Today's Catnip - Pay Attention!

Mozart curling up on my lap, then doing his special squeak at me to demand attention. It's sooooo cute when he's staring up at me demanding scritches and pets.

Book - A Long Finish

This was the first Dibdin book I'd read in 2000, and I decided to re-read it this week. Just finished it, and I *loved* it all over again. The writing is elegant - so lyrical, evocative, and skilled. He masterfully manipulates the reader through a mystery set around Alba, all the while framing it within Italian culture and winemaking, which are very appealing subjects to me. Not just the powerful fancy people, but the regular working man are portrayed very insightfully. Reading about Italian ways was fascinating, with passages like this:

"A conspiracy not of silence but of chatter. Down south, if you try to get people to cooperate with the police, they give you sullen looks and clam up. Here they smile and buy you a drink and you can't shut them up, but the net result is the same. Everyone knows who killed Aldo Vincenzo, just like they knew that Lamberto Latini was sleeping with the tobacconist's wife, and their response is to take refuge in garrulous evasiveness. They'll tell you anything else you want to know, and a lot of stuff you don't, but not that."

There are numerous points of sly satire and moments of ROTFL, like the over-eager sub-machine-gun wielding Dario, or when Zen realizes he was affected by second-hand hashish. The black humor is perfectly done. The only odd thing is his seeming fascination for rats - the long observations of them and their behavior which also appears in other books, most notably the grotesque description in Ratking.

Bitchy CV Librarian

Title pretty much says it all. Unpleasant nasty old bitch with a fucking attitude. I know I'm being silly for being bothered, but when I'm being nice, I'd like to have the courtesy returned. Especially when I visit often enough. Stupid nasty shriveled old bitch. And she's the only one, everyone else has been friendly or at least polite. Anyway, vented and feel better now. 1-2-08.

De Young Museum - Playing Tourist

Had a wonderful day today playing tourist. Started off at Hubby's favorite cafe, delicious fresh brioche and a vanilla chai latte for me. Then wandered up Columbus, over to Chinatown checking out all the useless trinkets, passed by my little hole-in-the-wall Chinese on Jackson to make sure it was still there (yup).

Back over to Columbus to browse through City Lights. Always reminded of what an excellent place this is, such a fantastic selection of books! Wanted to buy a Lorca and Borges selection of poems with both Spanish and English, but didn't know if the translations were good. Will do a little search and go back to buy 'em.

Then hit the de Young for some art appreciation. Warming up to the exterior. The interior is fantastically laid out, with numerous vantage points looking out over the lobby, the sculpture garden outside, etc. The collection is ok, nothing that I would rave about, although I really enjoy the Oceanic and African collections. Hubby really liked Vallien's Janus IX.

Ended with some excellent Thai food on 2nd St.

Book - Don Quijote

Never tried this book before, but now that I'm middle-aged, perhaps it will resonate more with me than if I had tried this at a younger age. After a lot of research, I decided to go with the Raffel translation, which just happened to be at my local used-book store. The Spanish edition I decided to go with the Real Academia IV Centenario because it's a quality printing, beautiful hardbound, with sewn binding. The extras are copious footnotes to explain the archaic Spanish, along with a glossary, and definitely a steal at the price. So now I'll experiment with reading an English chapter first, then a Spanish, and vice versa, to see what works for me.

TV - Bordeaux & Dordogne

Smart Travel series. We've been watching this for a while, mostly because it's done in HD, and Hubby will watch anything in HD. *Rolling eyes*. Anyway, we realized that we should probably make some notes so we'll remember what we liked, and where we want to visit. So the first one we'll note is Bordeaux.

domme fortified town bastille fois gras

sarlat medieval town set for historical movies picturesque

Lascaux II original is closed, but replica looks excellent

rocamadour village clinging to cliffside
Chateaux du viguier du roy - nice looking hotel

bordeaux neat looking city - hotel burdigalia

st emilion - underground cave of hermit

Book Club - Dorian Gray

First book discussion, only half of the people who came to the original setup meeting came, but most were funny and nice except for one freaking annoying grating nasty woman. But that's ok. Most of the suggested books seemed interesting, I'll go see if I can get them from the local used bookstore.

A few people thoroughly disliked the book, which I understood. The writer sounds extraordinarily pompous, expounding pointlessly at times, it seems, and one could practically see the writer himself in real life holding court at some soiree. But one can get past it. I loved this book, second reading. Pretended I was at the party listening to him throw provocative and outrageous ideas into the wind. I was roaring with laughter, some of the lines are truly memorable.

"There is a fatality about all physical and intellectual distinction, the sort of fatality that seems to dog through history the faltering steps of kings. It is better not to be different from one's fellows. The ugly and the stupid have the best of it in this world."

"To get back one's youth, one has merely to repeat one's follies."

"Society, civilised society at least, is never very ready to believe anything to the detriment of those who are both rich and fascinating. It feels instinctively that manners are of more importance than morals, and, in its opinion, the highest respectability is of much less value than the possession of a good chef.'

"To be popular one must be a mediocrity."








Ah, a literary cat is our Ginza, as he takes a reading break.

Book - City of Falling Angels

Leisurely finished this book, it was not one of the can't-put-it-downs. Not a bad read, entertaining. Writing was ok, but I didn't feel all the mystery and charm of Venice and its inhabitants leaping out at me, like Dibdin's books. None of the characters really engaged me, and neither did most of the stories. I was interested enough in the Rylands that I tried to find out more about them online, but didn't find much - ok, I only half-heartedly looked. I did like the rat poison chef, I thought his story was hilarious, and the enthusiasm he had for his work really came through.

What's odd is that the pretext for the book was a look at La Fenice, but it never really ties any of the stories in with it. There's some lame mention occasionally about what on of the people thought about the fire, but it sounded more like last-minute add-ins. The Opera Buffa chapter caught my attention the most, and I wish there had been more on the whole process, since it seemed the most absurd and interesting of all the stories. As with any construction anywhere in the world, especially on a historical landmark, the demands, requirements and corruption sometimes go beyond the absurd, into the twilight zone. Sounded like there was a lot of that here, and I would have liked to know more, especially what was unique to Venetians.

Still, I enjoyed reading this, and am still very enthusiastic about visiting Venice.

Asian Art Museum

Had a great afternoon with Hubby, grabbed a good lunch in their cafe, then a tour of the new exhibitions this season. Didn't really like either, but always interesting. Always love the permanent collection. Their later jade pieces are on display till August, and I bought the accompanying catalogue to study the pieces a little more, as well as another book on hidden meanings, which is very entertaining.

Asian Art Museum. Five years later, still don't like the building, but I'm just so happy that it exists, and it's in the City.

Today's Catnip - Shoulder Tapping

Ginza reaching up to tap my shoulder while I'm sitting, startling the hell out of me. Yeah, he's that long, and he does it to me often. If I don't pay attention afterwards, he reaches up to tap me with both paws and a meow, shake my arm or grab my sleeve.

Today's Catnip - Camouflage & Snoring

A tie today:

1. Pixie crouching stock-still with her head under a tented newspaper believing she's completely hidden even though the rest of her body is fully visible.

2. A sleeping Mozart making a snuffle/sigh so loud I could hear him across the room.

Bulk Cat Food

Bulk purchased this month's kitty food. What's with all the freaking comments from people wondering how many cats I had to buy that much food for? I bulk shop at Costco for just Hubby and me. No one raises eyebrows when I buy a tower of TP or meat. Although I do remember snickering morons when I first started bulk buying TP back in '91. Guess it was a newer concept then. I vaguely remember being a little embarrassed myself lugging so much in my cart, not that it stopped me. Now it's just an accepted practice. If you have the storage space.

Maybe it'll be the same soon for pet food. I mean, it's not like eating is an occasional thing, and cans and kibble keep a while, so why not avoid weekly trips to fill the kitty pantry? I'm very glad I buy a wide variety, I felt vindicated when the pet food scare happened. Until then, my friends had thought I was nuts when I explained about different brands coming from the same manufacturer, etc. I looked into BARF a few years ago, but can't find anything that will work for me. One friend now cooks all the food for her doggy, I may incorporate that into their store-bought diet. But honestly? I'm just plain lazy, and cans are convenient.

The Bra

Forgot about the friggin' bra, and finally went in to buy it. I usually avoid clothes that can't accommodate a T-back, but somehow this dress slipped by me. Glad I saw it before the party, otherwise I would have been screwed. Man, do I thoroughly dislike 2-strappers. And HOW much do they cost? Put me in a freaking mood. Arrggghhh. Mollified by a 30% coupon and they were on sale.

Slow Days

Haven't been up to much, just hanging out with Hubby and kitties, though he was out for the count most of the weekend. Used our bulk waste day, got a bunch of stuff thrown out. Yay. Forgot a few items. Boo.

Physically really tired, but still in good spirits. Didn't do too much more. Blog already serving its purpose - I just noticed that it's been days since I last worked on that landscaping project, and the closets! Must brace myself to hit Ikea and Lowe's for closet reconnaissance, did I mention I *hate* shopping? Must do some positive reinforcement: I did do a bunch of weeding, so it's not totally stalled. I've also done some more filing too. And got that night light finally.

Been reluctant to get Dorian read, dunno exactly why, but better get it done before next week's meeting. Reading City of Falling Angels, can't wait to visit Venice. When I first started this book, I was so irritated, I left it for almost a year. Must be more receptive to it now, 'cause it's more entertaining.

Got bunch of papers read, got some Fr & Sp done.

Today's Catnip - Droolinator

Ginza running over to purr, cuddle and march on me while I'm working, making sure to drool all over my arm. Then periodically he gazes up at me so happily it just melts my heart.

TV - Midsummer Murders

Entertaining. Seen most of the seasons, the last couple seasons not out in the library DVD selections yet. Barnaby is a great character, and the actor is just the most lovable guy. Just like a great big teddy bear. Of all his sidekicks, I liked Troy the most.

Most of the episodes are passable, some are downright stinkers (Straw Woman), and a few are excellent (the rowing one).

Late night shopping

...on Amazon. Got the Home Improvement DVDs and a night light, finally! Always felt bad about keeping Hubby up with the lamp. The last night light I had was a scary one, burnt so hot it fried the casing. Apparently one wasn't meant to read for more than 5 minutes at a time. Hopefully this LED stuff burns cooler. Concerned about the battery usage, though. We'll see.

Today's Catnip - Laptop Kitty

Mozart being adorably cute and helpful by laying fully sphinx-like on the keyboard staring at the screen. Even better, he's pinned my left hand too.

He's also adorable when he's furiously purring and trying to head-bump me, something he just learned earlier this year.

Today's Catnip - Newspapers

Kayla sitting calmly and intently on my newspaper as I try to read it. Why is it that every one of my cats are singularly drawn to the open paper only when I'm reading it? No interest if it's open and unattended. They're so helpful, trying to spare me from the news.

It's official: they hate scented litter. I tried fresh scent Tidy Scoop, and the A&H unscented gets the most traffic. The dumbest company so far has got to be the Purrfect (?) litter people (Costco) - kitties loved the unscented, then they had to put in - get this - lemongrass scent. NEVER mind that most (all?) cats HATE citrus smells. Did they think citrus only meant orange? Out of curiosity I bought 1 last year to try, and sure enough, the cats ran out of that box like the hounds of hell, and glared at me like I'd committed an unforgivable sin. LMAO. Costco stopped carrying it last time I checked. Duh.

Haircut - Officially Bad

Ok, optimism aside, it's a bad hack job. It looks especially horrible when I straighten it, when it's curled the hacking's a bit more disguised. Shit!

Orchid Retrospective

Wheeled the catts out for some sun. Been doing it for 1 month now, since the temps dipped. The cyms were all moved up against the house. After 2 years of neglect, not only did the poor guys have a raging case of scale, but their numbers were decimated. I had over 400 back in 2005. Went thru the spreadsheets and orchids, and I have 54 catts, 44 cyms, 19 phals, and 25 miscellaneous left. All the phrag besseaes croaked, of course, since they needed daily watering. The other big casualties were the phals, down from 67. I’m so happy that most of the catts & cyms survived, especially the oldest ones from 1992.

VERY Productive Day

I'm so happy I got a lot done. Pick-axed 3 holes in the front, need 6 more holes. Planting lantana. Was a project-in-waiting for the last 5 years. Bunches of landscaping rocks saved. Lots of cleanup and weeding done. Sprayed the catts again.

Made new paper files for 2008, and moved this year's to old files. Threw out bunch of old papers, dug up old schedules, and making a new one for next year. Reconciled accounts.

Did my Fr & Sp lessons. Pulled out the tunnels for kitties, they're loving it, mad-dashing thru them and pouncing on top of them. It's good to hide them for a while, so it's all fun and new again. I'm happy when they're happy. An old pic of the tunnels.

Book Club - Cat With Emerald Eye

Very funny book club meeting, 2 of the 3 women disliked the book as much as me. Next month's selection is Grimes' The Old Wine Shades. Never read any of her stuff before, but this one's *much* better than last month's selection. Started reading it while kinda enjoying a leisurely lunch at a now-formerly-liked bistro.

Got Fr & Sp lessons done, plus extra 2 episodes each.

Pretty Jeweled Wrap

Very good day today, even though got no gardening done. Clouds started rolling in the afternoon. Think it's supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow, and later in the week too.

Got a really nice jeweled wrap/throw from Macy's to put over the black dress I'll wear to the company thing. On sale too. It even looks like it's an ensemble. I'm set. Nice not to have to buy anything additional, since I already had the dress and shoes. I was looking for an alternate dress just in case (the dress is a 6, was a little worried about having overindulged, but no worries, it's actually too big around the waist, but still ok.) But everything looked so hideous, and at Nordstrom Rack too. Not interested in looking like a frau in a plain jersey dress OR a freaking disco ball wearing a shop-full of beads. What's going on? Did I mention - I *hate* shopping.

Also treated myself to lunch, Japanese, since Hubby had the same at work. Yummy rolls. A little worried about the place, though, it had a depressed and quiet feel to it - at one point I was the only one there. Been going here for years now, people are all Japanese. Would be terrible if it closed.

Got today's plus extra Sp lessons done.

Mood: Very tired, energy-less, but not unhappy.

Weekend Over

Well, feels like a lost weekend. Didn't get to work out, or do any more gardening. But at least I didn't have to cancel lunch at E-Bar with P. Always a great time, excellent company, fun news. Hadn't known the place was there, brand-new. Very nice, good for the city.

Able to double up on lessons, so caught up on yesterday's missed episodes. Very good.

Getting used to the new hairstyle, can't have it completely straightened, cause then it really looks butchered. I can tell that when it grows out, it'll look really nice, though, so I feel better.

Poor catts, they've been cooped up for 2 days, and a couple are trying to bud. Yup, time for the lights. It's been sunny, but freezing cold. Been windy as hell too, allergies are just killing me.

Back Up Finally!!

Typical Comcast: No-one calls me to tell me they're coming. By pure chance, I pass 2 trucks down the street on my way out, and had a feeling, so turned around, and sure enough, they were in front of our house. Turns out it was their modem, and they fixed it. Way easier and painless than the idiot from yesterday was telling me. Glad I didn't let him do anything else to it.

Now there's problems with the TV, it keeps cutting out, and there's lines everywhere on various stations, and there's no HD stations. Several neighbors having same problem, so I know it's not just me. AGAIN. Just like with the net. But I don't care, since I don't watch TV.

Now keep in mind this is supposed to be an upgrade. So we can have On-Demand and better HBO. Neither of which we have, or care to have. If there were upgrades to the internet service, I'd feel like all this aggravation was ok. Freaking people.

Dec 1

Today’s adorable catnip: Pixie rolling around like a centerfold model while I try to make the bed, while Mozart attacks the billowing monsters.

Can’t sleep in: Ginza jumping all over my head trying to wake me up. After an hour, he pawed the covers. Usually means he wants to crawl under the blankets and cuddle on me. Not this time: he was pulling back the covers to get me OUT of bed. I couldn’t believe it. If it weren’t so annoying it’d be cute.

Freaking Comcast people in and out ALL day and night. 9:30pm and still not on. BTW, fricking cold out there!! Guy gave me some giant bullshit line about him fixing the original problem at the main hub, but now it's a problem in my house or my computer. Uhhh, NO! Anyway, more people supposed to come tomorrow.

Mood: Pissed, annoyed, frustrated

Nov 30

Comcast sucks eggs. Sucks eggs big-time. Still down. Not coming till tomorrow.

Discovered something positive, though. Spend way too much time on computer working or surfing. I got a lot done around the house and yard today. Good to rediscover this, will keep eye on it.

Nov 29

Freaking Comcast!!!!!! Down all day.

Eggnog latte from Starbucks. Apple fritter. YUM.

Got a couple hours yard maintenance done. Very excellent.

Got my last Fr & Sp lesson done. Officially completed the entire series this month. Excellent!!

Finished the Douglas book: it’s official – crap. Annoying, un-entertaining crap.

Today’s adorable catnip: Kayla screaming and beating down the screen door to get my attention as I’m gardening outside. Once inside, she bounced all around me trying to trip, I mean guide, me to the couch so she can have her lap time! She is soooo hilarious when she decides she wants something.

Mood: Tired, cranky, crampy.

Haircut

Finally bit the bullet and went to get a haircut. Not loving it, but not hating it either. I always get bad hairstylists, I'm not sure what it is. Got some layers, the back looks pretty decent, unfortunately hair's shorter than I wanted. Just the front needs more work. But more importantly, she actually listened and didn't give me bangs, I can tuck the hair behind my ears. I can't stand hair over my face.

The Vietnamese-run place around the corner from the Lucky's downtown.

Book - Cat With Emerald Eye

Put it off long enough - must read for next wk's book club. It's annoying, but I can't quite put my finger on the "why" yet. Started today, half-way thru it. Happily put it down to work on tedious projects. That's how good this book is.

Frustrating day in general. Several more hrs working on materials for the closet project. Annoying not to have the right sizes when it's not custom. Like: 4ft long for 12" deep, but not for 16" deep. Grrrrr. Remembered should go to Ikea & Lowe's to check out what they've got.

Spent another hour on the camera project. Can't decide on a 4 or 8 channel system, and if 180 ft IR is overkill.

On the plus side, got a whole 4 Sp episodes in. 1 more Fr & Sp episode left, and done! On track to completing the whole series again this mth. Yay!!

Unbelievably Adorable

This is about as exposed-tummy as Queen Kayla's gonna get sleeping. I think I've only ever seen her roll on her back twice ever.












And one of our all-time favorite baby pics.

Catts Sunning Outside

Another beautiful day. Some of my catts enjoying the sunshine. Rolled up the shade covers to take the pic, and the min/max therm is on the right side. Gave them all a quick misting - low humidity.

From Everything Else Orchids

New Book Club

Wow, the first meeting of this book club was well attended, and even a couple women my age there. Just a general discussion and intros; the first book is Dorian Gray, the least tedious of the choices given. We’ll see how it goes.

Beautiful day today. Wheeled the catts out for some sun. Soon it'll have to be the fluorescents & Wonderlites. Love that nip in the air, not too cold. Nights just perfect for burrowing snugly under the covers. Bought an electric blanket to put on the kitty ledge, big hit, so I'll get a couple more. I (& more importantly the kitties) like the terry cloth of this one, not that hideous acrylic with the static. Now the heated kitty beds are getting a lot of use too. Why is it that even with 5 beds, they all fight over the same one?

Finished 1 lesson each Fr & Sp.

Mood: still down, but trying hard.

Back to HD to check on a few closet items, gouged out my hand on a stupid shelf rail. Didn't get anything yet, but did buy this pretty phal, tiny flowers, very cute.

From Blooming Orchids!

Closet Planning, Etc.

After a shitty market day, nothing better than a propeller-purring orange furrball curled in your lap, using your hand for a pillow as you slog through the next tedious task of designing organizers for 4 closets. Mozart’s decided I really only need one hand on the computer. Have to stop myself chuckling when he snores and sighs away. The only one with funnier sleeping sounds is Pixie, with a repertoire of loud grunts, snorts and looong drawn out sighs.

2 hrs later: finally made closet designs I’m happy with, and easy enough to get from Home Depot. Now just Hubby’s closet left to go. God, I am SO looking forward to having all my stuff neat and organized! No more digging through precariously teetering piles of clothing. Of course, now I have to sort crap that’s probably really out of date. And I’ve already seen stuff that I wondered, “What the hell was I thinking when I bought *this*?!”

Only did 1 lesson each of French and Spanish, but still good. *Love* French in Action and Destinos. Saw them years ago on KCSM (they’re always on), and watched a few occasionally. Then, in January, caught the first episodes, and thought, why not? It’s entirely different starting from the beginning than the middle, and once I got the method, I was hooked. It’s elementary, and they’re speaking really slowly, but it’s perfect for practicing accents. Hilarious: I could read books and write book reports, but butchered it speaking! I love Professeur Capretz, and "Raquel"'s good. My accent’s improved a lot. Typed up complete transcripts while watching, and have been faithfully doing the lessons every day. Really proud of myself.

Second spray on the cyms and catts in the war on scale. Dunno if it's working. Some cym spikes coming up, very cool.

Well, back again after feeding the kitties. Had the usual Circle of Death around me, complete with a threat from Mozart that I wasn’t providing dinner fast enough. He licks my bare skin, then nips it. We joke that if we died and the kitties were hungry, they’d eat us. But it’s true, and they’d eat me first. Nature - there you have it. LMAO.

Our Little Furrkids

Mozart

















Ginza













Kayla












Pixie

Excellent Weekend

Had the greatest time with Hubby this weekend. He's the funniest guy ever. But we were out a lot, and kitties were unhappy campers - not enough lap time. Posted all the food stuff on the dining blog.

Gardening: Sooooo happy for the unseasonal sunny and dry month we've been having so far. Getting so much done, especially since I just recently re-ignited my gardening bug. Not a minute too soon. Poor orchids. They've been such troopers, and all the cyms and catts are having a heck of a battle with some frigging scale. Screw any natural remedies, we're going wholesale annihilation. First spray just last week, we'll see how it goes. The phals are ok, and my paph delenatii seems to have stabilized. My paph Pinocchio is doing very well despite the neglect. Maybe it'll even think about blooming. It has the most gorgeous flower, and I'm not even a paph fan.

Digging thru old pics was re-inspiring. Beautiful roses, flowers, and this Blc Morning Glory x Sunset and cym:

From Blooming Orchids!

From Blooming Orchids!

That's it for now.