The vet came by at around 10:30 today. She was very gentle, very kind, and let Brianna stay where she was comfortable, in my hallway. I stayed close to her, stroked her side, and cradled her head in my hand while her purr faded, and, eventually, she did, too. The vet made an impression of Brianna's paw in a clay disc that I will need to set ( Read more... )

Sixteen years ago, I went to the local pet shelter and chose-or was chosen by-a little kitten who just had some je ne sais quoi that drew me to her. I called her "Brianna," but she really just answered to a clucking of my tongue-or the rattling of a bag of treats. It has been a wonderful sixteen years with her.
Three years ago, Brianna stopped ( Read more... )

Today, I noticed an ad in a magazine I was reading. The ad happened to be for a fish-oil supplement, but that's not entirely germane here. What jumped out at me was the phrase in the ad, "as Nature intended." Apparently, their supplement was superior to...well, I'm not exactly sure what. Other supplements, apparently. But it was superior ( Read more... )

Some time ago, I got an email from my father explaining that he had discovered that he had glaucoma, and that there was research that indicated that glaucoma could be passed on to your children.
Now, if you're anything like I was at the time, your understanding of glaucoma is probably limited to "that's some eye thing that old people get." So, ( Read more... )

I recently acquired an indoor/outdoor thermometer. Tonight, I went out to my balcony to install the "outdoor" portion of it. It had been a while since I went out there, so I spent some time sweeping up tree detritus and clearing away cobwebs (this area seems to be very popular with spiders). After things got all cleaned up, I found a good spot ( Read more... )

As a child of the 70s and 80s, and being very intellectually rather than physically oriented, I grew up with game shows. I don't know necessarily if they were in their heyday at that time, but darned if they weren't ubiquitous. And I loved them. Which means, of course, that many of the advertisers who sponsored them got burned into my memory.
( Read more... )

Me, to cat on lap and blocking my reach to the keyboard: How come you're never like this when I want to be cuddly?
Cat: *that look*
Me: Just asking!

Recently, while looking on Amazon at something-or-other that I owned for Kindle, I noticed an interesting option at the top of the page: "Loan this book to anyone you choose." Huh, I thought. That's interesting. It must be new. It turns out that if you do this, you lose access to the book for as long as you have it lent to the other individual ( Read more... )

And, once again, I am somewhat baffled by the approach of various governmental agencies toward the electronic filing of taxes. Generally, there's a colorful icon somewhere on the agency's website pointing to a page that explains in almost rhapsodic detail how filing electronically is faster, easier, better for the environment, and somehow makes ( Read more... )

It would appear that Words With Friends is not a big Star Trek fan. My current rack is "DIESULU."