yet.)

31. Little, Big, John Crowley (I also have this book in my TBR pile waiting to be read.)

32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny

33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick

34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement

35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon

36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith

37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute

38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke

39. Ringworld, Larry Niven

40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys

41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien

42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut

43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson

44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner

45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester

46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein

47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock

48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks (I'm not sure how or why this one could ever be considered 'significant'. I suppose it could qualify as best marketed derivative drivel of a classic.)

49. Timescape, Gregory Benford

50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

50.33% of the books read - .33% for the first of the Covenant books since I didn't actually finish the series - and two more of the books in my TBR pile. Not bad.

It's not the name

This is what came up when I typed in Seitherin Melyssen Meiselas which is the full name of the D&D character I played whose name is the basis of my domain:

If You Were Born in 2893...

Your Name Would Be: Raak Vuis And You Would Be: A High Priestess / Priest

If You Were Born in 2893

This is what came up when I typed in Tristin Zynara Mardil who is the D&D character I am playing now:

If You Were Born in 2893...

Your Name Would Be: Umori Vovv And You Would Be: A High Priestess / Priest

If You Were Born in 2893

And this is what came out when I typed in Gareth Alexandra Regian Toth Ky'Villond which is the name of my most enduring D&D character:

If You Were Born in 2893...

Your Name Would Be: Kiku Pant And You Would Be: An Alien Anthropologist

If You Were Born in 2893

And this is what came out when I type in my complete real name:

If You Were Born in 2893...

Your Name Would Be: Laif Kiku And You Would Be: An Alien Anthropologist

If You Were Born in 2893

I'm sensing a pattern. ;D

This and that and the other stuff

You can't get a decent croissant in this town. I'm still just 'continental' enough to want a croissant and coffee for breakfast every once in a while. So I went in search of such this morning.

The coffee part was fairly easy. There is a place in town called The Local which does a fairly decent cup of Starbucks. They list croissants on their bakery board so I decided to give them a try. Not such a good idea. Their idea of a croissant is that faux white bread used for making sandwiches which is not the kind of croissant one dips in one's coffee. And they were not fresh and had very obviously been frozen at some time since there was still a chill on them when I got them home. Oh, well, I should have known better. This place went from serving their tuna sandwiches on a multi grain bread to serving them on a flavorless sourdough.

I also stopped in the Hastings this morning. I haven't been in since they moved from the mall out on the highway next to Target. As much as I hated the store when it was in the mall, I hate it even more now. Their aisles are like a maze in a dungeon where you get trapped in dark corners and can't escape. Seriously. The store is nothing but dead end aisles where you have to retrace your steps to get to another section. And you can't see over the bookcases which are so close together it makes the place feel claustrophobic. Give me a Barnes & Noble any day.

I also - finally - managed to get the rest of my Christmas cards mailed. I posted the international cards on Tuesday when the machine at the post office started dispensing postage again after being offline for a week. But it still wasn't doing regular US postage. So I bit the bullet and got up in time to hit the two hour window when the post office is actually open for business on Saturday. My, my, my. There was quite a nice little crowd. You'd almost think this was the weekend before the weekend before Christmas it was so busy. I bought real stamps - how boring have Christmas stamps become, I ask - ugly snowflakes on one and a Madonna and child on the other - and slapped them on the envelops(*) and popped the cards in the mail slot. The only thing left to mail is the Best Friend's gift which I will do either tomorrow or Tuesday - I'm such a procrastinator.

And now I'm home. I'm torn between finishing the socks I'm working on and crawling back into my book. Who would have thought I'd get into a book that's more about swordfish fishing than the murder mystery I picked it up for? Live and learn.

(*)Envelops? What, in heavens name, is an envelop? That is supposed to be envelopes. One of these days I will learn to spell. ;D

Driving home in the fog

It was foggy this morning when I drove to work and it was foggy coming home tonight. I honestly don't know if there was any sunshine today or not. I managed to make it all day without either going or looking outside.

What's cute got to do with it?

The kittens are twelve days old today and they are getting slightly more mobile. Although they still enjoy laying in one small lump, watching them jockey for position in the kitty pile is a hoot. Jockeying for position involves rolling over and pawing at the air, rolling over and pawing at each other, climbing over each other, trying to crawl their way under each other. A couple of them have also gotten curious enough to explore the bounds of the blanket that's been their home.

Pretty soon, they'll be a holy terror.

What's in a name?

I just finished updating the Names section. 630 new names were added.

Move over, Vanna!

You are The Wheel of Fortune

Good fortune and happiness but sometimes a species of
intoxication with success

The Wheel of Fortune is all about big things, luck, change, fortune. Almost always good fortune. You are lucky in all things that you do and happy with the things that come to you. Be careful that success does not go to your head however. Sometimes luck can change.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.